December 2004: Jeff and I were celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. We had decided to take a long weekend trip to Disneyworld by ourselves. Mom stayed at the house with Brendan, and we were off. As our gifts to ourselves, we bought annual passes to Disneyworld. We were planning to go again in March for Spring Break, so we would buy Brendan a pass then.
Jeff and I had so much fun exploring our favorite place! It was a very different trip without a kiddo with us. We missed him, but enjoyed spending time just the two of us.
Let's fast forward to January 2005... Due to my medical conditions, I wasn't very "regular" - so I would take a pregnancy test every once in a while just to be sure. My doctor had told me that it was highly UN-likely that I would ever get pregnant again, but there was always a VERY SLIM chance that I could. Well guess what? On January 4, 2005, I took a test and it was POSITIVE! I was half asleep, and had to blink a few times and shake my head in disbelief. And then I took another one. Same result. I couldn't believe it. By this point, I really didn't want another child. It had taken a long time for me to accept that I would have only one child, but I had done it. Now our world was being turned upside down. We were in shock.
Jeff was actually speechless! He did not say a word to me the whole drive in to work that morning. It was around 9:30 or 10:00 that morning before he spoke to me again. He was just stressing out about the whole thing! His biggest concern was the money issue. Obviously, it would cost more to have another kid. We just weren't prepared for that. Looking back on it now, I really feel guilty that I felt so bad about it. It didn't take long though to start getting excited about having another little person in our family. We would figure out the money thing somehow. In the grand scheme of things, the money was a tiny little part. We were having a baby!
The funny part about finding out we were going to have another child was discovering when he was conceived. I found a calculator online and put in my due date. The date of conception turned out to be December 4, 2004! Hmmm... That happens to be that weekend we were in Disneyworld! Jeff liked to say that Disneyworld was not only the "Happiest Place on Earth", but also the most fertile!
We waited a few weeks before we told Brendan about it. I wasn't sure how he would handle it, but he was great! He was excited about it, but told me that he wouldn't change any diapers!
August 22, 2005: We show up at the hospital at 9:00 to have a scheduled c-section at 10:00. We ran into several delays, and finally Jake was born at 3:28pm. I was awake for his delivery (unlike Brendan's), and there was some pain!! I remember the anestesiologist telling me that as soon as the doctors got him out, she'd give me the "good stuff". And she did! I heard him cry and then I fell asleep for just a few minutes. I was wheeled into recovery and then my room. One of our friends had picked up Brendan from school and brought him to the hospital. He was excited to meet his brother, but didn't get to that day.
Jake had a minor problem with his heart, so there were several hours after his birth that were spent running tests. They had called in the pediatrician-on-call to come in and check him out, but he didn't arrive until around 2am. I didn't get to see my baby until after that! AND, the worst part of it was that none of the nurses would tell me WHY I couldn't see him. It was awful! I was so upset after I found out the truth about what was going on that night, and I talked to my doctor about it. She spoke to the head nurse and then she came to see me. I let her know how stressful the situation was and that I hoped this didn't have to happen to any other mother!
I'm not a doctor, but this is what I know about what was going on with Jake's heart... There is a valve in the heart that typically gets closed during birth (it's supposed to). The pressure of going through the birth canal usually forces this to happen. Sometimes, with c-section babies, the valve doesn't close properly. Most of the time - at some point after the birth - it will close on it's own. In rare cases, the baby may need surgery to close it. Luckily for Jake, the valve closed on it's own within a day. In the end, he was perfectly healthy and we went home on time and he's had no other issues.
What an amazing little baby we had! He was adorable and so sweet. Brendan was so good with him. He was a proud big brother!
I am so blessed to have my two boys in my life. I love them both so very much and I can't imagine what life would be like without BOTH of them here with us. Life is good!
I love you Jake! You're 3!! What a big boy! Now, let's talk about potty training... :)
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