7th Birthday!!!

It was October 3, 2002. What should have been the happiest day of our lives ended up being the scariest day of our lives. Ethan and Emily were not supposed to be born that day. Although I had been in the hospital and we had been trying to stop labor, it appeared that all was going well. Day after day of staring at monitors kind of made us a little complacent and that day we had decided that Rob should go back to work instead of using up all of his sick and vacation time. I was alone. And I was 40 miles away from everybody. And then suddenly, my worst fear became a reality. My babies were coming before they were ready. The pain I was having was so severe, but the monitors weren't picking up the contractions. After several hours of me screaming out in pain and begging the nurses to do something, somebody finally came in to check on me. What they discovered was even more terrifying. Emily's arm was already delivered. She was turned sideways. She was stuck. The face of that nurse turned sheet white. Suddenly, the room filled with doctors and nurses that came running in and ripping cords out of the wall. I was told that I was being taken into surgery right then. I was scared and started to panic. Not one member of my family knew what was going on. I was being told that they couldn’t reach my husband on his cell phone (they weren’t dialing the area code). As cords were being ripped out of the wall, I grabbed the bedside phone and started dialing numbers. Miraculously I remembered the very long number of the calling card and was able to get through and reach my mom. I had just enough time to yell that I was being taken into surgery and that the babies were coming and then I hung up. I was whisked away and taken to the OR. I remember lying there, in so much pain, and being so scared that I was about to lose the only thing that I had ever wanted, children.

The next conscious thought I had was while in the Recovery Room. I was still coming out of anesthesia, not able to talk or move, but still screaming inside because I just wanted to know if my babies were alive or dead. When I was finally able to mutter something, I simply asked “Are they alive?” The nurse quickly rushed to my side and said that I had a baby girl and a baby boy and that both were alive and in the NICU. Tears just poured out of my eyes and ran down my face. At least they were alive!

It has now been seven years since that day. SEVEN YEARS!!! We've had seven years of a roller coaster ride. We've known the truest sense of what it means to have joy in your life, to know what it means to be grateful for what you have, to know what it means to "have faith", to know what unconditional love really is. We've cried tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of fear, and tears of triumph. We've watched our two children overcome way more obstacles in their short life than many adults ever have to endure. They have a wisdom and courage that is awe inspiring. They make me want to be a better person.

Now that they are getting older, I can see a glimpse into the people they will grow up to be. Ethan is so artistic and sensitive and loving. He always wants to make sure that everybody is taken care of and that everything is fair. He loves to see how things work and loves things that revolve around math and science. Emily is so precise and analytical. Everything is black and white with her. Emily is competitive and wants to be the leader. She is so wise beyond her years. And Emily is the type that has a hard exterior, but is a big softy inside. She is definitely a mommy's girl. One thing is for certain, she is like me in EVERY sense of the word. We look alike, we talk alike, we think alike, we act alike, we ARE alike. :)

We have already started out the day today with a BANG! The kids woke up on cloud 9. The second they woke up (at 6am), I sang "Happy Birthday" to them and they loved it. Emily announced to me that she felt taller today and so we did their annual measurements on their growth chart. Ethan is just under 50" and Emily was just under 45". The kids were begging us to open a few presents this morning and so we gave them some. Ethan opened a couple of his new Star Wars toys that he has been wanting. He was soooo excited!!!! They are the vehicles that he can pretend to fly around. He also got a big stuffed Yoda for his bed. Emily opened a couple Littlest Pet Shop toys and then her big gift was a new "big girl" comforter set for her bed. She was so excited to get rid of her baby looking bedroom. I was a little worried at first on how she would feel about getting a bedspread as a b-day present, but I knew that she has been wanting to get rid of her baby looking bedspread for a while. When she opened up that comforter set, her eyes just lit up!!!!!! Phew! We've already put it on her bed and she loves it!!!! They will open the rest of their presents this afternoon after we go to their school carnival. And tomorrow is their birthday party. What a weekend!!!!!

Happy birthday, Ethan and Emily! I love you more today than ever before!!!!