Happy "birthday," Xavier!

My trusty Cozi calendar informed me that today is Baby #2's birthday. I had programmed the event way back when I thought we were having a scheduled C-section, and I never changed it after Xavier was born. At first, I was confused when I saw the event alarm because I thought someone was playing a weird joke on me. Then, when I realized what today was, it made me a bit sad since, if Xavier had been born as planned, things would have been so different. We wouldn't be off to constant doctor's appointments and worried about his continued health and growth or making sure that everyone who we encounter hasn't been sick or smell of smoke. But, alas, he is over two months old now, and I am just happy that he is home with us and doing well.

When Lissie was born, she gave her version of her birth story. So, today, on what would have been Xavier's birthday, I present….

Xavier's Birth Story, as told by Xavier.

I was really comfortable in my uterine hotel. I loved to do flips and kicks to make sure my mommy knew that I was having a blast in my temporary home. I was looking forward to growing and developing for another couple of months before seeing my family face-to-face.

But something really strange happened right before I was born.

Things just didn't seem right. Something must have been going on outside. Mommy didn't seem to be feeling well and, as a result, I started to not feel well, either. I could hear lots of voices - people telling mommy to breathe and wake up - and I kept hoping she would listen to them because if she was okay, then that would mean that I'd be okay, too. Soon we got whisked away in a car that made loud siren noises, and mommy was trying very hard to explain to the man that she was feeling weird stomach pains - contractions, perhaps- and that it was difficult for her to stay awake. They kept poking and prodding her so that she wouldn't go to sleep, and that got really uncomfortable for me, too.

Soon enough, they wheeled us into a different place where even more people were coming up to mommy, trying to make her feel better. They hooked her up to a machine so that they could feel me and see how I was doing. I tried my best to do well, but I must not have done a very good job because the doctor told mommy that she was bleeding in her uterus and, as a result, I was not in good shape. They needed to do an emergency C-section to save both mommy and me.

I was scared. I still had two and a half more months left in my cozy home, and I wasn't sure if I had what it takes to survive in the outside world yet. I know mommy was scared, too. She kept crying and trying to convince the doctors and daddy that she was actually okay and was ready to go home. She didn't want to hear about the possible need for transfusions or that the staff in the NICU was excellent and would provide me with the best care.

Soon enough, though, mommy had to say a tear-filled good bye to daddy and was taken to a special room to get ready for surgery. Because of the suddenness and severity of the situation, she needed general anesthesia, which meant that a few moments later, when I first made my appearance, she wasn't able to see me and say hello. In fact, I was so startled by how fast everything was happening, that I totally forgot that I need to breathe when I enter the Outside World. The doctor had to perform CPR before I finally figured out how to breathe on my own. I don't think I did it well, though, because they immediately intubated me, inserted a ventilator, performed all sorts of tests, and hooked me up to all sorts of things to help me function outside of mommy's safe womb.

I'll admit that those first few hours were very scary for me. I was being poked and prodded by so many people, none of whom were my mommy and daddy. After five hours or so, though, daddy was able to come in and check on me. He took pictures to show mommy because she was still recovering in SICU and wasn't able to visit just yet. In fact, over an entire day had passed before I was able to see and hear mommy. It was such a relief to see her that I didn't want to let her go.

I had to stay in the place they called the NICU for two months. Even though I wanted to go home when Mommy went home a week after my birthday, she told me that it was for the best that I stay in the hospital so I can learn all of the things that I would have learned inside. I had a few scary moments - when I was placed under the bili lights for days on end; when I had my two blood transfusions; when they gave me medication to close the fetal hole in my heart; when I had apnea spells and needed caffeine boosts to make them go away - but, overall, it was time well spent. I learned how to function on mostly room air (although I still need a little bit of oxygen while at home), sleep in a crib (something that took my big sister MONTHS to do), and take bottles (which was really hard for me at first, but once my sucking reflex fully developed, I could eat like a champ). It also gave my sister some time to get used to my presence, as well as for mommy to recover completely before taking full care of two children under two years old.

Now I'm home. And I'm loving it. Lissie is a wonderful big sister. She likes to give me kisses and tickle my toes and fingers. She also tries to feed me cupcakes from her cupcake kitchen and, even though I think it's fun, mommy tells her not to. She makes sure mommy and daddy know when I'm crying, and she giggles with glee when she sees me first thing in the morning.

Mommy and daddy are enjoying having me home, too. They had forgotten how much newborns sleep, and they call me an "easy baby" - much easier than my sister, even. I guess it helps that in the NICU I had to get used to sleeping with lots of lights and noise, so I can sleep pretty much anywhere. Occasionally, I'll make them work hard - like when I made daddy hold me the entire time my sister's godmother and husband visited or the time when it took two changes of clothes and several diapers before I was finally clean enough to be put back in my crib - but, overall, it's been great. I do have lots of doctors' visits on the schedule for the next few months, just to make sure I'm growing and developing well. But fingers crossed, I'm right on schedule and can hopefully be rid of the extra oxygen soon.

So that's my story so far. Even though I made my appearance ahead of schedule and threw my parents for a ginormous loop, I'm a big fighter, despite my small size. And I'm very much loved. And that's really all that matters.