IT ALL BEGAN…

On the morning of Mother’s Day, May 12 1991. You all know how he left this dimension, here’s how he came here….

I woke up to go potty as any 8 month pregnant woman does first thing in the morning even tho she went all through out the night.

This time was a bit different though, it was like a scene from the Exorcist with Linda Blair standing there in front of her mother’s dinner party and pees right on the carpet! Only this time it was me and it was on my bedroom carpet! My water broke! Uh oh! I knew what that meant and I was pissed!

I was planning a home birth and now that wasn’t going to happen! I didn’t want to call my midwife to tell her my water broke but at a month early I knew I had no choice but to ruin her Mother’s Day.

I was hoping beyond all hope that I was mistaken and when the midwife checked me, she would tell me everything was ok and I could just go home. No such luck. I drove to the midwife’s office because I had no patience to give Martin directions. Crap! We needed to stop for gas dammit on top of all this! I pumped the gas and told Martin to pay. He offered to drive and pump the gas but I wasn’t having it. I just wanted him to do what I asked, ok I may have demanded it in a not so nice tone. I knew was I headed for a c-section and I was extremely upset about it!

After having a natural birth the first time I was looking forward to that moment again, that moment of watching my child making his way into the world and now I wasn’t going to get it! Now he was just going to be ripped out of me! DAMMIT!This was the one thing I knew I could right! Not only was he a month early, he was also breach. The midwife & I did all we could to get him to turn. Well, we had one more trick up our sleeves but he decided he couldn’t wait.

So after I receive the news that my water did in deed break, I drove to the hospital as well. I am rushed to maternity and I hear them say a c-section at 12:30p.m. I thought, “good, someone before me, I have some time to adjust to all this.” NOPE! That 12:30 p.m. was ME!!!! DAMMIT! Before I knew it I was hunched over in a room getting my epidural. The slight cramping I had went away, that was good. I’ve never had surgery before and this was happening so quick!

They wheel me into the O.R. and said they wouldn’t start until I was ready. Next thing I know they are pulling and tugging and I said “Hey! Hey! Hey! I didn’t say I was ready!” What the hell?? Before I knew it Andrew was here.

I thought, well on the bright side, I was looking forward to being more lucid when seeing Andrew because the first time I was exhausted from a 14hr labor and 2 1/2 hrs. of pushing with Elatia. At least I was awake and totally lucid!

I just couldn’t believe I was actually having another child! It had been just Elatia for nearly 10 yrs. I didn’t think I would have another child. I was so use to just having one. Two was mind blowing to me! AND a boy to boot?! I had no experience with little boys. Was I going to know what to do? Now I can’t even imagine never having had him in our lives. It’s hard adjusting to having just one child again.

What they don’t tell you with a c-section, is that as soon as the baby is born, they shoot you up with valium. All of a sudden my vision is blurred and I couldn’t focus, I thought I was having a stroke or something! It scared the hell out of me! I couldn’t see my new baby well at all! I saw him maybe 3 seconds and he was whisked away to the neo natal ward. That is the picture you see on the youtube tribute to Andrew video, my first 3 second look at him.

Then the Dr. tells me how great looking my intestines are!!! Seriously?? I asked him if he was hitting on me & wanted a date! What was that all about!? :-o But now as I start sliding into 50 I would love to hear that again! LMAO!
I didn’t get to see Andrew again until Monday night at 7:30p.m. Over 24 hours later! Yea, I did not deal with that well at all. A Wise One on a morphine drip, that I did NOT know I had, but the nurses kept clicking it hoping it would knock me out, is not a good thing! Even the Dr. asked about giving me more clicks but the nurses told him I was at the maximum! They clicked me all out! LOL Yet I was still a raving lunatic about seeing my son! It was yet another scene from The Exorcist, my head spinning and spewing pea soup! See? Me and drugs not a good combination! I don’t have the normal reaction with them.

I didn’t realize Andrew was on a respirator for 24 hrs. because his lungs weren’t fully developed even at 6lbs & they weren’t sure if he was even going to make it through the night! I thought they were keeping him because I had good insurance! That’s how crazy I was! Drugs do crazy ass things to me.

He was in hospital for 6 days, he had jaundice as well. It was a real struggle with his billiruben numbers. But after those 6 days?? He was right as rain! He wasn’t a sickly child at all! Never had anything major happen from then on…. until July 11, 2007

Here it is 17 yrs later and my son is not here with me physically anymore on Mother’s Day. I miss him so much today! He came here in the NICU and left in the PICU.

Tomorrow we celebrate the day he came to this planet and changed our lives forever and in ways we never imagined possible! Even though we didn’t get to have him with us for a long time, I am so grateful we had him for the 16 yrs that we did!

IT’S ALL GOOD!