Cole turned 1 today & I felt the need to share the story of our little miracle. Most of you know, but he’s one so I feel the need to share again just for me…. When we were ready to start a family I never dreamed the plan God had. After almost a year and no baby, we began visiting the ART fertility program at Brookwood. After several visits, tests, and LOTS of blood work, they discover I had polycystic ovarian syndrome (POS). I began to take a series of drugs to help with this condition. The first several rounds were unsuccessful and very emotional. I visited the doctor almost every 3 days to have blood work and do ultrasounds. I was CRAZY due to the drugs! I was exhausted and frustrated that everybody was having babies….easily. I didn’t understand why God was choosing this plan for us. Finally we mixed the drugs several different ways and got a good result. We opted to do an IUI when the time was right. Well, the day it fell on was Sunday morning on Mother’s Day 2007. I became a mother on that Mother’s day and our life hasn’t been the same since. I’ll never forget that phone call from the nurse. So many times I had heard the same message,, I’m sorry Mrs. Lowry but its negative. The doctor wants to try something different in 2 weeks. But this time…she said, Mrs. Lowry its positive, you are going to have a baby. It was life changing and amazing and that sweet nurse is an angel of good news to this very day! God was so good and we were blessed to have a good pregnancy. I had gestational diabetes, but it was diet controlled and we did fine. At 38 weeks we discovered my fluid was low and after several admissions to get fluid they scheduled to induce at 39 weeks. We went in the night before. My water broke on its on a little after 5 am. The doc checked at 6:00 & I showed no progress but had erratic contractions, so he ordered the epi! PRAISE the Lord for the EPI! We got the Epi around 7:30. The came to check at 8:00 & from then on nothing seemed normal. The nurse acted funny & they began to watch the monitors closely. Dr. McKee’s colleague came in at 8:30 & said its time to go because Cole wasn’t tolerating things well. Emily said his heart rate kept going to 0. I never knew…thank goodness! At 8:40 my baby was born…healthy. I’ll never forget that first look at him! Everything we went through was absolutely WORTH it and we’d do it all again & more in a heartbeat! Amazing huh? His heart rate dropped due to the cord around his neck. He was the sweetest 6lbs 2 oz you have ever seen & I instantly loved him more than life. The rest of the day was very blurry…did I tell you they made a 10 minute decision to take him…that means lots of drugs…REALLY FAST to numb me…well that makes for quite a crazy rest of the day. Yuck. But he was perfect & here & even if he was fuzzy most of the day, he was mine. Mine that I never thought I’d have. Mine that I wondered if he would ever be…. He’s my miracle & he always will be. I have loved every moment with him. I have cherished every smile, every laugh, every lil thing. A whole year of it! My itty bitty baby is one. No more spitting up. No more bibs with every outfit. No more sitting up all night in the recliner. No more bubble suits. No more sleeping on my pillow beside me. No more sweet coos. No more of those sweet mommy stares as you feed him. And soon…no more bottles. My baby is one. I look forward to all the fun things ahead, but today I miss all the baby things behind. Where did 1 year go? Did I do enough with him? Did I spend enough time? Did I pray over him enough? I’ll never get it back. My baby is one. I am so thankful for the best year of my life. Oh, Happy Birthday sweet Cole man!