his<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0way, and his way would be another C-section.<\/p>\nSomething told me to ask for another anesthetist, but I didn\u2019t, trusting that those in the hospital were skilled.\u00a0Always, always trust your intuition<\/em>. Apparently the anesthetist didn\u2019t have a clue what he was doing and after two times of botching up the spinal, and only my legs going numb (and severe pain), a fight broke out in the surgery room with the staff screaming, yelling and throwing things at one another, and me sitting bent over the operating table (with contractions), holding back tears of fear. Finally, another nurse took over and the spinal took and my (then) husband was ushered in.<\/p>\nWe had decided to name the baby boy Drake Connor, but since he was born around Easter, the family joked that they were going to call him \u2018Duckie\u2019 and images of the character from Pretty in Pink<\/em>\u00a0ran through my head, so unbeknownst to our family, we did a last minute name change to Connor Drake.<\/p>\n8 pounds, 11 ounces and 20 inches long, the nurses handed Connor over to me in the recovery room. I was doped up with pain medication and kept falling asleep with him in my arms, making me worried that I would drop him. But his even temper and quiet demeanor shined from that first moment on.\u00a0 It was when I was holding him in the recovery room was when Connor\u2019s father told me that our baby boy had a cleft palate.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t a clue what that meant or what it entailed, all I knew was that he had ten fingers and ten toes and was beautiful.\u00a0 It was when they handed me a bottle to feed when I realized that something was wrong.\u00a0 They told me that they were going to have to transfer him to Children\u2019s Hospital, without me in tow, but I said \u201cover my dead body\u201d, so they brought the staff of Children\u2019s Hospital to me and showed me that I would have to feed him with a squeezable bottle, squeezing to his sucks. One of the doctors told me that Connor would never sing, whistle or suck out of a straw. And when a resident came in and asked me what I did to give my son a birth defect, I was horrified. I didn\u2019t even take a sip of caffeine during the pregnancy!\u00a0 To further dampen the happiness that should\u2019ve been as bright as a light house, I was having problems walking because I couldn\u2019t feel my leg.\u00a0 The spinal had done permanent damage to my nerves.<\/p>\n
But holding that baby boy made it all worth it. And with each surgery he had to endure, he was strong and mature even at such a small age. His soul old and wise. His grandma used to say she never saw such a sober baby. He smiled only when it was worth his time to smile, but he was happy in his soul and in his heart. Today my Connor Drake turns 18 years old, and like most parents, I wonder where the time went.\u00a0 I would give anything to turn back the hands of time and not worry about the senseless things I worried about. Laundry will always be there. Dishes will too. It is just with a blink of an eye and they grow so old that they don\u2019t want to be held, hugged or calmed. They believe they know what is best, even when you know that the path they are walking is the wrong one, or the wrong one right then.\u00a0 I am lucky because Connor still gives me hugs and still sits with me. He even comforts me when I feel sad, just like he knows I will do when he is melancholy.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t have asked for a better child, other than his sister, my daughter, Micaela.<\/p>\n
In the fall he will move on to greener pastures (Michigan State University). I\u2019m having a hard time even thinking of an empty nest, but life progresses and it grows. All we can do is support and love with all our hearts.<\/p>\n
Connor\u2019s favorite days are the rainy kind and it looks like he may get his birthday wish. On this day, April 8, 2015, I wish my son and my friend, the happiest of birthdays.<\/p>\n
Oh, and with his persistent personality, he proved the physicians wrong \u2013 he whistles, sings, and uses a straw just fine.<\/p>\n
A proud mom,<\/p>\n
Kristy<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just a little over a week after Easter in 1997, on April 8th, I was told to go to the hospital, and that would be the birthday for our beautiful baby boy.\u00a0 I had been having contractions on and off for a few weeks, but every time I went to the hospital, they only sent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[268,537,536,12],"class_list":["post-1246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-birthday","tag-cleft-palate","tag-connor","tag-smile"],"yoast_head":"\n
Where Did 18 Years Go? Happy Birthday Connor!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Just a little over a week after Easter in 1997, on April 8th, I was told to go to the hospital, and that would be the birthday for our beautiful baby\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/2015\/04\/happy18thbirthdayconnor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where Did 18 Years Go? 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<\/a>Just a little over a week after Easter in 1997, on April 8th<\/sup>, I was told to go to the hospital, and that would be the birthday for our beautiful baby boy.\u00a0 I had been having contractions on and off for a few weeks, but every time I went to the hospital, they only sent me home because I wasn\u2019t progressing. Even though I had a C-section with Micaela, I had hoped to try natural. \u00a0Well, I wasn\u2019t progressing because Connor wasn\u2019t positioned right. It just had to be\u00a0his<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0way, and his way would be another C-section.<\/p>\n