"MEMORABLE MOMENTS" - IT'S CHAD'S BIRTHDAY!

Twenty-one years ago, I went to the hospital to have a baby (via C-section).  I'd been carrying the baby for just under ten months, and it had been a very easy pregnancy--no morning sickness, no issues.  During one of my last check-ups, the doctor who was examining me got "a look" on his face and said he wanted to get an ultrasound because "I could swear this baby is moving up instead of down into the birth canal".  Sure enough . . . the ultrasound revealed that the baby not only was moving up, he was in a breech position which, under normal circumstances, they would try to turn him, but there was a concern about the position of his legs--one was up and one was down.  It concerned me when three doctors came into the room to tell me this and that I would have to have a C-section.  What they didn't know is that I would have gladly signed up for a C-section nearly 10 months prior, so this wasn't bad news to me.  On the morning of the scheduled surgery, the baby's heartbeat and movement was being monitored as I waited for the surgery, and the baby was doing a LOT of moving!  It had been a while since he had moved that much and, as I watched the frequent ripples across my swollen belly and listened to the heartbeat, I was getting concerned because I knew full-term babies shouldn't have enough room for that much movement.  As it turned out, he had a bowel movement, which must have caused all of the pre-birth movement.  Chad came into this world two weeks past his due date at 8 lbs. 12 oz.  I never had a contraction, my water never broke, and I didn't experience natural childbirth, but I know all about motherhood and how a heart just naturally swells when a baby boy takes his place in it.  For the past 21 years, my life has been richly blessed with watching that baby become a young adult, and he is still my best buddy!  Through the years, he has amazed me, worried me and, at times, angered me, but he makes me laugh like no one else.  Today, I am thankful for him and for the many ways he continues to bless my life and melt my heart.  Happy Birthday, Chad!!!!  I love you more than words can say!