Zachary William......

On October 15, 1989 I went into preterm labor. Doc put me on bed rest from milking the cows. By this time I was exhausted from being pregnant. (Or just plain exhausted) I was ready but baby was not.

Doc kept me overnight in the hospital for "rest" and to watch the contractions. Rest I did not get. First of all strapped with a fetal monitor then the "midnight roomie".

With the midnight roomie came a very obnoxious mother. The short-lived roomie was a 15 year old whiny mommy-to-be. Mom was mad and the entire hospital knew it too. She was as rude as that night was long.

After the entire floor was awoken the mother was asked to leave for the night. Then the scurrying began. (You know those curtains really need to be sound proofed!!!) I heard it all as they ran back'n forth past me with all the stuff they needed to rid this 15 year old of her head lice right then and there. The infested whiny roomie fought then every step of the way too.

I was freaked out to say the least! Finally my nurse moved me to another room so I would get the rest I was in there for. "Rest" eluded me as I spent the rest of the night itching!!! Eeew.

I was so glad to be going home the next day to some sleep and rest! That lasted for a day.

The next morning I awoke with the stomach flu. Laying down with bucket action. Not only was it me ill but when lil Dirkie woke up and had to be super curious what mommy was doing in the bucket he instantly joined in the sickness madness.

Thanksgiving came and I waddled like a turkey and looked like I swallowed one whole too!

On Saturday night we went out for pizza with some friends. Of course I ate the spiciest kind there was. Our friends were hoping to be taking home with them Maria and Dirk while we headed to the hospital as I was nine days overdue at this point. But ...nope!

We lived close to an hour from the hospital so when I went into labor as soon as we arrived home from the pizza parlor we packed and got ready to head in.

Labor progressed real well. Hard and steady. There was no catching a nap between those contraction. It was an all-nighter! Exhaustion and delivery dont go well together. Then giving birth twice...draining! The baby's cord was wrapped around his neck twice. Doc had to be swift and sure to get it unwrapped. Literally I gave birth to this baby twice. Enuf said.

Zachary Blaine - 7 lbs. 15 oz. with strawberry blond curls and bright blue eyes was born at 6:32am on November 26.

Upon delivery Daryl and Zachary Blaine were sent to the ICU. The nurses kept me up to the minute on his status. All checked out fine.

After we had named Zachary we had a change of heart. My father had passed away seven months prior to Zachary's birth so we changed his middle name to my father's middle name-William. We already had the "ch" in there for Rochus. So the nurses were on a scramble once again as they had already sent down the paperwork.

We had been right once again when naming the pregnancy "Hermie" for it was a boy! The nickname stuck as still to this day I call him it. He does NOT like it at all. For years only I was able to call him by it. The last while he has been trying to wean me of it but it just pops out whenever I say his name!! I get in hot water alot for it.

The weather turned ugly while we were in the hospital. We got very little company as it was an ice storm. Daryl couldnt leave the dairy farm. I got the rest the doc ordered a month earlier.

Maria and Dirk met their new lil brother at home as they didnt make it to the hospital due to the weather.

Zach was a content little guy til he was one month old. Then he was up all night being cranky. That was the start of the four long months of colic he endured.

We tried everything to help this lil guy. Everyone had different advice. Nothing helped.

To get away from it all I would go out and clean the barn after Daryl milked while he tried his magic with the baby. Then I would feed him while Daryl did the rest of the chores.

Then when he needed a break he would take the baby again while I went out and cleaned the stall barn with the skid steer. The routine worked for both of us.

Then the day came that I was at the end of my rope. Something had to change for this screaming unhappy one moment and happy as ever the next moment baby. You never knew when you could leave the house as you never knew which moment he would start up. That day I called my friend and asked her how to bottle feed a baby. (I was on a dairy -free diet but we now wonder if I should of been on a wheat free diet too.) I was physically and emotionally drained. She gave me a list. When Daryl walked in to have me walk out to clean the barn instead I was ready to head to town with list in hand.

