Happy Birthday, Joshua

My Joshua turns 11 today. Hard to believe that he is that old. Time sure does fly. He'll be a teenager before I know it. I remember wanting to be a mom so badly. We tried and tried and there were so many tears shed. I remember asking God why teenage girls could jump in the backseat one time and get pregnant, and yet there were two loving people who could not get pregnant. God answered my prayers. I took pregnancy tests so many times. I remember waking up early to take this test. It was positive. I knew I must have messed it up because I turned the test upside down, so the results were not right. We didn't have a Walmart here back then, so I remember waking Jack up around 7:15 and telling him I was headed to Food Lion for something I needed. I'm sure he was dazed as he didn't even ask me what I needed. I ran up there, came home and took the test again and it was positive!! The pregnancy was a pretty easy with just a few cravings. The last month the doctor moved me from full time to part time work. A week or so after that, I got moved to "bed rest" only because I was swelling so bad. Joshua was due on the 25th of January. Of course, he didn't come on his due date. I remember it was Sunday and I didn't feel too well. We stayed home from church and took it easy. Later that evening, I started feeling pain, but the pain didn't come too often. I did call the doctor, but she told me to wait until the pains got closer together. I sat up and watched the entire super bowl with Jack (he was hoping I would make it till the end:)). I couldn't even tell you who was playing, but he could. I remember that it was getting late and then the first ever survivor came on. We stayed up and started that. The pains were getting closer, but nothing really bad. The doctor called us to check on me and told me to come on in. When I got to the hospital, my contractions were not registering on the monitor so she told me I would probably have to come home. They decided to check me and I was 4 cm so she told me I could stay. We took a walk around the hospital and when I cam back the pain was so intense. I couldn't bear it. I had to have my epidural. Finally at 5:50 am, Joshua Caleb McLean was born. Joshua you have been nothing but a joy to us and we love you so much!! Happy Birthday!