Happy 5th Birthday Jacob Thomas!

I think back to exactly 5 years ago this moment today and I was crushed...worried...scared...guilt laden...just plain messed up!

Jacob Thomas Valiant entered this world 5 years ago today just moments after midnight-completely unexpectedly. My due date-November 4th more than 5 weeks away but my water broke-get this, while I was at work in a delivery-I was doing a baby's foot prints and I still remember my patient-a sweet nursing student. It had been an awful day (and night). I started off the day heading in to the doctor as I felt like I was contracting. He said I wasn't dilated and that he wouldn't stop me anyway if I were (or is it was???). So I headed off to work-a Friday (the 26th of September 2003). I told everyone I wasn't feeling so well, but stormy weather was looming so everyone and their sister was coming in for labor checks, etc.

Long story, long- just after 10pm my water broke (wow, was that painful) and about a half hour later labor started (full-force from 0 to 60 I kid you not) and then just under 2 hours from the time my water broke, I delivered our precious Jacob Thomas weighing in at a hefty 5 pounds 13 ounces-a porker for a preemie. I knew he wasn't ok at birth. I asked them to take him to the NICU. Just after 2am the Neonatalogist Dr. Chua came into my room (a VERY bad sign!) and I told her I knew if she was at my bedside things were not good. Jacob had HMD (which is premature lungs) and had to be intubated and given lung developing steroids, oxygen, etc. He eventually graduated to CPAP, nasal cannula's, etc. after 12 very long days, we got to bring him home.

He's been a little pistol ever since!

And I returned to work just 5 weeks later BEFORE my due date!!!

We celebrated his birthday last night with a small joint party for him and his cousin Jonah who nearly share a birthday (2 years apart though). Today we got up and went to the farmer's market and waited for daddy to get home to do presents. Jake and TJ were also invited to their neighbor friends birthday parties (sister and brother who are 5 and 10 now). So that was fun for them today.

Photo journey:




























We just opened the presents and Jake is pretty happy (I hope). He has some money to spend so that's ALWAYS fun. I haven't gotten to do Jake's 5 year check up due to my stinky current work hours but if I can't take him this week, Tim will take him and Owen for check-ups. I'm guessing Jake will fall in his usual 25 percentile for everything. One concern we have is the massive size of his tonsils and how it affects his sleep, breathing and thus daytime behavior (he's often still tired after a full nights sleep).











Anyway, all this reminiscing about Jake's birth story leads me to another prayer request:



Yep, that's Baby Valiant #4 (any bets on the sex???)!!! I am about 7 weeks along with a likely due date of May 15th but we'll be happy to see April! I like to think of myself as a fifth of the way done since I don't do pregnancy so well-optimism here;-) I can't officially see the doctor until next week but was able to sneak a peek yesterday and see/hear a heartbeat (and see ONE baby!). So, that's it-can you believe it?

PS After sharing this news with my family I wanted to get the news out as quickly as possible (and request prayer of course) but I would've loved to have shared this with each of you in person! I hope you all will join us in rejoicing-we are very excited and feel very blessed to be expecting again. We pray this pregnancy goes better than the last (and even Jacob's abrupt arrival:-) but we are realistic and know things could be rough. I'm feeling very emotional already- (not to mention a bit of nausea, vivid dreams, poor sleep, and I'm VERY tired;-( I've cried a lot lately. I am definitely aware that not many agree with our desires "to over populate the world" and am struggling with knowing that not very many people think having a 4th child is a "good idea"-but we don't look at it as an "idea" but God's will for our lives. Anyway, I'm rambling...peace.