Friday, October 3, 3:00 am - Saturday, October 4

So ... early Saturday morning, Rick went up to the NICU to check on Caleb (I still couldn't move the lower half of my body), and we were given the wonderful news that he was doing much better! Rick said he was still struggling to breathe, but he was much more peaceful and was looking less stressed.



Then Rick told me some of the most beautiful words I've ever heard. The nurse in the NICU told him that as soon as I was up and moving around, I could go up to the NICU and hold Caleb. OH MY GOODNESS. The rest of the day was spent doing anything possible to get feeling back to my legs!! Every time the nurse came in to add pain medicine to my epidural, I asked her how much longer until they quit numbing me. Finally she changed out the medicine (hold on ... I'm taking a typing break to eat my weight in graham crackers ...) okay, so finally she changed out the medicine to the non-numbing kind, and I started to get feeling back to my legs. Inch the head part of the bed up, try to wiggle the toes, inch the bed up, try to wiggle the toes ... that was my Saturday! And it worked!!


Saturday evening - a LONG time it seemed after Caleb was born - I got wheeled up to the NICU and got to HOLD my SON. We had to scrub down nice and clean and then head into Nursery D, which he is sharing with 3 triplets who are very, very tiny.

My hair is soaking wet - I didn't have time to dry it and still get up to the NICU during "touch time" - which are the times when we can hold him!





Guess who was NOT happy about being taken out of his warm blankety bed? But he did calm down eventually. I promise he doesn't hate me although it looks like it. : ) Now whenever I go up to hold him, he goes immediately to sleep and sleeps hard!




I have cried several times this weekend out of sheer joy. When Caleb was born and we heard him cry, I cried. When my mom came in to see me after the birth, we both cried. When Rick told me about my dad talking to Caleb in the NICU, I cried. And when I got to hold my little boy for the first time, I cried. I had no idea how powerful of a feeling that would be. And I have NO idea how to begin to describe it. His little fingers curling around mine, his little nostrils breathing the best they could ... he pooped in his diaper while I was holding him and I swear it was the cutest thing ever.







He's got a head of strawberry blond hair just like Rick, and occasionally he wrinkles up his eye brows just like Rick. Of course that made me cry, too, seeing resemblances between the two already. Just too precious.

Little one, we have waited so long to meet you! And you are more precious than we ever could have imagined. I promise we will love you to the best of our human ability for the rest of our lives.