Your Due Date

Today is your due date and if things had gone differently, chances are I would be sitting in a delivery room, feet in stirrups, yelling at your dad to "warm up the ice chips so that they are water, dammit", pushing violently as we eagerly await your arrival.

I would likely be begging you to make your appearance due to extreme discomfort.

Your grandparents would be so eager to see what you were going to look like and longing to hold you.

Daddy would still be pacing your bedroom making sure everything was just right. He would be mulling over all of the things we do have and the things that we still need, making multiple trips out to make sure that everything was just right.

And all of your aunts would be running each other down to fight for who gets to see you in the hospital first (Aunt Lu throughs 'bows so it's probably best it didn't come to this).

You would of shared a birthday with your Aunt Jenny (she was totally willing to share, honey- you didn't have to take one for the team there- she was game)

But more than anything, your daddy and I would just be getting to know you. We wouldn't have had the opportunity to watch you grow and surpass your birth weight by almost two and a half times in the past 10 weeks.

We wouldn't have had the opportunity to see how unbelievably strong you are and how much of a little spit fire you might come to be.

We wouldn't have had the chance to hold you and comfort you while you were crying, to laugh at the insanely loud farts that you are able to spout off  and we wouldn't have had the opportunity to have you sleep on our chest for hours on end.

We wouldn't be sleep deprived and caffeine dependent...just yet.

We would just be meeting you- seeing you for the first time. We would be experiencing our "birth plan" that we never got a chance to fulfill. 

If all of those things had gone according to "plan" then I may have been a different mommy- I would have read one too many sleep training and eating books that you might be really annoyed at my paranoia. 

Instead, I'm paranoid about other things, like germs. I swear I see them everywhere- I change my clothes after going to the grocery store. Go ahead and roll your eyes along side your father, your mom can be a little crazy sometimes- it's all in your best interest :) 

Instead of our "birth plan" we were given the opportunity to watch you continue to "cook", if you will, from the rocking chair of the NICU. We were given some in depth insight on your nursing needs. I now understand way too many acronyms; CC's, CPAP, NICU, BP, Brady, "episode", NG Tube, HCT, HMF, NPO, PNP, RA, ROP, RSV, etc.

Your father and I were brought together in a way that I never could have imagined. He's seen me at the lowest of lows, through my frustrations, fears, and the happiest I've ever been. We were given the opportunity to learn more about each other than we ever thought possible. Ultimately giving us the tools to be the best team and parents possible. 

The saying "it takes a village" was given a brand new meaning. You brought our family together in a way that can never be explained. Prayers, gifts, kind words, sacrifices, all made by our family and friends to make sure that we were taken care of so in turn we could care for you. 

The scariest time of our life turned into the biggest life lesson and growth opportunity for your father and I. We see life in a whole new light. I'm sure if I was given the opportunity to keep you in my tummy until today we would have a entirely new outlook on life as well. That being said, our story is all that we know and I'm thankful for every stressful day, because they have lead us here. 

Here we are, exactly 10 weeks old, on your due date- what love we have for you our sweet boy.

Ames Wilde Armstrong

November, 9th 2014

3lbs 4oz

16in in length

11.5in head circumference

On the CPAP for 2 days

Attempted your first bottle on November 28th- 19 days old

Receiving food by feeding tube for 36 days 

Feeding tube came out on December 16th

Discharged from the NICU December 19th- weighing 5lbs 1oz

Ames Wilde Armstrong

January, 18th 2015

7lbs exactly

18.75in in length

13.5in head circumference

Home for 4 weeks and 2 days

Exclusively breastfeeding

Able to hold your head up at times and lift your head during tummy time

World's Best Cuddler

Responding to noises during awake time

Starting to smile at your surroundings

Happy Due Date, sweet boy. Mommy and Daddy love you so so much