100 percent right

By Jessamyn

On March 6, 2004, Geoff and I went out and bought a Memory Book for our soon-to-be born baby, so that we could have the hospital staff put our baby's footprints and handprints into the book. We knew she might be born any day. 

Later that afternoon, I drank a shot of castor oil followed by a Diet Coke chaser, because I was impatient to go into labor with my first baby. I was eager to be a mom, and tired of being pregnant. On that date, all we knew about our baby, really, was that she (she? we were almost but not completely certain) had a good strong heartbeat, and that she liked to kick a lot, especially after I ate something sweet. 

Later that night, my water broke, and we went to the hospital, only half believing that we would have a real live baby with us when we came back home. 

On March 6, 2005, Geoff and I invited some friends over to share our daughter's birthday cake. I made one cake for Katie and another cake for us. When the doorbell rang, our daughter walked to the front door next to me to welcome the first arrivals.  She smiled and laughed and waved, and called out "dawww!" when the two dogs from upstairs entered our apartment.

When we put her in her high chair and put her cake down in front of her, she immediately tried to grab the flame on her candle and had to be restrained. After we blew out and removed the candle, she started grabbing the pink and green icing flowers off of the cake. Eventually she managed to pick up the parchment paper the cake was on, flipping the whole cake upside down while eating. 

When we laughed, she laughed, too.

By the time the cake-eating was done, she had chocolate icing on her face, hands, forearms, chest, belly. She had icing in her hair, and when I showed off her new trick, asking her "Where is Katie's hair?" she grabbed her hair and got even more icing in it. 

What a difference a year makes. 

This Monday was Katie's actual birthday. Geoff called me up at work mid-morning. "Do you know what day it is today?" he asked. "It's Katie's birthday!" I said. 

"I love her so much," he said. "Thank you for having her with me." And then he talked about how, before Katie was born, he wasn't absolutely certain that he was ready to be a father. He wasn't sure if he would be glad to have a baby, and he knew it was one of those decisions that stays with you for the rest of your life -- one that you can never take back.

"But I'm so glad we have her," he said. "This was a decision that was one hundred percent right. Yes. Good."

Then he asked me if I felt that way, too, and I said yes. Of course. And I wrote down his choice of words, because they fit so well.  Having Katie = 100 percent right. Yes.  Good. 

Happy birthday, baby girl. 

Comments

[Joanne]

100 per cent! Man, can you say that about anything else!? How great!

[Christy]

Beautiful...simply beautiful....I'm so happy for both of you...Katie is such a joy...and that smile!!

[Jessamyn]

Oh, my due date was the 8th, so I was 40 weeks pregnant. My OB was predicting that Katie would be over 10 pounds (she was 8 lbs 13 oz), so she had scheduled me for induction at the hospital the following Tuesday (the 10th, I think). I really wanted to avoid that, so we were trying to hurry things along with a home method. It seems like maybe it worked! Or maybe it was just time.

[lisa]

that's a great story!
how far along were you when you induced labor?

[Nicola]

Congratulations! My little guy just turned one a couple of weeks ago, what a day, all of the memories of being pregnant, of giving birth, of those first crazy weeks at home with this new member of the family. He *loved* the way that everybody said, "Happy Birthday!" to him all day. And the cake. And his now favourite thing in the world that he received as a gift -- the Baby Einstein DVD.

Only unlike your husband, mine said -- "One down, seventeen to go". He's a wonderful stay at home dad with a slightly odd outlook. But I love him, what can I say?

[amy s.]

I can't believe she's already a year old. Congrats on the first year of the journey - it's a big one for the parents as well as the baby!

[kat]

Happy Birthday!