Happy 1st Birthday, Brady!

Last year on Brady's actual due date, July 24th, Zach and I were at the Hofbrauhaus to celebrate my brother's birthday. While everyone was doing "shot-skis," eating gross German food, and clapping along with the accordion player, I was in labor. Of course at that time I had no idea the discomfort in my lower back was the beginning stages of (very long) labor; I just thought the hard wooden benches were the worst place for a pregnant lady to sit!

That night, I slept soundly until about 4 in the morning. I woke up to use the bathroom and just felt...different. I waited until Zach woke up around 6:30 to tell him about it. He figured if we were headed to the hospital that day, he should take the dogs to the park to tire them out. He armed me with his stop watch and a "contractions chart" and instructed me to "Pay attention to how you feel and track everything!" He did a really nice job channeling our child birth class instructor; he said all of the right things :-) I wasn't too worried and assured him that not only would I be fine while he was with the mutts, but that he would be able to play in a golf tournament later in the day. WRONG!

When Zach came back about 40 minutes later, my contractions were about 8 minutes apart. (I remember this because I've saved said contraction chart and am looking at it while I type!) At that point, Zach called the guys he was supposed to play with and informed them that he wouldn't make it: he was having a baby!

While he preferred to follow me around the house, I asked him to give me space. He promised he would comply as long as I let him know when a contraction began and ended, so I ended up yelling, "STARTING!" and "IT'S OVER!" from each room of the house! I eventually got in the tub and watched my belly move with each contraction. Our "daughter" would be here soon, I was sure of it!

We left for the hospital around 12:30. My parents were going to a graduation party that was half way to the hospital, so my brother ended up riding with us. Poor guy: he was stuck with us for what turned out to be a veeeeery long time! Mike took over timing the contractions, Zach navigated through the construction and traffic in Oakland, and I wedged a softball between my back and the seat because the pain was getting worse and worse.

When I was finally checked out by a doctor, I was 5 centimeters dilated so they admitted me. It was around 7 centimeters that I agreed to an epidural. I was disappointed immediately in my decision, but the back labor was too intense and I wasn't prepared for it; I expected pain in the front, but not in the back! The whole family was there, Jen even stopped in, and I was glad I could appreciate their company. I remember Zach reading the board that listed the on-call nurses and telling me it was a "sign." The two nurses were Theresa and Julie, Zach's mom and aunt's names, but they weren't spelled the same. The difference? The H in Teresa and the E in Juli: HE. Right then, Zach said we were having a son; of course, I told him he was wrong :-)


By the time I was ready to push, my mom had begged to stay in the room with us. I had just wanted it to be me and Zach, but she can be quite persuasive when she wants to be! I pushed for about 3 hours, long enough for everyone to announce my child had blond hair, and then...nothing. Julie The Best Nurse Ever grabbed the doctor and explained that I had been trying for a really long time, to no avail. The doctor gave me about four seconds of her time and decided I would have to have a C-section. The exhaustion and sense of failure set in immediately, so I cried my eyes out, and then was wheeled in for surgery.

Julie, my favorite nurse!

During the surgery, Zach was by my side, holding my hand, and we were talking about names. He said we should decide on a boy's name, and we narrowed down our choices to Eli and Brady. All the while, I was still thinking Zach is clueless; Mia Rose would meet us any second now! At 3:30 am, the doctor introduced us to our SON, and I vividly remember slurring, "Liar! We're having a girl!" But low and behold, there was Brady Thomas Jankowski, all 8 pounds, 3 ounces of him. Our beautiful, blond and blue-eyed boy was here! He wasn't the girl or the Zach look alike that I had pictured over and over in my mind, but he was perfect and he was ours.

Our parents and our brothers were waiting for us when we were wheeled out of the OR. I'll never forget that Derek came directly from work (the Jonas Brothers concert!) at, like, 1 am, and then stayed to meet his nephew. Everyone else had been with us for FOURTEEN hours! Those memories mean so much to us. Brady was welcomed by his family and loved more than life itself from the second he came into our world.

