There are memorable days and then there are days and times that change your life forever. Such is the case with the birth of my first born. He was born June 1st. Eleven years ago. Doesn't seem possible that he's a preteen now. The memories of his birth are still so clear. How we went in for an inducement the day before, on a Sunday. It made my water break. And I had constant labor pains all night. By early afternoon, he'd arrived. I could have kissed the doctor when he said, "He's perfect."

You see, we'd had a very long pregnancy. Not longer than normal. Longer in the sense that it felt like forever. And not just because I'd gained 40 lbs and my feet sloshed when I walked. We'd had problems in our pregnancy. Early on, we'd discovered he had a 'two vessel' cord when there should have been three. It's an indication there could be a problem. Like a Down Syndrome baby. We decided not to do an amnio since a small percentage of those babies naturally abort afterward. And that frightened us more. So we waited. We had to have a sonogram every month, until the end when the frequency magnified. It was a scary time. But it was a time that drew me closer to my husband and to my Lord.

Three days after my son was born, we went to see the doctor who would be his regular pediatrician. Not the doctor who saw him in the hospital and declared him perfect. This new doctor said, "Did they tell you at the hospital he has a heart murmur?" My heart sank and fear once more entered my world. At two weeks, we were at Children's Hospital having xrays and an ekg. The doctor called us that Friday night. The radiologist was VERY concerned about the xray. The pediatric cardiologist chased down the xrays at 10:00pm on a Friday night. He let us know he thought we'd be okay until Monday morning.

You can imagine the scary thoughts and images that go through your head at a time like that. And let me tell you, there's not much scarier than taking your two week old to a pediatric cardiologist. It's not like his nose is crooked. We did learn that he had a heart murmur and that we would monitor it. If it didn't close on its own, a procedure could be done when he was five. Well, praise God, it closed by the time he was 6 months old. What a happy Christmas present that was for us to learn!

Now a first baby changes the lives of their parents. They don't sleep as much. But they have more joy. But my first baby put me back in the arms of my Savior and ultimately changed my career direction. Which lead me to writing inspirational women's fiction.

Happy birthday, baby! Mommy loves you!