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It was May 19th, 2015. We were excited to set up for Junior’s first birthday. I couldn’t believe that this day was already here, since it was a nice day, we decided to BBQ for his birthday.

We planned on making hotdogs and hamburgers and afterwards have his cake. I had invited my mom, stepdad, my sister, my stepsister, her boyfriend and some of our friends.

I was really excited to see him smash his birthday cake. He was really excited too. A few days before his birthday we had some cupcakes and we practiced with that. He did really good.

Then it was finally time to open his presents. He got a lot of toys and clothes. He was more excited about the boxes that the toys came into, then the actual toy. I never will understand Kids. Lol.

An exciting day came to an end and we cleaned up. We still had to meet my husband’s brother as well. He had come into town for something. Chris was excited to see his uncle. Glen Jr was just excited to get out of the house.

My husband, my mom and I went to the hospital on May19, 2014 at 6am, I got prepped to be induced. I took a shower and I shaved. They gave me Miralax to empty my stomach out. At 8.00am, my OB came in and inserted a “balloon”.

Now it was just a waiting game. I watched some TV and every so often they came in and checked me. At 12pm, they came in and upped my pitocin and broke my water. At around 3pm, the contractions got stronger and I was advised that I was 6cm dilated and I asked for the epidural.

Glen Jr was doing perfect. He was doing flips all around my stomach. My-mother-in-law, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law were on the way to the hospital with Chris. I couldn’t wait for Chris to meet his little brother.

At around 6pm it was time to push. After 3-4 pushes Glen Jr welcomed the world. He was crying immediately. They checked his kidneys and we found out that they both were working great.

I latched Glen Jr to my breast and he latched on right away. We knew, that at 6 months he would have an appointment with the cardiologist, but for now I was just enjoying my newborn baby. He was just perfect. Shortly after, my husband’s family arrived. My husband was holding Chris and his brother was holding Glen Jr. Chris gave his baby brother and big kiss. He was so proud. 24 hours later, I was released from the hospital.

Fast forward to 6 months. At the cardiologist we found out that Glen Jr would eventually need surgery. It was just a matter of time. In the beginning we has appointments every 3 months. Once he turned a year we have appointments once a year. Last year he was prescribed an inhaler to help with his breathing before he does any physical activity. In about 2 months he will be 11 years old and shortly after that he will graduate 5th grade.

My favorite picture of Glen Jr.

Shortly after Christopher’s first birthday, we found out that we were pregnant with baby number 2,we were shocked, but felt blessed at the same time. Our baby was due May 18th, 2014. Chris would only be 21 months old at that time.

I set up our first appointment with my mom present at 8 weeks. Everything looked good. We saw his little heart flutter. I told my stepdad, that we were expecting baby number 2. He said jokingly, that we were crazy.

I was excited, but scared at the same time. I was about to raise 2 kids under the age of 3. We were ready to start this crazy journey. We found out at our 14 week ultrasound appointment, that it was a little boy. At that appointment we were also told, that he had a Two-vessel umbilical cord versus a Three-vessel umbilical cord. Also, he has a valve missing, which means that his oxygen never gets “cleaned” like ours does. His heart pretty much looks like a “balloon”.

Usually with the Two-vessel cord the baby only has one functioning kidney. We could see that he had both kidneys, but we didn’t know, if both were functioning until after birth. The uncertainty was killing us.

I had a lot of appointments, where they would hook me up on monitors to check his movements and his heart rate. Everything always looked good, but we knew that we weren’t in the clear just yet.

We were getting for his induction date on May19th, 2014. I couldn’t wait to hold him and finally breathe and know, if he was ok. It turned out that both his kidneys were functioning and he was scheduled for an ultrasound for his heart at 6 months old. More about this in my next blog, where I will tell his birth story.

This is Glen Jr at 6 years old.

We had a lot of first milestones with Chris. Everything from his first giggles to his first steps. It was amazing to see him grow up and see his personality unfold right in front of our eyes, couldn’t imagine life without him.

I had been planning his first birthday party for a while, knew exactly, what I wanted for him. I sent out invites to family and friends. We went to Walmart to order his cake and his smash cake, we couldn’t wait for his day to get here. We took him for his first haircut.

After his haircut we went to Little Cesar’s and picked up pizza for the party. We headed to the location, where my mom had set everything up for his birthday. She decorated the whole place and she picked up both cakes for us. Our boy looked all grown up.

We unloaded the car and headed inside. We put him in his highchair. My husband put the smash cake right in front of him on the tray. Chris started to smash at the cake and started eating pieces here and there. He mostly liked to play in it. I guess, he loved the texture of the cake. The smash cake was blue, so he looked like a little Smurf after he was done with it. I will attach a picture of that day at the end of the blog.

After cake, we had presents. He got a lot of amazing gifts. I took all of it in. I didn’t want my baby to grow up, but here we are 13 years later. He is starting 8th grade this August. Time just flew by and I am not ready for all the teenage years.

We scheduled my induction date for August 21st, 2012 at 6pm. I called my mom and told her that we will meet at Valley View hospital. My husband went to work that Tuesday morning and my mom surprised me with breakfast at my house. We spent the whole day watching the Twilight movies.

I didn’t know what I was in for, I don’t think any first time mother knows, what they are in for until it happens. All I knew, that we were going to be parents. We got checked in and my husband helped me put the hospital gown on and those famous hospital socks.

At 8pm we started the pitocin, along with that we also started an IV with antibiotics for GBS. They wanted to make sure our son had some in his system before being born. At midnight they broke my water because I was not progressing like they wanted me to, I was only at 4cm dilated. After that things started to progress quickly.

I asked for an epidural at 4 in the morning. Our son’s heart started dropping. We finally got him stabilized. At 5 in the morning, I felt the urge to push and after 3-4 pushes our beautiful boy was born, I didn’t care that his shoulders tore me from the front to the back. I quickly got stitches, while my mom and husband were sharing to hold my beautiful little boy.

We couldn’t believe that he was finally here. I kept wondering, how I was suppose to care for him. Thoughts like, how am I suppose to know what he needs? kept going through my head. I quickly learned that every cry meant something different.

Our son was born on August 22nd, 2012 at 5.31am. He weighed 6lbs and 6oz. He was 17 inches tall. Now in a little over than 5 months he will be 13 years old. Can you imagine being a teenager again? I sure can’t. Next Wednesday, I have 8th grade parent night for our son, so he can choose already some high school classes a year before he starts high school. I cannot wrap my head around that one.

Well have fun reading and I hope you enjoy coming back. Love you guys.

My husband and I had our first ultrasound at 12 weeks. During that ultrasound, we saw, that we were having a boy.

I saw his little heartbeat, I was growing all of his organs. I couldn’t wait to tell the whole world about our son. We already had a name picked out. We named him Christopher Andrew.

Our son would have the same qualities, I just couldn’t wait to hold our son, I went to buy little outfits for him.

I couldn’t wait to hold him and talk to him, I loved watching my belly grow and I hated to sleep on my side. I am a stomach sleeper. Anything else I loved. I loved poking my stomach and seeing his little kicks and pokes. We would play tag all the time. My mom’s cat would lay on my stomach and Christopher would kick him and the cat would angrily look at my mom. We laugh about that to this day.