Most of you know that almost 3 years ago, Gabriel Lee was born 10 weeks early. After 2 weeks at home on bedrest & another 2 weeks on bedrest in the hospital, Gabriel made his very, very early debut into this world. He weighed 2 pounds 3.6 ounces. He was the smallest little baby I had ever seen before. What was supposed to be the most exciting day in our lives quickly turned scary as we realized that our baby boy was ultimately fighting for his life.
Those days seem to blur together now... you know the days that I thought would NEVER end. The countless nights in the hospital, the alarms going off, nurses coming in and out, and doctors constantly giving you good and bad news. Yeah, amazingly, those days seem far away now. But those details, those moments that we spent with our baby boy those first few weeks of his life, those will forever be in my heart.
I remember staring at this tiny human being, hoping and praying that he would be alright. It was terrifying and exciting all at the same time. Terrifying because I didn't know what our future held with this baby boy. Exciting because there he was, MY SON, this tiny little life that I created... I was staring at him. He was the most incredible child I had ever seen.
A few days after Gabriel was born, he actually lost weight. That was scary... it was a constant battle but I could tell that he was a fighter. He wasn't going to give up. This tiny baby was the biggest fighter ever. We spent almost 4 weeks in our local hospital. It was an early Sunday morning phone call that woke us up... the nurse on the other line said they were life-flighting my baby to Cardinal Glennon because they didn't know what was wrong with him. How could this be? Why were we told he was doing fine? So there we were.... driving as fast as we could to get to the hospital so we could see our baby before he was flown to a hospital 2 hours away. We couldn't fly with him. He wasn't even a month old yet.
That drive to St. Louis seemed like it took forever. But luckily, this hospital, Cardinal Glennon, was amazing. Gabriel started to thrive there. Turns out, he needed a blood transfusion (duh, if you take blood from a tiny baby everyday...you probably need to put more in. But that's a whole different level of aggravation that we won't go into now). Anyway, I remember walking into our new private room and meeting with the doctor and nurse practitioner. I immediately felt at ease knowing that these were the people who were going to be watching over my child.
We spent about 4 weeks at Cardinal Glennon and every day Gabriel seemed to do better and better. Our prayers were being answered. Our little boy was growing right before our eyes and exceeding all of the expectations. He passed test after test with flying colors. To put it simply, he was amazing.
I spent a lot of my time blogging while at the hospital. I also found comfort in reading other blogs of mothers who had been or were going through the same journey. It was nice to know that we weren't alone and even better to hear all the stories of babies growing and seeing them on their 5th, 10th, and 20th birthday. One day, that will be my child. I also found a lot of comfort in music. Two songs in particular: George Strait's "I Saw God Today" and "Wires" by Athlete. Both were songs that Jesse and I listened to A LOT during those days.
Today, as I look at Gabriel I am amazed at how far he has come. He may be a little small for his age but that boy has the biggest heart. He's so funny, smart, talented and handsome. He's definitely going to be a heartbreaker. Sometimes I forget about the tough road that got us here and I have to remind myself to take the time to remember and truly be thankful for these days with my boy. He is the strongest person that I have ever known. To fight such a hard fight in the first months of his life and to be doing so well now is truly astonishing. There are those days when he is driving me crazy and there are the days when he is as loving as can be. I thank God for all of those days... I thank God that I can hold my boy in my arms and know that without a doubt he is healthy & strong. I thank God for our Miracle Baby.
So, on May 4th, I encourage you to stop and take some time to recognize any and all Parents of Preemies. It's not for the faint of heart...that's for sure. But it's a journey that is truly remarkable.
To read the full story of Gabriel Lee click HERE!