Re-Cap: My pregnancy

Matthew, I found out I was pregnant with you February 21, 2006. I took a home pregnancy test around 5 am and found out I was pregnant with you! Oh my goodness, I was sooooo excited! I ran in our room and jumped on the bed where daddy was sleeping and woke him up and told him. He was so excited too and we drove over to Noni and Pa's house (yes, at 5:30 in the morning) to show them the positive test! Everyone was so excited! Daddy called Nana and Papa to tell them and I called my friend Shelli. All this was around 6 am! We were soooo escited! I got to tell your cousin Emily. Later in the day I called my grandparents (Great-Nana and Grandpa, Grammy and Great-Papa) to tell them and they were so excited too!! What a great day that was!

Not the best picture, on my cell phone, but here's the positive test!

I really didn't have problems while I was pregnant with you. Some trouble with hormones and fatigue but all that cleared up after first trimester. But NO morning sickness! Yay! Thank you for that! My doctor appointments went well and your due date was set at October 30th.



Not too long after we found out I was pregnant, we went to Arizona to vsit Great-Nana and Mommy's Uncle Ron and Aunt Suzanne. You got to go to the Grand Canyon while you were in Mommy's tummy! And Daddy and I bought you your first stuffed animal- a black bear. Daddy and I love black bears.



When I was 19 weeks pregnant I was at work and a customer asked when I was due. I was so excited that I was starting to look pregnant and I went home and had daddy take my first belly picture.

Not too long after that picture, the next week actually, we found out you were a BOY! We already had your name picked out, Matthew Kirkpatrick, so we started calling you Matthew right away. Your name would have been Anna Hope if you had been a girl. You were also measuring three days ahead of schedule and they re-calculated your due date to October 27th.

We started feeling you kick right about then too! It was so exciting! It was a long hot summer, being pregnant with you! Near the end of the summer I developed really bad sciatica and had to stop working.

In September you had two baby showers! They were both so much fun and you got lots and lots of stuff!

Yummy cake!

Good friends

So September rolled on and then we moved into October. During this time we got everything ready for your room. We chose "Zanzibar", a safari theme for your nursery. It's funny because you pick a theme for your child's nursery without knowing them at all! Now that we know you we would have gone with a transportation theme. Cars, trucks, trains, planes, etc! Oh well. We liked Zanzibar anyway!

And you kept getting bigger and bigger!

Daddy and I thought you might be an anniversary baby- we celebrated our 5th anniversary on October 13th, but no, you waited! Daddy and I were both born early- 2-3 weeks before our due dates and we felt sure you would too. Nooooo. As your due date got closer and closer I felt sure it would pass us by and you would be late. We took this belly picture not knowing if it would be our last one or not.

So that was October 24th. Then the 25th passed uneventfully. Then the 26th came. Started out like any normal day. Got up, had some breakfast, went back to bed, daddy left for work. Had some soup late morning and threw up. Hmmm...something isn't right. Then around noon the cramps started. I labored at home for the afternoon and finally called the doctor around 3:30 or so. Daddy came home from work to get me and take me to the doctor and I saw him around 4:45 or so and he sent me straight on to the hospital. The next few hours of labor were not plesant ones, but you don't need to know about that. Mommy would do it all over again in a heartbeat for you! Noni, Pa, Aunt Carrie, "Aunt" Shelli and Lizzy all came to see Mommy in the hospital. As it got later into the night, everyone went home except Daddy, Noni and Pa. Daddy and Noni were in the room when you were born. It was awesome! We all got to see you enter the world! You were born at 12:40 am on October 27, 2006- your due date! You were 9 pounds and 21 1/2 inches long. A big healthy boy! More about after you were born another time. Mommy is tired and you and daddy are already asleep. G'night my little miracle!