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October 2011 I found out I was expecting!!!

We did not  find out the sex, but we knew we would undoubtedly have the most beautiful little person...

I had a fairly easy pregnancy- emphasize on the word fairly...

He was born June 17, 2012... which was Father's Day.  I was due on June 1oth... that's ONE WHOLE week late.  I was miserable to say the least... 

Joe had lost his father (and I had lost a father-in-law, Ben a grandfather) a year and a month before I  gave birth.  I would have never thought during that week that there was a reason for Ben's "tardiness".  Looking back, I wouldn't change a second about that extra week we had to wait for him...Giving Joe his first son on his first Father's Day was the most amazing thing for so many reasons....

Ben was born with a heart condition {pulmonary atresia}...This means that one of the valves in his heart didn't open at birth.  There are multiple forms of PA.  We were lucky in that his heart grew properly while in my belly and even though we would have a year of monitoring and doctors appointments- our stress was minimal compared to the norm.

We were told during each appointment the baby had a beautiful & strong heart beat...We had no idea.

We spent ten days at CHOP {the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia} after he was born in the NICU where he had two procedures.  He is our little fighter & we love him just as much as you can imagine.  Because of our circumstance, I decided to stay home a little longer than planned.  Though it isn't easy, I already realize it was the most amazing decision I could have made.  I love being there for all his milestones (& of course taking pictures of them as we go).