Baby Stories

I'm totally taking a cue from my favorite mother blogger.  She just reminded me of all the colorful "baby stories" we have had.  Hers were pretty chaotic and I was THERE for most of them.  Funny, how we just rolled with it at the time. Reading back over it leaves me shaking my head.  In an attempt to try to just relax and enjoy what will likely be the last 37 days of me EVER being pregnant, I decided to do a little recap of my previous two baby stories.  In comparison, this has the potential to be the most serene birth and homecoming of any I've had...  Besides the logistics of getting my Mother here in time and when I need her and boy do I NEED her!  This child will be born under the care of just ONE OBGYN, she'll have a father present and (barring accidents) in one piece.  She has a permanent home and a nursery too.  And I thought we were lucky, she's pretty lucky too!  Here's a look at our previous baby stories:

Jackson

We had bought our first home in November.  We purchased our first "family vehicle" in March.  We were preparing to start a family when April rolls around and we find out we are expecting.  Fast forward to September, I was about 5 months pregnant when the Army throws us a curveball of a TDY.  Temporary Duty Move for about 9 months to South Alabama.  It was assigned as a TDY and return meaning we would come back.  This meant leaving my brand new house and any hope of a nursery to move into temporary housing in Alabama.  So I transfered ALL my medical care to south Alabama.  I was due December 23.  Yes, that close to Christmas.  All of our families live in Alabama, just 6 hours to the North.  This particular post shuts down for 2 weeks at Christmas so no training would be going on during that time.  We decided I would transfer doctors again and actually have the baby in north Alabama where we would have family help.  I would have to stay up there after Thanksgiving but that would give Jason time to finish his schooling and still get there for the birth.  It was all set and we were making the best out of our tiny duplex and makeshift furniture. We left most of our things in North Carolina in the house we would return to.  We had the opportunity to attend a few college football games being so close and those were fun, besides my bulging belly.  Before one of the games, Jason was engaging in some hand to hand combat in the wee hours of the morning.  He and his best friend possibly took it a bit too seriously and around 6am, I woke up to Jason limping into the bedroom...ON CRUTCHES.  Here I am well into my 3rd trimester and he has a broken leg?  We find out later that week, it's not only broken but needs surgery and soon.  On my 26th birthday, he went in for surgery and got a rod placed in his leg.  If you thought a hospital chair bed was uncomfortable, you haven't tried it at 33 weeks pregnant!  There was no way he would be off the crutches before Jackson's arrival.  So, Jackson was born and taken home to a temporary nursery in a townhome in South Alabama.  He didn't even get to see our NC home until he was about 6 months old.

Lincoln:

This one takes the cake!  Lincoln was conceived very quickly after Jason returned from his longest deployment.  He had been gone for 15 months and Jackson really wanted a brother ;).  In December, Jason was informed he would be taking on a job that was NOT the army job he was promised.  It was not exactly good news for us but he took it anyway.  We learned pretty quickly that this job would also require ANOTHER deployment.  Your kidding, right?  NOPE.  Not only would he be leaving but the deployment got moved up significantly.  As in BEFORE I had the baby.  He was only home for 9 months total before he had to leave again.  For a year.  So at 33 weeks pregnant, I said goodbye to him and sent him into a war zone...AGAIN.  I also packed up our belongings and put them in a uhaul to Alabama where I would once again change medical doctors with a bit of comedy in the process.  I had to see a general doctor to be referred to the OBGYN.  The general practice doctor had to do a pregnancy test on me.  I was 34 weeks!    It was positive!  There was no chance of Jason coming home for the birth of this baby.  You have to be in country for 6 weeks before you can start leave.  We had decided if that wasn't a possibility, then we would wait for a more fun time to take the leave and for him to meet his second son. THIS is how the birth of our second child went down.  It was viewed over webcam and around 8000 miles between us.  It was a bizarre experience.  I can't imagine meeting my child over the internet, and not holding him for another 4 months or living with him for a full 11 months.    I spent a few months in Alabama adjusting to "single mom of 2"  and then I packed us up again and went back to NC to weather the remainder of the deployment.  It was possibly the hardest time for me.  It was as much to do with the timing as it did Lincoln being a "difficult" baby.  Maybe we both had a bad attitude.  But seriously, who wouldn't?  Anyone who knew me during that time can find humor in the sign I held at "green ramp" his place of homecoming.  It said "NEVER AGAIN".  We had made the decision to get out of the army but it wasn't official or public yet.  I didn't care one iota.  I wanted the WORLD to know, I would never again go through a year like that.  

And so as we prepare to bring this baby home to our house, her nursery and BOTH parents, it's comforting in that we've got this.  We finally got this last one right!