Best April Fools Ever...

A funny thing happened on the way to retirement, (we'll get to April Fools in a few) someone that flipped our world, as we knew it, upside down. A couple of years before Brian retired from the Navy he decided he should make sure that he took care of as many medical issues as he could (that the Navy would cover) so he had physicals, dental, etc. One of the best surgeries he took advantage of was corrective eye surgery (for free...right on!) The last surgery he scheduled was reproductive related...wink, wink. We had tried to have more than two kids without any success for many years and eventually nothing was happening at all. Just to be sure, Brian decided to take care of that permanently. He went to a mandatory all day meeting and was to schedule the surgery. Well...too late! I found out I was pregnant. Did some quick calculating our older boys would be 14 and 18 when this new little critter showed up. WOW!

Fast forward a few months. The surgery was definitely going to take place NOW! There would be no more surprises from this side of the Brentise family. So Brian scheduled the appointment 6 weeks before I was due. This way he would be very much recovered before I needed him. On March 31st he took care of his obligation. Our son, on the other hand, decided that he was done and was not going to wait 6 weeks. So in the wee hours of the morning on April 1st I was trying to NOT have contractions so Brian could continue his recovery. Let me tell you how NOT effective that was. Finally, had to cave and go to the hospital hoping they would stop the labor. My poor husband was being taken care of by nurses on the maternity ward and I was being injected with stuff that made me feel like I was on fire, and then something else that made me about shake off the bed...they did absolutely nothing for the contractions though. I kept apologizing to Brian because I felt so bad that I was making him be with me while he was recovering from his issue, but he kept reassuring me that he was certain what I was experiencing was more painful and to not worry about it. He's a good man!

Anyway, bright and early on April Fools Day our little man was born! He had a rough go of it for the first couple of weeks, (didn't realize that the heart beating thing was mandatory) but once he got the hang of it, we brought him home. He's been an incredible blessing to our family for the last 4 years and we wouldn't change a thing. OK, that might be a stretch...maybe a couple of things that happened along the way, but the boy is definitely a keeper. Happy Birthday, Kieran!