Alexander Wade Tilghman "Alex"

May 14, 2004

11:37am

 Hey yall!! Guess What!! It’s that time of year again!! If you’ve known me for awhile, you probably know that I tell this story every.single.year just as I do with all of my children (and yes, I probably will for many years to come) This year is a little different.  After today, I will no longer be the mama of 3 adult children and one teenager, I will be the mama of 4 adult children, I guess depending on when you consider someone an adult. At 18, I was living over 300 miles away from home, working 3 jobs to pay rent and car pmt and having a splendid time. Lord, I don't think I could EVER let him do that...I'd just pack up and go with him. Hahaha!

A little back story. We had 3 little girls. I was 27 when the youngest daughter was born.  Being the product of older parents, I never intended on having children after the age of 30! BUT GOD…He had another plan, and we know His plans are ALWAYS better than our own. At 34 years young, and 7 years since our last baby, we found out that we had a little surprise blessing on the way. 

So, the journey to Alex began 18 years ago today (well, obviously 9 months before that, but…stick with me here) I was 36 wks along at my last appt with Dr. Smith in Oxford, and Alex had been going back and forth from head down to breech, having a grand old time doing somersaults and kicking my bladder every chance he got. At 36 weeks, my dr discovered that he was breech again and that he most likely would not turn again and wanted to go on and do a c-section the next week, he was also nervous about the baby’s size and not wanting him to get much bigger since I was notorious for having huge babies (Hello 10lb Amber and 9lb14oz Katie), and he did not want to deliver a big baby, just because of the dangers involved. 

A section was scheduled for 37 weeks gestation, which was on Thursday May 13, 2004.  We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am that morning.  We arrived on time, I was prepped for surgery, and right before they were going to take me back, Dr. Smith came in and said that he wanted to do another ultrasound just to check baby’s position. I told him that he had done a lot of moving two days prior, but I didn’t think he had fully turned again. I was wrong! The little stinker had fully turned again and was head down.  Given that he knew that I wasn’t exactly excited about having a surgery, he gave me the option of proceeding with the section or being induced since I was already there and him not wanting to take a chance on Alex turning again. I chose the induction.  I was induced at 9:30 am that morning and figured we’d have a baby by the evening. Nope.  That was not the day God had planned for Alex to enter the world. That would turn out to be my longest labor ever…but also my easiest labor ever, and my first epidural!! (those things are amazing!) 

26 hours later, on Friday May 14, 2004, Alexander Wade Tilghman made his grand entrance into the world. If he had waited four more days, he and my mother would have shared birthdays, but that was the day that God chose for him.  Fast forward a few years and that sweet little 8lb3oz baby boy with the sweetest dimples, will be 18 years old!!  Whew! That boy has put a few of these silver hairs on my head over the years!! (Just kidding….the silver hair is to be blamed on the TAYLOR roots)  After 3 girls, learning all about a little boy was a whole new ballgame. He was full of mischief from the get-go! But he learned pretty quickly that all he needed to do was flash me that pretty smile and those cute little dimples and all was good....or look at me with sad little puppy dog eyes.  Like the time when he was a little younger than 2, and he accidentally knocked over my huge Christmas tree. An 8ft HUGE Christmas tree. A boy not even 2 years old...how...this had never happened with my girls. That may have been the moment that I decided that life with a little boy was definitely going to be interesting and much different than with girls. But sweet Jesus knows that I would never take a million dollars for that boy. Two million, maybe...but not a million. Haha....again, kidding!! 

I am proud of the man, he is growing into and in the next couple of months (sooner if he would put his mind to it….Hello, Alex!) after 10 years of homeschooling, which has been quite the adventure and not the easiest adventure for either of us, he will be graduating from high school! I’m sure I will be back posting more about that later. For now, if you see this handsome boy of mine, wish him a very Happy Birthday!!