Our oldest is now 21 years old – how did all those years go bye that very fast? I remember his birth like it was yesterday. I was shopping when the first contraction hit – and it came in fast and strong from that very moment. I was two weeks over due with him {we went two weeks overdue with all of our boys}.
And I was so very young….back then I thought I knew it all!!! Ha if only I knew then what I know now! As a young Mum I had to face a lot of “looks” when out and about – I was only 20 when I gave birth to him. And the area I grew up was not the best to raise a baby.
And I had to fight to be able to have my baby – there was a “family” meeting with my side of the family and they all thought I shouldn’t be having him and asked me to not go through with the pregnancy. Luckily I am so head strong and I follow my heart – no-one was talking me out of having my baby.
I always wanted to be a Mum – nothing was more important to me then having my family, and its still the same. His labour was 24 hours long – and so very painful. I remember saying to the nurses “Oh I don’t want to do this anymore, I am going home now” – they all laughed and said you have “your arm band on, and you are checked into the hospital so you can’t back out now”.
He was born with so much black hair -and he was a good size for a first baby – 81bs 15oz. The doctors kept on saying to me {with my pregnancy checkups} to stop eating Vegemite Sandwiches cause I was getting too big each time I had a Hospital appointment….I laughed cause I really hate Vegemite!
He was born exactly 24 hours after the first contraction {I started the labour on a Thursday} – at lunch time on a Friday!
I was so very sore after having him {so many stitches cause they had to cut me big time to help get his head out} and couldn’t sit down for weeks. I also couldn’t breastfeed him too well and ended up going back and forwards to the hospital with mastitis – that went on for two months and then I couldn’t take the pain anymore so we had to half breastfeed and half bottle feed.
Starting A New Life ::
When he was five days old we were discharged from Hospital.
I was so excited to be going home with him….as a new Mum who never experienced any difficulties through nine months of carrying him I didn’t think anything would happen…
But I turned my back for a second
I was only putting his “Gifts” away in to the draws {we were given heaps of baby clothes} and I had placed him in his pram. He was sleeping, and I was only cleaning up getting ready for bed.
But something felt wrong. Something felt so very wrong and I decided I had to turn around to check him….
So I turned around and he was Blue. I grabbed him up in my arms and I was screaming.
I don’t remember much of how long the ambulance took to turn up, I don’t remember who gave him mouth to mouth and which friends turned up to help – all I can remember was crying so much.
And the ambulance drivers took him and we rushed to hospital.
Where they placed him in Special care with lots of monitors on him. I don’t know how long we stayed in hospital but nothing was noticeable or happened while were there.
Then we had to drive into Sydney and see a “Sleep Specialist”. I was exhausted, I still had a drip in my arm for the Mastitis infection and I was in so much pain, my temps were climbing every day and they were trying to work out how to bring them down.
We left the Children’s hospital in Sydney. And I stopped at a Bank to fill out paper work for his Birth Certificate – I was only gone for a few minutes when I came outside there was an ambulance and a Doctor working on him {the doctor was riding his bike past – on his way to work – when he had seen what was going on} He had stopped breathing again.
We were taken back to the Children’s Hospital where we spent the next three weeks {or was it four?} going under every test to find out what was going on.
He had Sleep Apnea. We were all taught CPR, we were given a Breathing Monitor and we were finally able to go home.
That Breathing Monitor became his lifeline.
It went off every night. Sometimes 12 times a night. Sometimes only once a night.
We hardly ever had a good night sleep.
And if someone who smoked was to either Pick up our son or touch him – that was a bad night ahead – where he would constantly need to be gently shaken to either wake up, or we would have to sit with him up right in our arms all night long.
Around 10 months of age he had his last Sleep Apnea study done in the Children’s Hospital. It was the last time we used his Sleep Monitor. His test results came back that he will always have a touch of Sleep Apnea but that he will slowly outgrow how many times he will stop breathing in the night.
The Sleep Specialist did say that he could NEVER ever smoke, Not to gain more then 20 kilos of weight for his Body/Height. And to not drink excessive amounts of Alcohol – wished the Sleep Specialist would speak with him on that one! The Alcohol could relax his body way too much and he could slip into a deep sleep and not wake up.
He has grown up so much….and done so much….and seen so many amazing places.
