He Walks, He Talks, He´s a Whole Year Old!
Posted on May 16, 2008 - Filed Under Kids |
One year and nine months ago today, a brand new little somebody started growing inside me. He was very unexpected, but he is very much loved!
After having a horrid pregnancy and an even worse birth experience with Dorian, I was thinking of not ever adding to the family again. Ever. But, with Dorian just 7 months old, a pregnancy test revealed that I was, indeed, expecting another baby. At first, I was pretty calm, thinking that it would be good to just get it all over with at once. Two kids, the perfect family within a year and a half and that would be that.
Then morning sickness hit. Dorian had surgery to reconstruct his anus at 9 months, I was 3 months pregnant. I wondered how on earth I would manage a brand-new baby and a toddler who had at least one more surgery ahead of him. There were a few breakdowns during the nine months, I have to admit.
The thing about a second pregnancy is that you really don´t have much time to think about the aches and pains and nausea. Your firstborn is there, tugging at your leg, asking to be picked up, wanting a story . . . Dorian distracted me and that second pregnancy flew by.
Thankfully, my friend Julie did a huge fundraising campaign that reached around the world to raise money for Dorian´s final surgery. He had it in January of 2007 and on May 16th, that same year, he had a brand new brother.
Originally, Dante was supposed to be born at home. I had a really lousy time at the hospital with Dorian, so I was determined not to go back. Dante had other plans. He just wouldn´t be born! Finally, my midwife, who´d been putting off gall bladder surgery, had to go in for surgery. And wouldn´t you just know it . . . I went into labor that very morning!
It was a day of cramps and pain, but nothing significant. I was desperate by the afternoon to get the baby out (did I mention I´m a lousy pregnant woman? No beautiful glow here!) so we headed to my doctor. He did an ultrasound and said I had to either give birth that night or have a C-section in the morning . . . the baby had no amniotic fluid left. He stripped my membranes to help things along and around midnight that night, I headed for the hospital.
To make a long story longer . . . once I got to the hospital, the interns there told me I was only ONE cm dilated! I´d been 4 earlier in the day, so I told them I was going home again. Against medical advice, we headed back home and I hung in there, pacing with Irving, for another 4 hours before heading back to the hospital. This time I was 6 cm. and at 5 am, Dante came into the world quite quietly, barely fussing.
The night he was born, only girls had been born . . . so the staff all gathered around and oohed and awwed over him and admired his blue eyes. Later that day, at one pm, Irving got the first glimpse of his second baby boy and it was SO special. We completely missed that with Dorian, because he was whisked away to observation and when Irving came in, he had to find a way to get the baby to the capital for his operation immediately. It was so stressful and neither of us got a chance to talk for nearly three days! So Dante´s birth was far easier and gave us those missed moments of admiring our newborn together in awe and counting tiny fingers and toes.
Today, Dante is a whole year old. It´s been a whirlwind year. I´m so incredibly happy that this energetic ball of attitude burst into our family and filled a space that we didn´t even know was missing. He´s a great little brother and a determined little person who is strongheaded and quite decided in what he wants to do. He´s walking and talking and he´s a whole year old!
Happy Birthday, Bubbity Boo!
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5 Responses to “He Walks, He Talks, He´s a Whole Year Old!”
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Happy birthday celebration…he is a beauty for sure.
Kimmie
mama to 6
one homemade and 5 adopted
Happy birthday little man… Hope you had a great day!!
Happy Birthday, Dante!
That was a really great post, Genesis. It’s great that you remember it all so vividly. Grant’s birth day was sort of a blur for me. I remember every detail of Grayson’s though. I guess we’re opposite on that.
Consequently, one of my favorite things to do when I’m at your blog is to admire Dante’s gorgeous eyes.
Belated Happy Birthday Dante! (He has the same name as my brother). I am so happy today — normally I can’t see your photos but there’s two photos visible to me now: the one with you carrying little dante and the two boys right after Dante was born.
I´m sorry you can´t see my other pics, Grace. Maybe if you look on my actual Flickr account?
http://flickr.com/photos/16989534@N02/
Thanks for reading even without the pictures!