Daryl had to feed him for three days as he would not accept a bottle from me. But the first night he already slept a longer period than he had in months. Then he became our happy smiley lil bouncing baby boy. Formula didnt agree perfectly to his tender tummy either. He spit up more food than he ever kept down.....or so it seemed. But he was a growing boy with sparkling blue eyes.

Then he got sick. Doc told me over and over it was a virus. This went on for six weeks.

Our church at the time had done some remodelling and had recovered the pews. He was napping on the pew and woke up vomiting all over the brand-new pew. The next morning Zachary was up earlier than normal fussing and feverish. Took him to his doctor appointment. That doc noticed the bright red spot on his bottom that was not there when I bathed him that morning. He ended up in emergency surgery for an abscess. He spent a week in the hospital on IV antibiotics and being pampered by adoring nurses. .

At the time of his surgery his favorite toy was a toy hotdog. He could chew away on it and bang with it constantly. He would not let go of that hotdog the entire time he was sick and in the hospital. Pretty much the only time he didnt have a tight grip on that hotdog was during surgery.

He turned out fine through it all. Being he was now a well and happy baby Daryl liked to take him with him everywhere he went. He took him to the field and put a car seat in the swather. Zachary, of course, LOVED it! Daryl was determined to take him to farm sales with Dirk and Maria too.

Zach was always quite the lil go-getter. At 10 mos old he and I flew to Seattle. He was a good lil guy on the plane for a kid that never sat still or in one place ever. Prior to boarding I would wear him out by letting him push the stroller up and down the corridor.

The day after we arrived home he started walking (running) at 10 months old. He was hard to keep up with! (Still is!! Always on the go!)

He was his daddy's shadow. We had to be very creative in how we directed his attention away from knowing whenever Daryl was leaving. He thought he could go along every time!

Zach was the easiest of all the kids to potty train. If all he had to do was go pee or poo and then he could go outside by his dad then "lets git r done already"! Of course, he also thought every time he did the deed he got to go outside by his daddy too.

When Daryl went into the truck it was devastating to him (2 1/2 yrs old). He missed his daddy sooo much. He was more than excited to go in the truck on the weekend runs Daryl had. Or when baby Tessa and I had pneumonia and he got to spend a week in the truck. (Tho Daryl wished he was in diapers yet as he had to stop alot!!)

When he was yet a wee bit of a kid with his light blond curls and lively twinkling blue eyes he would tell quite the stories. He would babble on and on. Never could make much sense of it all but boy was he determined for you to hear him out. The grocery store lines took longer than usual as he had an audience. You always knew where he was in the store as he was always telling someone about his latest exciting tale. He still has a big imagination to this day which is a great thing. Without it he would not have succeeded in restoring his 71 Chevy pickup at the age of 14-15 yrs old.

Zach's first job was working at a local repair shop. He did the cleaning. During the course of his work day he smashed his finger. Thankfully the owner was an EMT as thats when we learned Zach's faints dead away and hyperventilates when in extreme pain. That would be his first trip to the ER with more to follow.

It wasnt til Zach was 16 years old that I realized how picky of an eater he is. He is very picky about fruits and veggies getting in the way of his meat'n pasta(bread)! Pepperoni pizza should be on the top of the food pyramid as far as he is concerned.

Recently he was telling us how others just might eat weirder stuff than I serve. "Like twigs or branches like stuff". And he does.not.like.it. For the life of me I could not figure out what he was talking about. Then I did a little research....its wild rice that the kid detests!!!!

Tho he does brag about the egg salad that I make for him.

Zach is seldom without a smile. He never had to be told on picture day at school to "show your pearly whites".

He has always kept life very interesting. He is becoming more like his father ever year. They "think and plan" alike.

Watch out world!

Here he comes!

He will arrive in a flashy vehicle of some sort or another. And it will be sparkly clean inside and out!

Have a great 20th birthday, Zach!!!

We all love you dearly!!