So I can’t share his name online, I can’t tag him on facebook or I get into trouble, I can’t share pics on FB or I have take them down, and I can’t wish him Happy Birthday in Person cause we are different states but I can share his gorgeous baby photos here {after all this is my blog and he is my baby I never ever listen to anything that I should/shouldn’t be doing!!!}
And I carried him for 9 1/2 long months, I birthed him after 24 hours of pain, and I had so many times of fighting to keep him alive! So I have memories, and I have pics and I have so many years of watching him grow up into a very fine man.
He loved his “Clown Slippers” – they had a bell in the end so every time he kicked his feet they would make a noise!
Actually the only time he was in his cot was for Pictures – He co-slept with me and mostly had to be kept upright as much as possible because he had Reflux and would choke on his milk when he was sleeping.
This Christening Gown has been in the family for generations – It was from my late Grandma side of the family! I wished I had used it for the rest of my boys.
Oh I loved him so very much as a baby – He was the light of my life. Its really freaky looking at how many “Sailor Outfits” he had as a baby and now he is in the Navy???
He was so very loved by all that was in his life when he was born, he was such a beautiful happy Baby – I got told so many times “Oh isn’t she beautiful” – I would smile and say Yes he is.
He walked Ran at 10 1/2 months of age.
He couldn’t eat Mangoes as a Baby without throwing up all day long.
He never slept through the night until he was 17 months of age {gosh was I exhausted by then!!!}
He hardly ever gained much weight each week at his Baby Checkups and I would have to watch for wet nappies to make sure he was eating enough.
He couldn’t lay down flat for a very long time because of his Reflux – oh gosh could he Chuck from one end of the room to the other end of the room.
He had to have speech therapy when he was younger because of his Reflux he couldn’t chew his food and that affected the way he formed his words.
He was always into mischief all of the time! He would escape with his Puppy Dog and we would have to find him!
At primary School he got into trouble all of the time – I would know who was calling on the phone to have a word with me {the Principal} and try to work out what to do with him in regards to how much trouble he was getting into. And the only way he got into so much trouble was because he was the loudest out of his bunch of friends so the teachers noticed him first!
He was also bored in the last year of Primary School – He so should have gone to highschool! In QLD primary school includes year 7. In NSW High School starts in year 7!!
Mind you in Highschool he was only there for the Social Aspect, The Girls and the Sports. He never studied and barely scrapped through with exams. He was so upset when we moved away from the area and couldn’t do year 11 and year 12 because that meant he would miss out his Year 12 Formal!!
But that all turned around when he entered the Navy. He tried so very hard in the Navy – He went through Basic training, and then aced his Exams at the end of his 12 weeks of Study – He was Dux of the Intake and Dux of the Course – gosh we were so very proud.
Which goes to show – If you want something bad enough you will do anything to get it. And he has ever since. We as his parents are so very proud of him. We have seen him grow, change, develop, explore, achieve, be strong and is so determined. We are so grateful to have him in our family and we wished with all of our hearts that we could spend the day with him!
Now we get to see the next part of his life as he moves forward to more goals….we can’t wait to see what happens to his Navy Career {It would be so cool to see him study and move up the ranks}, and to see him grow again as he moves forward with his life plans – of course I can’t share what he is doing exactly or I will never hear the end of it!
We thought he was a very gorgeous baby when he was born, we thought he was a very cute mischief trouble maker when he was going through primary school, we have been there to support him in his dreams and we will always be there for him no matter what happens.
Even when he forgets his Brothers Birthdays!!!!
His younger brothers really look up to him and he has set the bar high for them to live up to. His funny, cracks the most funniest jokes and boy can he embarrass me when we are out driving around {down in Kangaroo Valley he embarrassed the crap out of me big time – screaming out the window at Sheep!!} But I can give it back – remember the time when you….{no I better not share that one here!!}
Happy 21st Birthday to Our Son. Wished we were there to celebrate the day with you, we love you heaps.
We are so proud to say we are your Parents.
We are so proud to say that we helped you become the man you are today – your Dad helped you shape you so much {you need to thank him for being so tough with you!!!}
So very grateful that I fought hard to have you, fought to keep you and have you as part of our family. Wished our babies wouldn’t grow up so fast!
Why Does the Time Go Bye Far Too Fast?
Cheers
Lisa
New Life on the Road
Oh Wow. What a story. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard those early weeks must have been for you. WOW.
Caz Filmer recently posted..Guess who was made a finalist {Kidspot Voices Of 2015}
Yeah its hard to imagine not having our son with us – so very grateful he is here 😉
Nice Blog . Thanks for sharing this post.