A Labor of LOVE - My Boys Birth Stories
The birth of my babies is a tale I often tell. I do not get to share Mason's as much because his was the more simple of the two. It's a full circle moment taking time to write for Team Baby Jack and submit copy / images for blogs when my boys have GROWN with their loveys. Now I get the honor of bringing in donations of loveys Children's Hospital Philadelphia with Mason and Finn (Emmie too!). Mason was five months when I bought him his first one. Finn has had his lovey since birth + many many more. The story about our loyalty to their loveys is in a previous blog post here and until September 12th, any lovey YOU buy for yourself, Baby Jack will match and give one back to CHOP for kids in need.
Now, to share the moment I became a mom to Mason and Finn...
Mason James had a beautiful birth story. He was a planned c-section for October 17, 2013 and it went flawlessly! No complications for myself or Mason and it was love at first sight! Everything was great for the four days that we were in the hospital but when we got home I had major postpartum depression. No one ever spoke about it with me prior so I had no idea what it was for the longest time. I am blessed to have only had it a few weeks and like a light switch it went away - now I know how to cope with my stress. Mason couldn’t breast feed, he was born tongue tied but I did pump for five weeks and then got clogged ducts and mastitis so formula it was! Fed is best! He grew and thrived and was always in the 90th percentile for weight until he was about 15 months old! Now he is a string bean but keeping us on our toes!
Finn on the other hand was another story.
We knew because of his heart disease he would have major complications at birth if he even made it. I was prepared for them to take him away right away and not even see him. I was prepared for surgery right away. What I wasn’t prepared for was complications with myself.
Finley Noah was a repeat c-section scheduled for January 2, 2015. When the medical team went to do the spinal on me in the OR I wasn’t blocking. They tried so many times that I was OD’d on anesthesia so they had to put me under general. It was so scary but in the end it worked out because I would have been a nervous wreck being awake! I was put under a little before 9 AM and then I didn’t wake up until 6 that evening and apparently had more complications once I was under which was very difficult for my husband. He had to deal with the stress of his wife and son all in the same day. It was a roller coaster of emotions for all of us since his birth but Finn did make it! It was a long road, lots of tubes / wires and many surgeries but he is now THRIVING.
We will always be grateful for both of our miracles and the life lessons that they continue to give us. Both of these babies have made our ten years of marriage very interesting and we wouldn't trade it for a thing!
