August 11, 2008

On mommy’s and my (first)anniversary, eight days after you were due, mommy had an appointment and they took another ultrasound to make sure you were still ok. You were so cute, and even though it looked like you were sleeping, you had a little pouty lip. The woman that helped with the ultrasound told us that you were going to be a big baby. They guessed that you would be about 9lbs 12oz, which is really big for a baby. They said if you got too much bigger, it could cause some problems, so after talking to the doctor, mommy and I decided that we would go to the hospital the next day, and they would induce mommy.

April-July 2008

Mommy and I moved back to America in April. Mommy started setting up doctor appointments, and soon after we got back we got to see you again through an ultrasound. At this point we found out that you were a little boy. We were excited, and started thinking about possible names for you. Mommy and I had already talked that if you were a boy, we were going to give you the same initials as me. Grampa Lewis, Robert Vincent Lewis, was named after his uncle (Roscoe Vincent Lewis) and I was named after my daddy (Randy Vincent Lewis) so we wanted to give you a name that started with a R. After reading through some name books, we narrowed down our list of possible names to three. We wanted to pick a name for you that was a good name and we wanted your name to have a good meaning. The three names we picked out were Riley, Rastus and Reuel. Mommy and I decided not to pick out a name for you until we got to meet you. When we got close to the day that you were due, I was really excited. I would carry my phone with me at work all the time, so that if mommy called me that it was time to go to the hospital I would be ready. I went with mommy to the last few doctors appointments before you were born as well.

January-March 2008

After we returned to Japan, mommy and I enjoyed getting to know you better. Even though you were still in mommy’s belly, we would both talk to you, and after a while you would acknowledge us, by kicking. At first I called you Itty-bitty, but as time passed I came up with some other names for you. Some of the names I called you by, while you were still in mommy’s belly, were itty-bitty, little-tyke, buddy and other names like that. As mommy’s belly began to grow bigger we both became more excited to meet you. Mommy was sick sometimes, and so I would get up early in the morning to make breakfast for her. If she ate breakfast before getting out of bed she usually didn’t get too sick. By the time that the school year was ending, mommy and I told the other teachers at our schools about you and they were very excited. It was sad for mommy and me to leave our friends in Japan, but we were very excited to get back to America and get to meet you a few months later. One time, right before leaving Japan, your mommy and I went on a little vacation to Hiroshima, Kyoto and Tokyo. One time when we were on a really fast train, mommy said something really funny to me. She said “Do you ever wonder if it’s your stomach of if you can feel the baby moving?” We got a good laugh out of it later, and in case you are wondering I said I never had wondered that.

Christmas 2007

Mommy and I went back to America for Christmas break. At that time mommy had a doctors appointment, and they told us that you were really small, but you were growing and healthy. We also decided to wait until this time to tell your grandmas and grandpas that they were grandparents again. Soon after we got back to grandma and grandpa Hershbergers we told them, and your aunts and uncles that you were going to join our family. They were all really excited to meet you. We had to wait several more days to tell grandma and grandpa Lewis. After Christmas mommy and I went up to New York to visit your other grandparents and when we were opening Christmas gifts we gave a picture book to grandma Lewis. She was looking through it, and on the last page there was a picture of you in mommy’s belly. They were really excited too. When mommy and I went to grandmas and grandpas church the next day, grandma had already told everyone about the good news.

December 8, 2007

The news that I was a daddy was still very new for me. Mommy was making sure to get extra rest so that you would grow strong, and I was starting to wonder what you would be like. Would you be a boy or would you be a girl? Would you have brown eyes like mommy, or blue eyes like me? Would you be short, or tall? A lot of questions were in our minds. We were excited that God had given us you as a gift, and we were also wondering if we would be good parents. After a Christmas program at the Japanese kindergarten, we had some free time in the afternoon before we were to meet with our bosses. As soon as we found out that mommy was pregnant with you we told our bosses so that they would know. We wanted to make sure they were prepared, in case mommy had to go to the doctors or anything. When they found out that mommy was pregnant, they said they wanted to have a meeting with us. At the meeting they told us that we would have to go back to America at the end of the school year in April. It was a happy time for mommy and me, because we were going to have a baby, but it was also a sad time for us because we were going to have to leave some of our friends in Japan.

November 22-23, 2007

It was a chilly fall day, and your mother and I were at our apartment in Japan. Both of us had been feeling pretty worn out that week, and so we had tried to get some extra sleep each night. By Thursday, which was Thanksgiving back in America, I was feeling back to normal but mommy was still sleeping a lot. That evening mommy went to bed early, and she didn’t wake up until 10 o’clock or so the next morning. She was awake for an hour or so and then went back to bed for a couple more hours. I was concerned that she was really sick, but she said apart from being tired she felt fine. After talking for a little while, mommy thought maybe she should use a pregnancy test to see if she was pregnant. She used the test, and told me to wait a few minutes and then check the results. After giving it a few minutes I checked but I wasn’t sure about the results. There were two lines showing, but one of the lines was really light. I told mommy what I saw and she almost shouted “there are two lines!!!!????” With that we found out that we were parents. We wouldn’t get to meet you for another eight months or so, but God had given us a little baby.