In the short year that Brady has been with us, our life has changed dramatically; it is better than we ever could have expected. Brady makes us want to be better people. Zach is opting to coach closer to home, I've resigned from Riverview for an online teaching position so I can stay home with Brady (and future siblings!), and our family has been an amazing help and support system for us. I can honestly say that we have been truly blessed.

As we look back on his first year, we remember not the sleepless nights or bouts of crying that seemed like they would never end. We remember how much joy Brady brings us every day and how amazing it will be to watch him grow, learn to talk, and (eventually!) learn to walk! He's a great sleeper, a fantastic eater, and he's an incredibly happy kid. Overall, I'd have to say Zach and I aren't too shabby when it comes to this parenting thing. I'm ready to spread the wealth: Brady needs a sibling :-)

Happy First Birthday, Baby J.

Personalize your own slideshow

A New 'Do for Brady

Brady had his first hair cut today. It went really well! Gram, Grammy, and Uncle Mike joined us for the big event.Brady was well behaved the entire time. He smiled and performed for the small crowd that gathered around him. He laughed and applauded himself after each snip! There were lots of "awwws" for the kid today :-)


I'm going to miss his crazy baby hair, but as everyone keeps reminding me, it will grow back.


I played photographer/Cheerio distributor to help distract Brady. That worked for a bit, but at one point he swiped the beautician's comb as if he were taking over the operation! I guess there's only so much the flash of a camera and a snack can do.


Enjoy the rest of the pictures; some are from our outdoor lunch before his hair cut and the others are during the main event. The difference a few snips makes is crazy--he looks like a little man now, and quite frankly, I do not like it!!

More "Firsts" for Brady

In the last few days, Brady has really wowed us with some new tricks. In less than a week, he's learned the number one, begun clapping, begun pointing at things when we ask, "Where is the...," and if I'm not mistaken, he's saying, "Hi." Zach is foiling the "hi," but more on that later.

As his birthday (*sob*) is just around the corner, we've been asking him how old he'll be. It's pretty cool that he can answer us:
This morning during breakfast, he had four more bites of his fruit and I started counting down. When I got to "one," he actually held up one finger! I was surprised because I thought he only knew "one" in the context of how old he'll be. I was impressed to say the least.

He knows where the doggies and Elmo are, so he'll point those out to us. We asked him where Mama and Dada are, but so far, he's not sure. Nice to see where we rank with him. Maybe he's confused about Dada since every time I practice "Hi" with him, Zach takes it upon himself to yell out, "HOOAH!" I guess it makes sense that the kid is confused; he thinks his father is Al Pacino...


When we aren't playing with Brady (AKA: demanding he amuse us with tricks), he's busying himself with his favorite pastime, stacking and nesting cups, or more recently, climbing things. He climbed our entire flight of steps the other day, and when Zach was watching him so I could enjoy lunch with some gal pals, Brady climbed onto his bouncer and Zach found him face down, spread eagle on top of the thing.


We've officially begun the transition to milk. So far, so good. When he wakes up from his nap, he gets lunch with milk in his sippy cup as opposed to another bottle. We've only done this for a few days, but it's working well. Eventually, every bottle will be replaced with a sit-down meal and milk. While this is exciting, it's also overwhelming because it means that this kitchen-phobic mother has to create nutritious, Brady-friendly meals. Here's hoping I don't burn down the neighborhood.

Rewinding a bit, we celebrated the 4th of July with some swimming, early birthday gifts for Brady, and a family reunion.


Because my mom's sister's family will be on vacation over Brady's birthday, they graced him with some new clothes and an Elmo mailbox early. The gifts were very thoughtful, but Brady was much more interested in the bag and tissue paper.

On the 4th, we headed to my dad's side of the family for a reunion. It was so great seeing everyone! There were so many people, we had to wear name tags, but Brady didn't mind a bit.


The other day someone called Brady a girl. Zach heard. The first hair cut is scheduled for next Monday. After looking at some of these pics, I'm left wondering why we waited so long!