April 9, 2008 is a day that my family and I will never forget. It was the day that my son Isaac was born. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a wonderful day full of family and celebration. My family celebrated his birth and many of them were there with us, but the circumstances under which he was born were anything but normal. His due date was June 12th, and he was born April 9th. He came to us over 2 months early. My wife had pre-eclampsia, a disorder that effects many pregnant women and is one of the leading causes of babies taken early by c-section. My wife’s body was poisoning itself, and her liver and kidneys were about to shut down. A fast decision had to be made to save my wife and my son’s life and so a c-section was done at 30 weeks and 5 days, making Isaac 8 to 10 weeks early.
Little Isaac weighed 3lbs 1oz when he came into this world screaming at the top of his tiny lungs. Everyone wants to hear their newborn baby cry, but that little cry was an answer to our prayers in so many ways. It was a cry that broke our hearts and made them whole all at the same time. We did not know then what a long, winding road we had ahead, but we knew he was alive and we knew he had the power to cry. That meant he had the power to breathe.
That first day, and really that first week was a blur. It was new terms, surroundings and issues every day. My wife was dealing with the physical pain of a c-section and the emotional pain of leaving the hospital without our son. I was wrapped up in taking care of my wife, handling family who wanted to see Isaac and carrying milk back and forth from where my wife was to the NICU. She was up and around after about a week and we had many people who stepped up and helped us, both family and friends. We met new friends too like the doctors, nurses, social workers and various other hospital staff and the staff at the Hospitality House of Tulsa, where my wife stayed for the 5 weeks Isaac was in the hospital.
The doctors said he was doing fine. He just needed to grow. We prayed for him and those caring for him every day and sat by him, held him when we could and brought in each new visitor who had come to see this tiny little boy. Of course, they oohed and aahed over him, but we knew they didn’t understand the beeps and bloops of the machines monitoring him or the pain that we felt each time we left the NICU.
As days went by visitors got fewer. It was really only our immediate family who visited a lot and soon all of us except my wife had to return to work. She was his constant in the final weeks of his stay, there every day to try to help as he began to take a bottle, got to stay out of the incubator for longer periods and finally moved into a crib when he could regulate his own temperature. There were many ups and downs during those weeks that are hard to remember, but the scariest moment of our lives was when they unhooked him from all the machines after testing to see if he could be in his car seat and said “He is yours to take home.”
So, we made the hour long trek from the hospital to the house watching his every move and wondering just what we were supposed to do with this now 5lb little guy. We had been told what to do and mostly what not to do by the doctors and nurses, but still it all seemed so unreal. We had to get used to the idea that he was actually ours and that he was going to be okay. We learned all of his ins and outs, when he needed to take a break from the bottle, when he needed to be held a certain way and when he needed to be bundled up because he was getting a little too cold. It soon became a routine and we settled in to doctor’s appointments, nights of little sleep and a baby who was defying all the odds and growing quicker than anyone could imagine. By his 6 month checkup he was almost caught up in every way. He has kept on with that and never looked back.
Isaac is now 3 years old and will be turning 4 this spring of 2011. I am attaching pictures so that you can see how far he has come and just how much he has grown and flourished. He is an amazing miracle of God’s grace and power, and we are thankful every day that he is here with us and able to enjoy everything that this life has to offer. Isaac loves life. He loves being outside, swimming, fishing and playing with everything from his dog to bubbles. He is already showing interest and acuity in many things that little boys do and he keeps us very busy with new discoveries every day. We do not take this for granted. We are truly blessed to have Isaac and my wife Ashley, happy, healthy and whole.
This blessing is why I am writing you. The reason we believe Isaac is healthy and whole is because of the hand and power of God. We will always give him all the glory for our little miracle. We know that our story is a good one. We know not all preemie families go home at 5 weeks and that some never go home at all. Our family has committed our lives to giving support to other preemie families and our hearts skip a beat every time we hear of another baby born too early and we do what we can always do, we hit our knees and pray that God would see them through and that he would allow us to help in any way we can. We are now expecting our second child in February of 2012. We are hopeful that this pregnancy will go to term, but we are praying that no matter the outcome, God will be glorified in the life and story of our family.
