Happy 1st Birthday Leo!

I can't believe my baby is one!  This past year has been the best one yet.  Leo brings so much joy and happiness to our family and I am so grateful to have him in our lives.  We love you so much Mr. Buttersworth!
My talented sister put her amazing graphic design skills to use and made this darling info-graph of Leo for his birthday.  I LOVE it!

Leo's Birth Story.

I know this post is long over due. My baby is turning one on Saturday and I honestly can't believe how quickly time has flown. As I was putting together this blog post I was getting a bit emotional.  Reflecting back over the past year has made me realize that motherhood has changed me.  I have learned to love in a way that I never knew I could. Our lives now revolve around a tiny human who relies on us for everything. That's a big responsibility, people!  I'm proud to say that we somehow managed to take care of a baby for a whole year!  I remember coming home from the hospital with Leo thinking, "Now what do we do?!" But we survived!  Now we have the happiest, sweetest boy who is the center of our world.  Leo has blessed our lives so much and I can't imagine life without him.




Thursday, July 25 was another sleepless night.  This was pretty typical at this point.  I spent my nights getting up repeatedly to use the bathroom, eating several meals, sitting in front of the fan, and tossing and turning from side to side.  It's impossible to get comfortable when you're nine months pregnant in the middle of the summer.

I felt several contractions coming on throughout the night.  I thought nothing of it because I had been having contractions for several weeks now.  But these contractions continued to get stronger and stronger and also more frequent as the night went on.  By morning I knew that we were probably going to have a baby that day.  When Daniel woke up I told him that I was having contractions.  He helped me time them to see how frequent they were coming.  By the time they were five minutes apart we decided to head to the hospital.  We got there at about 10:00 am.

When I was admitted into the room I was 4 centimeters dialated.  My contractions were getting extremely painful.  I couldn't have been happier when they asked me if I wanted an epidural.  After getting the epidural I felt a million times better!  I finally felt comfortable enough to fall asleep.  It honestly felt like a miracle!  I was completely exhausted from staying up all night the night before, as well as many nights before that.

We spent the entire day waiting for the baby to come.  I took several naps, ate jello, and visited with Daniel as we waited.  I remember Daniel saying, "Man, labor really isn't all that bad!"  Ha.  Little did he know, the hard part hadn't even started yet.  It wasn't until about 9:30 pm that I finally started pushing.  I had really great nurses and a wonderful doctor who took really good care of me.  I am so grateful to have had a smooth labor and delivery.  Leo James Bridge was born at 11:28 pm on Friday, July 26.  He was 7 lbs 3oz and the sweetest little thing we had ever laid eyes on.  Holding him for the first time was the most surreal feeling.  I couldn't believe that this little human that had been growing inside of me for nine months was finally here.  He was absolutely perfect and we were completely in love.

Our first family picture. :)  ^^^

Leo, you are the best thing that has ever happened to us.  Dad and I love you very very much and we can't wait to celebrate your first birthday with you!