Max Eve

A year ago as I start this post we'd been at Geisinger for a day. I'd received another shot to strengthen Max's lungs and we'd done a lot of sitting. The one 'nice' part of being at Geisinger was the amazing facilities. My room was downright posh! It was like a fancy stay at a hotel. More importantly, we had an amazing nurse, Kristy, taking care of us. (Kristy, if you're reading this- we love you and are so thankful for everything you did for us!)

After a long uncomfortable night in the chair, Michael checked into a hotel room up the road to send some email updates to friends & family, as well as try to get one last night of sleep. The plan was that after my final shot, they'd let the labor progress and if Max chose to be born, we'd go with it. My contractions were getting relatively strong by about midnight and I was just plain scared/uncomfortable being by myself. I sucked it up for awhile, but eventually it got unbearable and I called my poor husband and asked him to come back and sit with me. The man was there within a half hour. (What a saint!) He spent the rest of the night watching the monitor and helping me in and out of the contractions. (He would have little to no sleep by the time Max was born the next morning.)

Tonight I worked on The Cake. I'd been throwing around the idea of either a penguin or elephant (Max's current favorite stuffed animal/comfort toy given to him by his Fairy Quadmother Calley!) and ultimately decided on a Pittsburgh Penguin. Keepin' it real, yo. I baked two round cakes tonight (yellow) and will decorate it when we get to Dave's tomorrow. The perfectionist in me is constantly reminding myself that it doesn't matter if it's not 'exact' or if something goes wrong, but rather that Max's Mommy is making a cake for his very first birthday!

My Dad decorated a cake for Max's Minnesota birthday party last week. (see above) The little man wasn't really into smashing his face into it and as you can see, he wasn't a fan of getting his hands sticky! It was hilarious. We'll see how he does tomorrow! (He did LOVE it when we sang Happy Birthday to him though!)

Tomorrow is the big day. I can hardly believe it's been a whole year. Max's Uncle Dave is hosting a party at his house tomorrow afternoon and I think it will be quite emotional. (I've already teared up several times today while just watching the boy sit and play!) It will be really special because all the people who were there right after he was born will be in attendance- Dave, Nana, Michael's best friend Jill and our dear friend Shawn.

To be continued tomorrow... Miracle Max will officially turn one at 11:07am EST!