About six years ago in Belgium, on Wednesday the 30th of April, as pretty much every single European was getting ready for a nice long weekend, I – 36 ½ weeks pregnant – woke up with an itch. It was an itch I have no words for; a terrible, terrible itch on the soles of my feet and in the palms of my hands. For better or worse I went on the internet and looked up the symptoms; a few very disturbing sites made me call my doctor who decided to see me pretty much right away. A few hours and a blood test later, I was told to go to the hospital where my OBGYN awaited me. It was the day before a major holiday so everybody we knew was gone, our baby was not supposed to come out for several weeks yet, and I had classes to teach at the university that evening! I cancelled my classes, packed a bag, and Courtney, August & I took the train to Mechelen where our hospital of choice was. Our OBGYN gave us two choices: deliver immediately or in the morning; we chose the morning – we were SO not ready – and were given a room to sleep in over the night. Early in the morning on May 1, nurses came to start my IV, and as the surgery approached, we were asked about a baby 
sitter for August, who was only 1 /2 years old. With no family in the country and all our friends gone for the weekend, we told them we had nobody. Still, Courtney had to be there during the surgery and August most certainly couldn’t. Eventually, the pediatrician came down and took him to breakfast, and in the meantime, our amazing OBGYN pulled out a screaming, healthy 10-pound baby out of my belly and fixed me right back up again. It was a very quick in-and-out kind of thing, and less than an hour later, William was glued to my breast, where he would, as it turns out, stay for the next six months (until he discovered more satisfying foods, like pork bones and chocolate).
Today William turned six years old. He still loves to eat, he’s still pretty loud, and he’s still my little baby. I love you William! Happy birthday!
sitter for August, who was only 1 /2 years old. With no family in the country and all our friends gone for the weekend, we told them we had nobody. Still, Courtney had to be there during the surgery and August most certainly couldn’t. Eventually, the pediatrician came down and took him to breakfast, and in the meantime, our amazing OBGYN pulled out a screaming, healthy 10-pound baby out of my belly and fixed me right back up again. It was a very quick in-and-out kind of thing, and less than an hour later, William was glued to my breast, where he would, as it turns out, stay for the next six months (until he discovered more satisfying foods, like pork bones and chocolate). Today William turned six years old. He still loves to eat, he’s still pretty loud, and he’s still my little baby. I love you William! Happy birthday!
Posts
1 comment:
happy birthday!!
Post a Comment