Christopher is born...
I came into this world in the early morning hours of June 11, 2001. To mom and dad’s surprise, I had to be delivered by cesarean section since my feet were down and my head was up. They tell me that is a no-no, but I was just set to come out walking, that's all. I guess I must have fallen asleep that day in class when they covered what position I was suppose to be in. I couldn’t believe how many people were there to greet me when I was delivered. They didn’t seem to mind that they had to be there in the middle of the night. I must have also missed what time of day is convenient for babies to be born. Boy, wasn't I paying attention at all?
Mom and dad were so happy to see me after such a long time. They drove themselves crazy for nine months trying to guess if I was going to be a boy or a girl. They decided to wait to find out until the day I was born. Mom was convinced that I was going to be a girl and told everyone around her that she was sure they would be needing pink things. Oops, was she wrong!!
They have since told me that the day I was born was the happiest day in their lives. That makes me feel pretty special. Here are some pictures of my first few days in the hospital.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to stay with mom and dad for very long before they took me away to the neonatal unit because I had a hard time catching my breath. They gave me lots of oxygen to help me breathe easier, which was a great relief. The doctor’s thought I would be getting better, but in the next few days to come, I was only getting worse. My right lung was working so much harder than the left that it collapsed and they had to put in a chest tube for a few days. Mom and dad were scared, but after the chest tube, I just kept getting stronger and stronger every day. Can you believe that they let me go home just two weeks after I was born? That was the first time mom and dad knew that they had a fighter on their hands.
The hospital was nice, but there is nothing like the comforts of home. It didn’t take me long to figure out that all I had to do was cry to get mom or dad to come and hold me. I got lots of practice with that. Mom said something about giving me an award for the amount of time I spent crying, but I am still waiting for that in the mail.
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