Earlier today was a emotional rollercoaster for me. Why? It hit me that my baby boy is no longer a "babu boy" but a growing toddler. He went thru the preemie stage, the newborn stage and the infant stage in the blink of an eye. I cant believe how much he has grown and how much he has learned. He went from not being able to breath alone to now speaking in full sentences using "big" words for his age and remembering stories well enough to tell them by himself.
This very night 3 years ago (I was 33 weeks and 5 days) I was waiting at an Amtrak station waiting for my grandparents to get their Train Ride back to Texas. Their initial train was supposed to arrive around 5:30-6:00 pm and my grandpa being the way he is, he HAD to arrive at least 30 mins prior. So we had arrived at the station around 4:30pm. Waiting and waiting as each train passed right by us blowing so much wind that we would all squint our eyes lol. It was already cold during this time of year. I had on warm winter clothes. 7:00 snuck around and no train had arrived. 8, 9o'clock and still no train. I suddenly had this urge to go pee so badly and did I mention that the train station was located outdoors? Anyway I had to peepee real bad and there was a public co-ed bathroom which I went into and wasnt shocked that it smelled terrible and the toilet seat had been bombarded with poop and pee and not to mention hairs all over the toilet bowl. They looked like pubic hairs and at that moment I wanted to barf, and yes I did gag a little. I refused to use that bathroom being pregnant I did not want to put myself at any risk for illnesses. By that time I had to go pee so bad but I decided I would just hold it in (I later discovered that was a VERY BAD idea.) After ignoring my bodys messages I no longer felt the need to go. The train arrived around 10:45 isn? Finally. However good byes were not fun and I had already missed my graandparents before they stepped foot in the train. We gave our hugs and said our goodbyes.
It was time to go home after hours of waiting for the train and hours of ignoring the urge to go we headed back home which was approx 45 mins- 1 hour commute. My parents drove me home that night. It was past 1 am by the time I got home, showered, snacked and went to bed.
On January 8, 2011 around 5am I awoke to the worst back and abdominal pain I had ever experienced. I could not even turn my body over. I felt as if I had a broken back and I felt excruciating cramps. Thankfully my parents lived down the street from me so I was able to reach over to my nightstand where my phone laid, charging. I called my mom in tears explaining the agony I was experiencing. My mom rushed over to my place and unlocked the door. (Yes my mother has a spare to my house) my dad came with her and had to carry me into the truck because I was still in lots of pain. I arrived at the hospital shortly after 5:30 am and was immediately put on IV, and they did blood work and Nathaniel was being monitored closely. I was still experiencing major cramping. My doctor was not able to make it out so that morning I had to be seen by an on-call doctor. At that point I did not care who was there I just needed to know that Nathaniel was ok. Doctor came and checked me and I was dilated and somewhat effaced. The doctor explained to me that some health problems had occurred and at that point the safest thing to do was to keep an eye on my contractions that were occurring frequently. Few hours passed it was around 7:30 and doctor came in and contractions were still going, but at a faster pace. The doctor explained that the safest thing to do would be to break my water and begin active labor.
My mom, my two sisters were there from the early morning and called Mikey and told him this was not a false alarm after all. That today at some time we would have our baby boy here!
At around 7:50-8:00 the doctor came in and got labor started! Doctor broke my water and thats when sh*it got real. I had thought I was feeling "contractions" but once my water was broken it was cramps on a whole notha level. So my labor began at approx 8am. I was nervous yet excited that my son was finally going to be here however I was a bit nervous knowing that he was going to be early but hey how bad could 34 weeks be?
Fast forward to 12 hours later 8:12 pm came around and after about 45 mins of pushing came my beautiful son Nathaniel Michael Rodriguez 5lbs 11oz. I remember his cry being so low and hearing wheezing but my first instinct was to hold him and to soothe him however I could. Holding him right after giving birth was the most amazing feeling. It was almost as if my mind had blocked out every person in the room. It blocked out all the noise. I can clearly remember holding him on my chest and feeling his small, new body up against mine. As he was crying I told him "Its ok papa, mommy is here, everything is going to be ok" and his crying stopped. Not only was my son born but so was a mother. Before he was born I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea how much love was awaiting this little human. Immediately after those amazing moments the NICU team took Nathaniel to examine him. I knew something wasn't right.
Nathaniel came unexpectedly on Jan 8th, his initial due date was February 12, 2011. He was born at 34 weeks exactly and until he was sent that very same night to another hospital to be admitted into a NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) had I known that every week, day, hour & second had mattered for unborn babies. Each day counted because each day they would develop physically into healthy newborns. I had continually kept praying to god to keep my son safe and no matter how long it took for him to be 100% healthy I would wait.
Nathaniel had remained in the NICU from his date of birth to Jan 30th. For the first two weeks of his life I was unable to hold him due to being attached to tubes and monitors. I can say that they were the hardest two weeks of my entire life. My arms were like magnetic to him yet I didn't want to disrupt anything. I needed him to get better so he can come home where all his family were waiting for him. His new bassinet (which was never slept in) was waiting for him.
January 30th came around an I was able to take him home. Those few weeks in the NICU was amazingly hard experience but never once had I left his side. I practically lived in the NICU on a small rocking chair that was right next to his tiny hospital bed.
Now on January 10, 2014 I sit here looking at my now 3 year old, healthy and happy son navigating my iPhone to look at my photos (he loves looking at photos of relatives) and wearing his spiderman costume because he is OBSESSED with superheroes especially spiderman. I can only be extremely thankful that everything turned out as it did because I know it was for a reason and it could have been much worse but my outlook on this whole experience is that god took care of him and he continues to do so. Thank you Jah.
Hope you all enjoyed this post and follow me on IG @ Spideysmom11
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