Today is my baby's 4th birthday.

I can't believe it's has been 4 years already.

It seems like yesterday we were celebrating Easter, almost 3 weeks after his birthday - and he was still this tiny.

 

I am not sure if I will get over his size compared to my father-in-law's hands.

I have miracle babies.  All babies are miracles, yes, but for my kids (especially the boys) it is a miracle that they are here.

When I was pregnant with Vinny, I was diagnosed with placenta previa.  It is a complication in pregnancy where the placenta grows in the lowest part of the womb - making it impossible to have a vaginal birth because the placenta is basically blocking the opening.  I was going to have to have a C-section.

I was not happy about this diagnosis.  I had a pretty good idea that he was going to be my last child, my last birth.  There is some satisfaction in giving birth to your child.  It is a lot of work.  It gives a sense of ultimate accomplishment.  And that had been taken away from me.  Even worse, I knew I wouldn't ever give birth again.  It also freaked me out that I was going to have a C-section, that I was going to be cut open and gutted like a fish it seemed.  I made the mistake of looking up a video online of a C-section while I was still pregnant.  I couldn't even finish the video, it made me woozy.  I did end up watching it after I had him, just to see what they actually did to me.  I made my husband watch it too because during delivery he wasn't watching what was going on.  Him and I were having a drugged up conversation about how I felt like Violet on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...getting bigger and bigger.

The C-section was a success not only for the obvious reasons, but my doctor told me what a miracle it was that I had to have a C-section.  There was a true knot in the umbilical cord.  If I would have given birth to him vaginally, the knot would have tightened - cutting off his blood and oxygen supply during labor and he would not have made it.  This is why he is a miracle baby.

He has been a joy.

 

{Photo courtesy of Kristie Kulik}

 

He is our constant entertainment.

 

 

He often makes my heart melt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we could not love him more!

 

Happy Birthday, Vinny!