Thursday, April 1, 2010

Let me interrupt this programming...


To wish my baby a Happy 4th Birthday! And it's not an April Fool's joke!

My youngest started out life like this:



At 12:09am on April 1, 2006, he was immediately rushed to our local children's hospital because of a congenital heart defect -- Tetralogy of Fallot. He was monitored there for 3 days to make sure he was stable before we could bring him home.

5 weeks later, he looked like this:



He had open heart surgery at 5 weeks, and was hospitalized for two. We nearly lost him immediately after surgery, due to "post-op" complications. After 48 hours of Hell, he turned the corner.

Now he is this:



As a parent, you never LOVE one child more than another, but when you've been on the edge of life and death with one of them, there will always be something "different" about my baby that makes him extra special.

Momma loves you!

4 comments:

Suey said...

Cute! Happy Birthday to him! :) I have a picture of my baby #1 that looks nearly identical as your top picture here. He was born 4 weeks early, and then had all sorts of complications. We never had something as traumatic as heart surgery, but the respirator did puncture a hole in his lung which they had to fix fast. It was a nightmare. He ended up staying in the NICU the entire 4 weeks. He is now 20 1/2 years old and on an LDS mission!

Jacqueline said...

Happy birthday to your little one - you've been quite blessed.

Booksnyc said...

wow - That must have been a very scary time in your life. I am sure it makes the celebration on his bday all the sweeter! Enjoy!

Stephanie Soper said...

well, I can attest that he's one terrific kid -- it was so nice to meet him and see how bright and funny and strong he is, just like his mom and dad!