Meet Jake Anthony: October 2010

Monday, October 4, 2010

Too Cute To Forget...

Well, the boy has certainly come out with some good ones these past couple of weeks. I have such a hard time remembering most of them, so I figured I better get some on here before I forget them all.

I was in the middle of a little project at home this past weekend and Jake kept wanting to help me with it. And as anyone who has a little one knows, HELP is truly a four letter word or at least leads to many of them said in a grumbly voice under one's breath when they offer and you find yourself trapped into accepting. Well, this time, I was not in the mood for any "HELP" and asked him to just go and find something to do while I got my little project done.

About 30 seconds later, I'm standing up on the chair, balancing the drill in one hand, a pencil in the other and a screw in between my teeth while holding a level against the wall and wouldn't you know it, I drop the screw and it bounces down onto the floor. So, I look to my left where Jakey is slowly exiting the room and then I look down at the screw slowly rolling across the floor. And he says in just the cutest little voice... "See momma, everyone needs a little help some times"

Today on the way home from school I handed Jake a new healthy snack for him to try. As he took the first bite, I had my fingers crossed and looked back to see the verdict and as is the case 90% of the time, it was a No Go. So, I said... "Oh come on Jakey, how can you not like that, it's so good?!?!" To which he promptly and matter of factly replied... "We all have different taste buds, Momma. Just because your taste buds like it doesn't mean that mine will too." Now WHERE did that come from?!?!?!?

I took Jakey to my college softball alumni game this past Saturday and after the game he wanted to see where I slept/lived when I went to school there. So, I took him up into one of the dorms that I lived in and we went in search of the exact room that I stayed in. Well, that door was closed, so I just walked down the hallway till I found an open door and said "here it is, my old room". Well, he took one look inside (and clearly this one was occupied by two VERY messy boys) and then looked at me with eyes WIDE open and said "you really lived in there, momma? So, why do you always tell me to clean up my room then if that's what your room looked like?" Needless to say, it was just about impossible to explain that although I lived in a room just like that, it NEVER actually looked like that. Note to self...pick a female dorm room next time!!! lol

After dinner the other night, Jakey proceeded to walk away from the table and into the family room to go back to a puzzle we had both been working on. So, he calls me to come in and finish it with him to which I reply, well if someone would come and clean up their dinner stuff then maybe I could come in and play. To which he was very quick to inform me that "that's a mommy's job...a kid's job is to eat, go to school, play and have fun" Funny, I guess I didn't read the fine print...

As most people know, one of very few things I miss since becoming a mommy is my sleep. I'm typically up very late during the week (case in point, the time of this post) and get up early to get us to work and school on time. So, on the weekend, I implemented a very strict policy from the time that Jakey was old enough to play by himself for a while where as mommy is not to be woken up until the clock say 10- 0-0 (yes, that's 10:00). I leave him breakfast and a puzzle or some other project to do and he's been able to work the TV remote since he turned 3, so he's usually all set with enough to eat to hold him over and enough to do to keep him occupied until he notices the time and comes up to announce that it is 10-0-0 and time for momma to wake up. Well, this past Saturday, he just didn't want to be downstairs by himself and so he came up to my room at 8-0-0, climbed up on the bed, opened my eyes with his fingers, and told me "momma, I want to renegotiate our deal so that you get up at 8-0-0 instead of 10-0-0!!" OMG, "renegotiate"...where the heck did that come from?!?!?! Needless to say, although it was a cute and very savvy attempt, momma vetoed that idea.

Well, those are just a few of the many, many things I've forgotten. And if you're wondering HOW I could forget these kinds of things, you just have to spend one day with the boy to realize that he talks NON STOP from the moment his eyes open to the moment before they close (when I threaten him with his life if he utters even one more word). Did I mention NON STOP?!?!?

That's all for now...

About Jake Anthony

Jake was born on Aug 19, 2005, he weighed a hefty 9lbs 10oz, was 22 inches long (before you say "ouch" it was by C-section) and was welcomed into this world by his mommy, nanny, pops, uncle JJ, LaLa, Aunt Bear, Aunt No-No, Aunt Amy, Aunt CC, Aunt Razz, Aunt Titi, Aunt GG and Aunt Tracey (soon to be Aunt Dana too). To say he was a "dream come true" would be the understatement of the century!!

I had always dreamed of being a mommy and for some reason, had always wanted a boy. (So much so, that I enrolled in the MicroSort clinical trial for gender selection and had the sperm sorted to increase the odds to 85%.) Jake was conceived using IVF and donor #1876 from Fairfax. The donor selection was a VERY serious process including a thorough analysis of every detail imaginable. In the end, the pool was narrowed down to four possible choices, and each of the Posse (his group of Aunts) had an opportunity to evaluate the bio and stats and vote for a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice. The votes were tallied and actually, there was a tie between the one we called "Giraffe" and the one we called "James" (because he looked a lot like my brother). For the initial attempt, I went with Giraffe, but after no luck with 2 AI cycles, I switched to "James" (1876) and transitioned to IVF.

The first IVF attempt resulted in 8 eggs, 6 of which survived the fertilization process and 5 of which made it to day 5. PGD testing revealed that there was only 1 healthy normal embryo in the mix and luck would have it, it was a boy! The pregnancy, however, lasted only 8 weeks before I was told it was a non-progressing pregnancy. After that VERY big disappointment and weeks of waiting (and a DNC...uggh), I had the opportunity to try again.

This time, I was rushed in at day 3 and told that the 3 remaining fertilized eggs would not make it to day 5. The absolutely FUNNIEST part of this whole story involved my mom. I had not planned to go to have the procedure on Day 3, so my mom and I had to scramble to get there. (I received the message so late that they actually had to stay open late for me and I had to drive up from South Jersey 3 hours to get there....talk about driving at the speed of light.)

So, my mom meets me and we drive up together and on the way up I tell her "mom, no matter what they say, I only want to put 1 egg back in. I'm having this baby on my own and we already have a strong history of twins in the family and I don't want to risk ending up with 3! Mom, I really need you to be with me on this because they always push you to put more in to increase the odds of success." To which she replied, yes, no problem, I understand."

So, we meet with the doctor and he says, you have 3 remaining embryos, we couldn't do the PGD so we have no idea if any are normal (let alone the sex), so I'm recommending you put all 3 back in. My eyes open wide and I say "ALL 3????" I turn to my mom and she says "I agree with the doctor"...LOL!! And before I knew what hit me, off I went into the surgical suite...

And the result, is the most lovable, adorable, smart little boy in the whole world...hope you enjoy reading about him even half as much as I enjoy raising him...