Monday, August 18, 2008

The Little Man is 7


When this little guy entered our lives, our world was already upside down. The 1st One had arrived just two short months ahead of him. We were deep in the sweet, delirious depths of newborn sleep deprivation. We were expecting him just the same. When we first decided we were going to adopt, we did some research and found the agency we knew we could work with. Now, if you have ever adopted you know how violated you feel by the time you've finished filling out paper work and all the inquiries into every part of your life. Without a doubt, the ends justify the means. We had a few failed adoptions before we ended up with the 1st One. Truth is though, I knew we were suppose to have two little ones really close together. In fact, I had a recurring dream of two little curly haired kids playing on the floor in the nursery. When I called the agency and told them that we were expecting two for some crazy reason, they went with the flow and continued to present our names to birth mothers. The 1st One's birth mother and My Son's birth mother were roommates at the time. When I met the one, I met the other as well, not knowing how life was going to play out.

After the 1st One was born we heard that My Son's birth mother had picked us. We really loved her already at this point. She had been there with me and the 1st One's birth mother when the 1st One was born. My Son's birth mother came and spent a weekend with us shortly after that. It was a really neat experience getting to know her like that, before My Son was born. He was due towards the end of September according to his birth mom. Needless to say, we were shocked when we got the call in the middle of August to please come to the hospital, My Son's birth mom was in labor.

He entered this world such a lost little man. Well, lost in some ways, in others not so much. Even with his birth weight at 6 lbs. the doctors determined him to be earlier than 4 to 6 weeks. They were thinking closer to 8 weeks early. The little stinker would not eat for for the NICU nurses, he would barely eat for me, but if the Rocket Scientist showed up to feed him, the little guy chowed. He bonded immediately with the Rocket Scientist.

After he was born, I remember the director of the adoption agency asking us if we wanted to back out of the adoption. (I never would have dreamed of it, but I guess it is common to have adoptive parents back out of adoptions when the child they are waiting for is born with some challenges.) She began talking to us about other birth parents she could present our file to. The Rocket Scientist and I were a little shocked. If we were ever actually able to have biological children, there are no guarantees that our biological children would be born free of disabilities and/or challenges. "We love this kid and he's ours," I remember thinking. Assuring the director that this was our kid and we were in it for the long haul we pressed forward. My Son was born with a condition called Peter's Anomaly. This condition required a cornea transplant as soon as they could find a match if we wanted to try for vision in that eye. We felt we had to, since he could decide later in life not to continue to fight for sight in that eye, but if he didn't have a clear cornea in 2 weeks, the chances of his brain wiring that eye for sight diminished greatly. At 12 days old and just a little over 5 lbs. My Son had a cornea transplant.

The first year was rough! My Son had bonded quite nicely with the Rocket Scientist; He was still quite uncertain about me though. In fact, I could barely get him to eat for me. I would get maybe 2-3 ounces of formula in him during the day. The minute his dad hit the door the kid was with his dad chowing. He would eat and eat and eat for the RS. This system was tolerable until the RS had to go back to business as usual at work. The Rocket Scientist is in aerospace and his work requires him to travel a lot. The RS would be gone for a week at a time, leaving me with my precious newborns, trying to figure out how I was going to get My Son to bond with me. Though the 1st Child came into this world head strong and opinionated she was a pretty easy going baby and would be patient with me. My Son, he would just scream till he got his dad.

Eventually he bonded with me. If you ask him now if "he's Momma's boy or Daddy's boy", he will tell you he is Momma's boy.

Happy Birthday My Sweet Son! I love you so much!





I believe we have found the guy responsible for fingers in the frosting. He struck on this birthday cake as well. He was "cold busted" with his fingers in the refridgerator and the tell-tale frosting adhering to them like warts on a frog.

13 comments:

I don't wanna grow up...you can't make me said...

awwww.....that boy just lights up my life!!!! Happy birthday Eli!!!!

Anonymous said...

Happy 7th Birthday!!!

Does he have any problems now with his eye?

Salty Incisor said...

Your son is handsome. People are so crazy but I guess he wanted to make sure he could place him with a family that wanted him despite his challenges. I know someone who was asked if she wanted an abortion when she was pregnant and went to the doctors because even though she was married she was doing her masters degree. People are callous sometimes.
Lucky for you and RS you have been blessed with some awesome kids. It is so nostalgic when their birthday milestones come up.

kung fu panda cake s awesome it looks like someone kungfued it.
My first born is turning 7 in a few weeks

Karen said...

Thanks to all for the Birthday wishes. He grinned ear to ear when I read them to him.

Carrie- He sees great out of the one, the other is ok. He has had a couple of cornes transplants since the first one. When your little, your immune system tends to kill them off. Since he has had a new cornea stitched on there so many times, the things he sees are foot ball shaped.

Not Growing Up- He lights up my life too. Can you believe 7 years?

Tash- Your right, I am over the top nostalgic. I try to reign it in.

Jen- He picked the cake himself. He is all about Kung Fu Panda and "Ogre" right now.

Unknown said...

he is SO cute! happy birthday, eli!

Danyele Easterhaus said...

i love love love this post!!! i too, am an adoptive mommy...and one of my adopted babies (3 now) had some things that some suggested we should reconsider. boo i say to that! so congrats to you on your handsome son. he is absolutely incredible...and such a wonderful gift from God.

orangemily said...

Happy Birthday Eli!
What a sweet story!

Anonymous said...

Cute Cake!! Congratulations. Birthday's are such a great time for reflection.

Anonymous said...

It has been fun reading your blog. You have given us another reason to not buy down pillows. Happy birthday to Eli. Scott enjoys working with the RS.

Tori said...

It has been fun reading your blog. You have given us another reason to not buy down pillows. Your kids must keep you really busy. Happy birthday to Eli. Scott enjoys working with the RS.

Rhea said...

Love the Kung Foo Panda theme. Happy Birthday to hiM! I love the birth story and all. YOu guys are so wonderful, and I love your blended, unique family.

Jen said...

Happy birthday to your little guy. Looks like it was a great party.

Krista said...

I love your little guy! He is stinkin' cute, even if he thinks he's getting too big for hugs!