the lowdown

Eight years ago today I woke up with really bad indigestion. In fact, I had had a stomach ache all night long and had a half empty bottle of Tums to prove it. While Dan was getting ready for work I told him that maybe I should go to the doctor. He continued to put on his suit for work... not quite taking me seriously. Right before he left I convinced him just to take me to the local hospital to see a doctor, we didn't need to drive all the way in to Lethbridge.
It was cold out, but sunny and bright. We saw Dr. Smith in emergency, he checked me and told my I'd better get to where I wanted to have a baby because I was "having a baby today". 10 days early! I was terrified. He was very encouraging and told me he couldn't believe that this was my first and I had come this far without much pain... well, labour pains anyway. I seriously thought I had indigestion from my dinner of egg rolls the night before.
We headed into Lethbridge in Dan's funeral home van. I remember being nervous that my water would break in the work van. I shook the whole way in. The song "Jaded" by Aerosmith came on the radio and Dan and I took that as a sign that we had chosen the right name for our baby because we had wanted Jayden for a girl and Tyler for a boy (Aerosmith's singer is Steven Tyler).
The day was long and hard. I had back labour and Ty was faced the wrong way. I had no idea that I could feel so much pain and was pretty out of control. My sister Megan and my mom came for in for a while but I think I politely asked them to stay quite (they might say I said shut up!). I needed every ounce of concentration to get through the contractions. The nurse kept asking me to change positions and try getting in the shower but every time I moved I thought my back was going to break. It was so painful. I refused drugs and was to scared to have an epidural.
Thankfully, the hours passed quickly and at 5:17 my baby was born, weighing six pounds, seven ounces. He was the cutest thing I had ever seen. We thought he had my chin and Dan's blue eyes, we laughed at his "raptor" toe. I didn't sleep a wink that whole night.... I didn't put him down once all night long.
It's been eight years and I remember that day as if it were yesterday.
I am so glad to have Ty for a son. He is such a tender hearted boy. He takes the role of big brother very seriously and is quite protective of his sisters. He is an awesome reader and loves to do math. He loves to complain to me about being the only boy because he knows I'll usually give in to letting him have a friend over or to stay up late to watch hockey with Dan. He loves to tease the girls and is such boy that way (reminds me a lot of my brother bugging me when I was little). He gets up early every day, showers, and gets the babies out of their cribs when they wake up, letting me sleep in. He does his own hair and it has to be just right. He is very conscious of how he looks and has even fought me a few times this winter about wearing a toque because it might wreck his hair. He'll still sit on my lap and snuggle with me (in fact, he loves this) and will still kiss me goodbye in public. His friends moms always tell me he is so polite and a good example to their son. Ty is very loving and very helpful and he keeps his room clean. I can usually depend on Ty to listen to what I say and to obey. I always say about my Ty that he can be so, so good and so, so bad... and to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way.