Friday, January 8, 2010

A New Year, a New Life



Somebody innocently inquired whether our family had a good holiday season. I responded "Yes, it was good. Just one I'd never like to repeat."

Our holidays/vacation were great, fantastic, wonderful, good, blessed, and miraculous. They were also frustrating, scary, noisy, frantic, unexpected, lazy, housebound, and sometimes boring.

While I did expect our lives to change in many ways this upcoming year, I didn't expect that these changes would come on the morning of the first day of the year. Before breakfast.

Back in June I wrote this post about changes coming in my life. I had just found out I was pregnant and could see that many things in my life would be changing. First we needed a bigger car (see this post). Second, I was very sick for a couple of months and fell off the blogging bandwagon for a while. Third, I found out that I would likely have pregnancy complications.

I learned that I would almost surely need a C-section (never needed one before). I also learned that I would probably spend the last 6-8 weeks of my pregnancy on bedrest. I figured that at least I was armed with this knowledge. Then I had complications that put me on partial bedrest beginning Dec 6. I had no more problems and so was permitted to make the trip to Utah for Christmas.

We drove back from Utah on Dec 27. I went into the hospital Dec 28 (severe complications). I spent a few days there and was doing well enough to be considered for discharge to go home to COMPLETE BEDREST. All parties decided that spending the full week in the hospital before going home would be the best plan.

Friday morning, while I was filling out my breakfast order (never to be submitted), I had more complications. It was 7:10 am 1/1/10. My Doctor was requested, and by 7:45 she and I agreed I should have the baby ASAP. I called my husband while being prepped for surgery. I had about 15 minutes alone while I was waiting to actually begin to stress out. I went into surgery at 8:53. My little boy was born at 9:17.

8 weeks early. Large for his gestational age (but not fat). Breathing not very well at all. Grumpy about being taken out of his very comfortable home. Born nonetheless. Expected to grow up healthy and strong.

So here come my changes. Not exactly what I had in mind. My life is going to be different than I predicted. I still have a baby, but he didn't come home with me. I am not spending the first 6 weeks of the year in bed, I get to spend it going to the hospital everyday to see my boy. Tiger and Blanket get a "back to normal" mommy before they have to learn to live with a little brother.

I am sure that this year will be filled with doctors appointments and other related activities.
I am sure my little boy who spent 4 days learning how to breath will dazzle me with his milestones all year. We live at 6000 ft elevation and today (one week old) he breathes without assistance.
I am sure the month my baby is in the hospital will actually be one of the best all year. What other time do you get time to spend alone with your baby and there are no other things to focus on?
I am sure my bigger boys will love that brother of theirs the way only brothers can.
I am sure Tiger will be glad he got a brother even though he really wanted a sister.
I am sure I can't foresee everything.
I am sure there will lots of bumps and challenges along the way.

This is the new year. Welcome, my new life.

11 comments:

Jewelz said...

Congrats on your sweet little boy. You have a wonderful way of expressing yourself with all that has happened and all that is to come. I'm so happy that we have a new little boy in our family and that he is doing so well despite his early arrival. I look forward to meeting him!

Jenny said...

I'm glad to hear that he's breathing without assistance! Thanks for posting the pictures. He looks like his brothers.

danandcami said...

He sure is cute. I am glad that one week old and is making good progress. I am glad you can count your blessings among your trials. I hope that all continues to go well. Kisses to Oliver from Australia!!

Skye said...

What a cute kiddo. I am glad that he seems to be doing well considering the circumstances. Good luck with three, sounds like quite the adventure.

Rosalyn said...

Alex, my sister's first was born at 29.5 weeks--he's six now, and you would never know he was born so early. My daughter was also 5 weeks early, so she spent two and a half weeks in NICU. I found it an unexpected blessing, because I was able to recover physically before bringing her home, her brother had more time to get used to the idea of a new baby before she was around all the time, and we were able to make sure she was healthy and nursing (did you know that most babies don't know how to suck until 37 weeks? If you're breastfeeding, don't expect your new baby to figure it out for another 4-5 weeks . . .) before she came home.

That's not to say that going to the hospital multiple times a day and having to get up to pump in the middle of the night wasn't its own kind of stress, but I think you're right to focus on the positive things. Good luck!

Osborn6 said...

He is adorable!!! Thank you for posting. You write so eloquently. I look forward to hearing more about life in the comic strip.

Birrd said...

Oh, he is just beautiful! Congratulations! And I'm glad everything worked out as well as it did. It must have been a wild ride.

Johanna said...

Congrats! I am so glad he is improving. Just make sure you take care of yourself amidst all the craziness that comes with having a baby in the hospital and being post-partum. I wish you the best.

Jenni said...

Congratulations!! He is beautiful! I'm so glad he doing well. I wish you and your family the best as you go through this stressful time.

Cindy said...

Congrats. Hope he is stronger everyday!

The Boohers said...

You should save that pacifier so he can see how tiny he was. Those pacifiers are not very big, and it looks gigantic in the pic!