Seven Years Ago Today

After months alternating between fear and anticipation, and 15 hours of labor, I met my miracle. He was born at 9:05 am, and weighed exactly seven pounds. Although he made it to 38 weeks and was a healthy weight, he still was whisked away from me before I could hold him. For seven hours, I had no idea what was happening with my baby boy. I was taken to my room, and my only distraction was news coverage of a massive fire that had broken out at the newly built Santana Row shopping complex. And a nurse aptly named Charity. Charity came and sat on my bed and wrapped her arms around me and just let me sob. She stayed with me for quite awhile, and came back often. She got me through the longest seven hours of my life. Finally, at 4:00 in the afternoon, I was able to go to the NICU and see my beautiful Gabriel George. His heart wasn't working properly and he couldn't keep his oxygen levels up. Over the next ten days, we met with cardiologists, and Gabe and I worked very very hard to establish nursing. Not easy when your baby is too tired to wake up and has the muscle tone of a rag doll, which is exactly how he felt when we held him. After ten days, we were allowed to take him home, along with several boxes of oxygen and extra cannulas. Seven months later he had surgery to repair his heart.

And now, seven years later, he is the most amazing little human I have ever known. He loves music and dance. He loves his brothers, and has a particularly tight bond with his baby brother. If I dare show up to pick him up from school without Elijah, the first words out of his mouth are "Mommy? Where zha-zha?" He has no shortage of self esteem. He is quite in love with himself, really. He will dance in front of the turned off TV and watch himself in the reflection all day long if I let him. This June he performed in his seventh recital.
He loves going to school, and is on the cusp of reading.

There really aren't words sufficient to describe the love we share. He is an amazing miracle and I am so grateful he is mine.
I am, without a doubt, the luckiest mom in the whole world.