In the beginning......

If you have ever been pregnant, you understand the anticipation and fear of a new life. Not just the new life you are bringing into the world but also the life that you will now be living. Let's face it, it's scary as all get out. Even if things go smooth and "normal", it's scary. Throw in any mitigating factors and fear becomes your new everyday. I had a lot of mitigating factors, so I tried just not to think about it.......being pregnant that is. I refused to discuss it, buy anything, plan for it, nothing, until I was 28 weeks. Then I let my mom buy a cradle, at which time my doctor diagnosed me gestational diabetes.

At 30 weeks we were in the beginning of a very hot, steamy and nasty summer. It was June 1998. I was uncomfortable at best. With a back ache and being sick to my stomach from the heat, I called my doctor. She wanted to check me out. I did have a history. Upon examinations she decided to send me to Yale. At Yale, they told me they thought we should deliver. With the fear of a new mom, I asked the question; "What are his odds?". A very confident doctor looked at me and said "In this hospital, excellent."

Within 5 minutes I was in the operating room, my husband was in scrubs and we were on our way to parenthood, ten (10) weeks early. Our baby boy was born in less than 10 minutes, and we were told that once they saw him and his home of the passed 30 weeks, he would not have made it the night. We made the right decision.

Our little boy was swept away to be evaluated and cleaned up, while his mom was put back together. Recovery was not going to be easy, but, time was something we now had. We were the parents of a 3lb 5oz baby boy.

Jeffrey would spend the next 28 days in the NICU, miraculously, with no health issues, just needing to learn to eat and grow.......or so we thought.