Jack

I believe that things happen in our lives for a reason, whether it be the hand of God pushing or pulling us to do things or fate, or whatever you want to call it...I rarely believe in coincidences. Monday night for some reason I decided to call the NICU and find out when the nurses we had known were going to be working. Dylan was just being so happy and smiley and such a miracle that I thought it was high time I made a visit to "show him off." I planned my trip to Joplin for Thursday morning. As I was walking in the hospital and going up the elevator, holding my now "perfect" child - I can say that because I'm his Mom - the emotions overtook me and I was all teary eyed. I walked into the NICU and reintroduced ourselves to the staff. Some remembered pretty quickly who Dylan was, but we reminded everyone of our ordeal and I think most of them remembered him. As we were standing there ooohing and aahing over happy Dylan (and he was watching all these silly women talking to him with curiosity), a woman who had just finished the ritual handwashing of the NICU asked about our story. She said she couldn't help but overhear and asked about his situation. Trying to be brief, I explained he was born full term but came out with an APGAR of 1. Since she was a NICU visitor, she recognized the importance of that fact. Another nurse had held Dylan in front of a room of the NICU and said to the parents inside, "See, it will be okay (or something to that effect)." I quickly realized and was told that they had gone through a similar situation as Dylan. Of course, I wanted to speak to this mom.
Sadly, I realize now I didn't catch her name, but the important thing is her son's name is Jack. God had a plan for Dylan and me today. I talked to Jack's mom and found out that Jack also had a rough delivery. He was born around 8lbs 7oz and full term just like Dylan. Jack's mom pushed for 2 1/2 hours (which is how long I pushed with Zach oddly enough) but had no luck getting Jack out. Since his heart rate dropped, they decided they needed to do an emergency C-section - sound familiar?- and out came Jack. His head was bruised due to the pushing and it seems like this caused some trauma to Jack. From the information I got, it seems he had seizures similar to Dylan. The true blessing was I got to tell this Mom it can be okay!!!! I was so glad I could tell her. I so wished I could have had a Mom who had been through it first hand tell me it CAN be okay. He CAN be "normal", you CAN have your perfect baby still. I can't say you WILL because we just don't know all the answers, but I can say it's posssible...there IS HOPE! HOPE is such a strong word and feeling and it's all you need or want some days when you're sitting there looking at your little baby struggle. My words were nice, but the best part was Dylan. He was there as a shining example of how great Jack's future can be! The one thing that I won't forget was the "handwashing woman" looking at Jack's Mom and with this tone saying, "His APGAR was a 1." To me, that said it all. They knew and we knew with just those words what a miracle he was and what awesome miracles are possible.
Of course, I shared tears with Jack's mom (b/c you all know me and I'm never short on tears!). I think the real power was in sharing a similar situation. When you are in the NICU with all the preemies, you kind of feel lost with your "monster" 8lb baby. You are so happy that they are strong physically, but you just don't know the rest. And the situation we are/were in happens, but it doesn't happen as often as preemies. If you have a preemie, you have so much more information on what to worry about, what to look for as they develop, heck you even have your own formula if you need it. Our situation is so different and each baby in this situation is so different, it's just scary at the time. So as much as I shared tears, I hope I can share understanding as well. Jack's Mom, I hope you're reading this (of course I gave her my blog address) and please contact me with updates on Jack. I will be praying for him, although I know after my visit today - God knows exactly how Jack is and he's watching over you and that little boy. I believe he put me in that hospital today to give you hope and also give me the gift of helping another mother through a tough time. Please know I'll be praying for all of you and hope my family and friends will do the same!

The kicker of the story - they were in the same room we were in....again, I don't believe in coincidences.

FYI - Not sure about going private with the blog now...maybe it's meant to be shared. I'll have to think about it some more.

Oh, also meant to take pics of Dylan with the nurses and totally forgot in all the talking with Jack's mom. Bummer...oh well, maybe we'll have to go back for his 1st birthday! :)