I was born

I came into this world in the early morning hours of June 11, 2001. Mom and Dad found out unexpectedly that I had to be born by Caesarean section because I was right-side up instead of upside down for a natural delivery. Mom also went into labor in the middle of the night, so I guess you could say I wasn't very cooperative with my arrival.

Mom and Dad were so happy to see me after such a long time. They didn't know that I was going to be a boy prior to my birth. Mom was convinced that I was going to be a girl and told everyone that she would be needing lots of pink things. Oops, was she wrong!!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to stay with Mom and Dad for very long before they took me to NICU. I was having a hard time catching my breath. They gave me lots of oxygen to help me which was a great relief. The doctors thought I would be getting better, but in the next few days to come, I was only getting worse. My right lung was working so much harder than the left, it collapsed and a chest tube was put in. It was able to come out after a few days. Mom and Dad were really scared, but after the chest tube, I kept getting stronger and stronger every day. Can you believe that I got to go home just two weeks after I was born? That was the first time Mom and Dad knew that they had a fighter on their hands.
The hospital was nice, but there is nothing like the comforts of home. It didn't take me long to figure out that all I had to do was cry to get Mom or Dad to come and hold me. I got lots of practice with that. Mom said something about giving me an award for the amount of time I spent crying, but I am still waiting for that in the mail.