Happy Birthday to Alec!!!

Just over nine years ago today...my due date for having our first baby came and went and my jumbo child had no desire to come out into the world. My stomach grew bigger and bigger and still no baby. When I was six days overdue, I went to the doctor where I clearly remember him giving me an ultrasound and telling me that his head was measuring that of a 10 lb. baby...but that the ultrasounds aren't always accurate. Then I recall the Dr. squeezing my belly and saying..."It feels like a 9 pounder to me."

Wow, we thought... 9 pounds is huge. I weighed 8 lbs. at birth and Ben was only 6 lbs. So, of course we were overwhelmed, but up to the challenge. The next day, Sept. 3 1999, my labor was induced with some serious drugs. I remember the day like it was yesterday when I was awakened in the middle of the night with the most excruciating pains I had ever felt in my whole life. After 4 hours of pushing and no success, the doctor prepped me for a c-section. That afternoon I said a prayer in my heart that I would live through the tiresome and painful event.

Just before the c-section, we gave it one last effort to have the baby. The doctor wedged him out with the help of a vacuum and forceps. When his jumbo body was placed on my chest, I felt this slippery enormous child for a brief moment before he was whisked away to be weighed and measured. Again, I remember the language like it was yesterday. Upon placing my boy on the weight scale the nurse laughed and said, " 11.7 lbs. ...You didn't have a baby!...you had a Toddler! Haa!! Haa!!" Recovery from that delivery was nothing to laugh about. Trust me.

Nevertheless, I really believe that high birth weight helped him to have excellent health and be a very mature baby (if there is such a thing). We called him Bubba for the first few years... not because he was chubby, but because he was huge. Our Bishop joked that it was due to being born in Iowa. "Iowa just grows them big," he said. I think it was due to the "Teacher potlucks" I was enjoying every Friday near the end of the school year when I taught first grade.

We had the privilege of having Alec to ourselves for 4 years before Ethan was born and enjoyed every minute of it. Now of course, we enjoy all three of them but we especially enjoy how well the all get along and what a great job Alec does of caring for his little brothers. We love you Bubba!