Dear Matthew,
Today is July 18th and we are celebrating your seventh birthday. It has been a little over a month since I started this website to keep all of our friends up to date on how we are doing. I am finding out as I go along, that this website is more for you, Megan and Hannah to read someday and reflect on this time in your life because you are still too young to remember everything that is going on, especially as of lately. And since Mommy has never been good at keeping your baby book up to date, I wanted to take this time to write to you today and let you know how much Mommy and Daddy love having you as our son. Just the other day, Megan asked me to tell her about the day she was born and I thought I would do the same for you.
You were due on July 17, 2002. Someday you will do the math and realize you are our "post 9/11 trip to Ireland" baby. We had been praying to God for a long time to give us a child to love and we were thrilled to learn on Mommy's 32nd birthday that our prayers had been answered. What a great birthday gift to find out you were growing in my tummy! You were very nice to Mommy and only gave me a few months of morning sickness. The rest of my pregnancy went very smoothly. We decided to be surprised and not to find out if you were a boy or a girl. Daddy went with me to the 20 week ultrasound and we were both so excited to see our perfect baby getting so big. I remember going to my last doctor appointment on your due date and Dr. McCloskey said I was not even close to going into labor. So I went home to our condo in Chicago to wait while Daddy was at work. I had a few friends come by to visit and remember being really, really uncomfortable the rest of the day and into the night. I woke up in the middle of the night and started walking around because I could not sleep. I started timing my contractions and around 8AM I woke up Daddy and called the doctor. She told me to come into the hospital and we raced down Lakeshore Drive. I am sure you will hear many more stories about your Daddy's driving habits, so I will save that part of the story for another time. Needless to say, we got to the hospital very fast!
Mommy and Daddy were shocked to find out my water had already broke (it is so not like the movies) and I was not going home until you were born. That was around 10 o'clock in the morning on July 18, 2002. I called Nana Zeller and she came to the hospital to be with me. Everyone else was excitedly waiting by the phone to hear the good news that you had been born. At just around 7PM, yes that is in the evening, I finally started pushing. Daddy was trying so hard to help me. He held my hand and counted for me. He kept trying to say nice things but nothing worked. Several hours later, you still were not born. You see, Matthew, you have a very large head just like Daddy and it was stuck in a transverse position. We would later learn that your head circumference measured in the 95th percentile! There was no way you were coming out the way God meant for you to. On top of that, I now had a fever and my epidural slipped out so I went from feeling nothing to feeling everything in a matter of minutes. This all meant you needed to come out fast. So we rushed to the operating room and you were delivered by cesarean section at 11:55PM.
Daddy got to see you first and I could hear you crying. What a beautiful sound! Daddy carried you over to me and I will never forget the first time our eyes met. It was like I could see into your soul. You were so beautiful. We connected instantly and it was love at first sight! We called Nana and Grandpa Weier to finally share the good news. Grandpa was thrilled because not only were you the first grandchild on Daddy's side of the family, but you were also born on Grandpa Weier's birthday (with five minutes to spare)! You and Grandpa Weier have a very special bond being born on the same day.
I let Nana Zeller and Daddy go back to the condo to get some rest after a very very long day and you and I got to stay together all night at the hospital. You were such a good baby from the beginning. I was so amazed at how perfect everything about you was. Daddy came back first thing the next morning. I was surprised to see him arrive with a brand new camcorder in place of his laptop that he always kept with him. He was so crazy about you that he could not wait to start recording every moment of your life! You instantly changed both of us with your birth.
Since then you have been so much fun to watch grow into such an honest and handsome young man. You are so sweet and considerate of others. You love holding the door open for me, giving hugs and frequently ask if there is anything you can do to help me out. And although you can definitely throw an occasional temper tantrum, you always try your best to do the right thing...always. You are very funny and love to make us laugh. Your one liners are the best. When you smile, your eyes light up just like Daddy's...Irish eyes are always smiling! You are very animated and love telling stories with your hands. You can imitate any noise you hear which always amazes me at the things you can repeat. Also like Daddy, you love to figure out how things work and are very curious about life. I can tell when your brain is spinning trying to tell how something works. You have so much energy. I hope you never lose any of these qualities that make you so special. Most of all, and particularly now, you are fiercely protective of me and your sisters. It is unbelievable how fast you have grown up over these past few months since Daddy became an angel. One of the first things your told me after Daddy died was that you would wear the iron fist in the house now! I love you so much Matthew. Daddy loves you so much. Thank you for making our dream of having a son come true! Love, Mommy
Matthew opening his DS
Water balloon fight with a few of your friends!
Water balloon fight with a few of your friends!
Hitting the shark pinata
Oreo blizzard ice cream cake
Happy birthday Matthew and Grandpa Weier!
