HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY!!

Well, 7 years ago -- right about this time in the morning-- I woke Joe up to tell him that I think we needed to go to the doctor. I was pregnant with Curtis and had gotten Chris off to school, parked Clayton at the table with play dough, and had taken a shower. As I was drying off, I noticed that my legs were not "staying dry" -- I was leaking amniotic fluid. We had an appointment for an ultrasound right after lunch, so I wasn't too panicked. Joe was laid off from work and still in bed. Besides not being ready to have a baby and it being WAY too early, I was NOT ready for Chris and Clayton to be gone away from home yet. I think Chris had put on his last pair of clean socks and possibly last pair of underwear. Washing whites was on the "list" for the morning. So, I threw those white clothes in the washer and started packing other clothes in bags for the 2 other boys. Whites were done being washed and in the dryer when I finally got Joe moving. We called the Dr. and told him what was going on. The nurse said to forget the ultrasound app't and get to the hospital before any contractions started. We packed Clayton up along with the, now clean, clothes for both boys and called Great-gramma VdWall. Nana was still working at the Library and was at work that morning. Gr.Gramma was more than happy to take Clayton for a little while. We dropped him in Lansing and proceeded to the hospital in Dyer. They put me in a bed, on a monitor, and soon decided that I had lost too much fluid and whether we were all ready or not, THIS WAS THE DAY!


Curtis was not actually due until the end of January. So this added another level to the delivery. They put him at about 34 weeks -- a little early, but not detrimentally so. Early enough that they had a NICU transport team on call. There was no NICU in Dyer, so the options there was to transport any babies in need of that to the Hammond Campus of St. Margaret's.


I labored most of the day on Pitocin. Once they decided that "this was the day" they got me on pitocin right away, since no real contractions were happening on their own. That pitocin is nasty stuff. The nurse also kept "checking" me. She said she could not get a good "feel" on the babies head. Finally late in the afternoon, after she had taken a sandwich that Nana had sneaked in for me away, she had another nurse come in and "feel". They determined that the baby was breech -- he was not head down as he would have been in a few more weeks. I can't remember if I had an ultrasound to confirm that or not, we would have to ask Joe. Regardless, breech baby + 6 weeks early = C-section. That was a scary proposition, but necessary at that point. I remember Joe calling Nana pretty frantically and she showed up to sit with him for awhile (maybe thru the surgery?)


Anyway, at 7:31 pm, Dec. 17th, 2001, Curtis Wayne Propst made his way into the world. He was doing pretty well considering how early he was. I remember waiting desperately for him to cry and he did wail fairly quickly to let us know he was OK there and could breathe.


They did transport him within that hour to Hammond, so I was 36 hours in a different hospital than my baby. My "manic-ness" helped with the quick discharge and the fact that we were going to be spending time in the NICU helped, too, I'm sure.


Curtis spent the longest 10 days of my life, so far, in the NICU in Hammond. He was never on a respirator or anything. He was just small and kept forgetting to breathe whenever he got a little excited. (Crying apnea). We had to survive Christmas w/o him, but he came home the morning of December 27th. That was a long week for Chris and Clayton and Nana & Papa, too, I'm sure as the boys spent most of those 10 days at Nana's.


Curt is a healthy, happy (sometimes!) 7 year-old today. He is a smart, energetic first grader who fights with his brothers constantly. Curtis is definitely ALL BOY. He is our only child with blue eyes and has the curliest hair of any of the boys. As frustrating as his goofy attitude can be some days, this child is a real blessing and gift from God. It will be fun to see where God takes each of the boys in their lives, won't it?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my little one..... even though you'd cringe right now for me calling you precious ... I will call you precious. You were the one who needed me the most at first and now most days pretends you don't need me at all. I do notice, though, that you are the one who gives me the best hugs at bedtime and whether you like it or not, I notice that some days you need some extra attention as the middle child.

I love you, short one..... :)