Lil Jacob is 3 Today!!

This is such a sweet picture of Amy and lil Jacob, taken exactly 3 years ago today! Wow, how time flies when you are changing diapers and chasing after the little guy.

Jacob was born 3 days ahead of his due date at 1:31 p.m. Amy and Derek and I were living in our first "home" after the divorce, a very small townhouse apt right across the street from NKU, where both of the kids ended up going to college. Amy was a senior in HS and she had been a very good student her senior year, given that she had the pregnancy to deal with and a new school. Her "old" school Holy Cross was making it very difficult to accept her being that she was pregnant for her senior year. So we enrolled her in the county H.S. one that was 1800 students and sooo different from her awesome small Catholic HS. She did great there as she knew a lot of these kids from gradeschool days.

Amy had the big master bedroom with the bath in this little townhouse apt. I had the tinest room as I just had a twin bed and didn't need much room. Derek had the middle sized bedroom. All were upstairs in the townhouse and Amy had Jake's crib in her room as there was no room for his own room there. It was cozy and tight, but a house full of a lot of love and excitement.

We threw a big baby shower for Amy there in that townhouse, the main "ground" level was a big living room and a big kitchen and a small bathroom, that was it. Derek and Amy and I made all the food and it was actually hosted by her friends at her job at Hallmark. They did all the decorating and games and prizes.

The day of Jake's birth Amy woke at 3 am and said she had bad contraction. She was in active labor right from the start and it did not quit. We got into the car at 6 am as her contractions were 2 min. apart and not stopping. I drove and I was not a good driver then and really was quite freaked out. I remember saying Hail Mary's all the way there! When we got there she was put on a monitor and the nurses and Dr's were so good to her. They said she was not any further than 2 cm dilated so we waited. The contractions never let up and they gave her an epidural for the pain. She was such a trooper, she pushed for maybe an hour total and gave birth to Jake at 1:31 in the afternoon.

This pic was taken just hours after he was born, she had him inside her PJ's to keep him skin to skin in contact with her. The nurses were so great with them, never anything unkind because of her young age of only 17. Dr. Lea delivered Jake and he was my Dr. for years, so I knew him well and he was so good to her and Jake.

Jake's father did not see him be born or visit him in the hospital. He didn't even know he was born until Jake was almost a year old as we couldn't find him. He didn't want to be found, he moved from place to place to avoid Amy. Later we found out that Jacob has a 1/2 brother and he is almost exactly 1 year older than him. He was running from both mothers and both of his young sons.

I am so thankful for lil Jacob and that Amy wanted to have her son and raise him. Because of him I know I had a purpose for getting better with my health, I had a reason to get out of bed, someone that needed me. God works in mysterious ways and this lil guy has always been thought of as an "angel" sent by God to all of us. He has healed so many wounds in our family.

Big hugs to you all and much love,

Di