heymae

Zane Lennon Graham

1
Aug 2009

Zane was born exactly 4 days after our 1 year anniversary. For those of you keeping track, that is TWELVE months, so no, I was not pregnant when we got married. I made sure to wear a skin tight wedding dress just to prove that point. When you get married at 19 you have to put up with a certain amount of gossip, and getting pregnant so quickly does not help your case. Ian and I were SO not ready to be parents. Getting married so young is already a gigantic tornado of change, throwing a baby in there turns it into a freaking tsunami! I was absolutely terrified of raising a baby, I had not even been around that many babies growing up. So, I did what I still do in any situation that scares me, I researched the heck out of it! I read DOZENS of pregnancy books. I learned about birth plans and episiotomies, breast feeding, jaundice, any information that could possibly be related to pregnancy and newborns I devoured.

I had a pretty easy pregnancy with Zane. I did end up on bed rest for a couple months after falling down the stairs at work (thank you workmans comp!) but otherwise, it was uneventful. Even my labor was pretty simple. Zane was 6 days late, and at my regular weekly check-up my Midwife told me I was already dilated 4 centimeters. She said if my water did not break by 4 that afternoon to come into the hospital and they would break it manually to get my labor started! I imagined some kind of water balloon/tack situation. At 4 pm on the dot, Ian and I checked into the Birthing Center and waited patiently while they hooked me up to some machines to track my contractions (which I was not feeling at all). As I was sitting there waiting for the nurse to come back in, I felt this explosion in my belly, followed by immediate gushing of fluid. Horrified, I told Ian and my Mom that something was definitely wrong! Turns out, my water had finally broke, and at the perfect time. Zane always has been very considerate!

What happens next is 4 hours of double contractions, grunting, some screaming, disgusting bodily functions, and me at one point explaining calmly to the midwife that I was not, in fact, going to be able to give birth to this baby so I did not know how in the HELL SHE WAS GOING TO GET IT OUT OF ME!!!! My Midwife was fantastic. She was so calm, so reassuring, and guided me through a completely natural childbirth, even though I had ZERO confidence that I was going to be able to succeed. I pushed three times and there he was.

In my completely unbiased, professional opinion, Zane was the most beautiful baby ever born in the history of the planet. He was so perfect with his smooth skin, dark hair, and big brown eyes. My heart completely melted from the very first second they placed him in my arms. Every worry, every freak out was thrown completely out the window. Of course we could handle this. This little sweet, precious being was made just for us.

Zane was a very easy baby. He slept a lot, so much in fact that I would casually kick his bassinet to get him to wake up just so I could snuggle him! Zane has always been a very good sleeper, he plays hard during the day, but when it is bed time he usually has no problem going right to sleep. However, he is also quite the morning person. Getting him to sleep in until 7 can be a challenge. He has always been very happy, very silly and very social. When I would take him to the Mall play area he would go up to strangers and hug them. He has since stopped doing that.

Zane loves to learn. About Everything. He wants to know how things work, what words mean, why jokes are funny, everything. He will not be satisfied until he knows absolutely everything there is to know about everything. He has also always been the kind of kid that things come really easily to. When he wants to learn how to do something, he just does it. He practices things over and over again until he gets them right. He is the absolute sweetest kid ever. He will cry if he thinks he hurt your feelings, and is devastated when he gets in trouble. Zane likes to be a good kid. He has never been mischievous or a trouble maker. He is very physical and strong. That strength and willingness to practice things over and over again are what make him such a great gymnast.

Zane is the absolute light of my life. I could talk to him for hours about Mario Bros. or telling knock knock jokes. He loves to tell me I am beautiful, and that I am the best Mommy in the whole world. He thanks me sincerely for doing even the simplest thing, like buying his favorite brand of cereal. He gives the greatest hugs and has the greatest laugh. He is very loving, and is going to be an amazing big brother. He is so excited, he has already told us that Rocky’s crib needs to go under his loft bed. I cannot believe it has been 6 years since I first held his little fingers in my hand. I am so excited to see what the future is going to hold for such an amazing little boy.

Tags: birthday, childbirth, zane