A decade ago today

I became a mom, for the first time.

I had been on bedrest with Michael for a little while, because my blood pressure had gotten rather high. But they had me go in and get checked on the evening of the 4th of June, and it was high enough that they felt like Michael would do better being out than in. That meant he would be born 5 weeks early.

They started some pitocin at 7 pm that evening. In hindsight, I should have asked them to wait until the morning, since I was tired and had not eaten during the hours I had been at the hospital, which was not a good way to go into labor. I have to admit, I cried a bit. I had spent my whole pregnancy studying natural birth. I picked the hospital I did because they had tubs for laboring in. I had midwives. I knew all the issues with a pitocin-induced birth. And...the midwife on-call that day was not my favorite one. ;) I had it all planned in my head how it was SUPPOSED to go and it was a far-cry from what I wanted to happen.

I went without medication for eleven hours and finally, exhausted at 6 am (and super hungry and out of energy, since I had not eaten for nearly a day at this point), I got the epidural. Again, I cried, because it was not in my "plan." It didn't work very well, but it was enough to relax a little.

I started pushing at about 9:30 am and I was so excited! Yay! I was going to meet my son! But...10:30 came and went. 11:00 came and went...11:30 came and went...finally, at 11:55 Michael was born. He was a scrappy little guy, weighing in at 6 lbs. 5 oz. and he was 19.5 inches long.

I could hardly believe how beautiful he was. He was so tiny, but he had a really strong cry. The next couple days were a blur (probably due mostly to the fact I was still on a high dose of magnesium sulfate for the blood pressure, it made everything fuzzy and strange.)

Michael got home, and we quickly discovered he was getting VERY jaundiced and was not eating. (Why he left the hospital in the first place, I am not sure.) We spent nearly a week trying to get Michael rehydrated and his jaundice down. He was early enough that his sucking reflex was not totally there. He would not even take a bottle. So we fed him with a syringe. By a week old though, he was only 5 lbs. 5 oz. It was a really trying time.

At a week old, he stopped breathing and we called the ambulance. We went back to the hospital where he was born and after another apenic episode in the ER, he was admitted for a week. After a lot of tests, they figure it was reflux, but he was small enough that he couldn't spit the fluid all the way out and was choking on it. So we went home again with a bunch of monitors and some reflux medicines.

Poor Michael! I should have realized then that all of that was probably Heavenly Father trying to say, "Rachel, I know you like to have everything planned out in advance and be prepared, but really...just stop that now. Parenting is not like that." Michael has always been the strong one to pave the way for all of the other kids in the family. He's the one who has gone through the most "drama" as Darwin and I figure out how to deal with the unexpected things that kids do and as autism has become a part of our family. He's a resiliant kid, that's for sure.

I can remember the time that I could not find 18 month old Michael anywhere. I looked all over the apartment and finally discovered him on the highest bunkbed, with a pack of markers and he was coloring on the ceiling. Leave it to Michael to skip coloring on the walls and go right to ceiling-coloring.

Michael is such a good kid. His teachers and aides just cannot say enough good about him. He works hard, he is a great friend and he wants people to be happy. He's like a ray of sunshine.

What a decade it's been! The best one of my life, for sure. I am so grateful to have my Michael. We are so incredibly lucky to be his parents and to have him in our family. His curious mind and contagious excitement keep things interesting, for sure.

Happy 10th birthday Michael!