Life Is Good: Day 7: Something Funny

Monday, November 7, 2011

Day 7: Something Funny

Day 7

Something Funny

With parenting, something funny happens everyday! Realistically it happens many, many times a day if you'll let it. Or maybe you just have to stop and find the "funny" in it. For example, this picture... The day it was taken I did not think this was very funny at all. I was less than a week home with my brand new baby boy, Evan. I was sore, tired and frenzied. I was still trying to figure out the whole breast-feeding thing and Evan was very picky. I was trying to just stay afloat as a new parent of two. Ryan was needy and Evan was needier. Wade had already gone back to work.

On this particular day I sat Ryan at the table with two pieces of bread, peanut butter and jelly, and a dull knife. I got him started on making his own sandwich. Evan was soon voicing his need for food too. I went around the corner to feed Evan. The doorbell rang! I jumped up to welcome the home-health guy (ugh!) with home bili lights in hand for my jaundiced newborn. I walked around the corner to find this! (See picture above). Ryan wasn't making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but rather a pb&j boy! Oh my! I left him at the table and offered a decent degree of threats that he MUST stay at the table until Mommy was through talking with this nice man. So now I have a slow-talking home health guy, new equipment to learn, a list of papers to sign, a screaming hungry newborn, sore leaking breasts, a new "light box" that I was to leave my sweet infant in all hours of the day and night except during feedings, and a three-year-old smearing peanut butter and jelly on everything!

Funny, huh?! Yes, it is. At the time...no. I probably even cried. But within a few days of this event I was laughing. Today as I thought about "something funny" for my day of gratitude I found myself looking at everything with a bit more joy. I laughed more. I enjoyed everything more. Did I loose my temper today? Yep, I did. Did I love my kids and all their little quarks and silliness a little more? You bet I did!

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Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander