Happy Canadian Home: My First 3 Minutes of Motherhood

15 years ago today, I became a mother. My son decided to arrive 3 days late and with no vital signs. It was the strangest thing. Perfectly normal pregnancy - not even any morning sickness. Perfectly normal delivery (at least I can say that now, having had 2 more children afterwards). And then there he was, warm, blue and very, very still.?

I remember asking the nurse why he wasn't making any noise. She told me to just give him a second to get breathing. The seconds seemed like hours, and still he just lay there. After what seemed an eternity, I recall the doctor saying something about how it had been one minute, to begin CPR and to call the neo-natal intensive care team to let them know they had a "flat baby". And in a fog of absolute terror, he was whisked away from me and a well-choreographed dance of chaos ensued. I could see the nurse performing those little two-fingered chest compressions that you practice on the doll in a first-aid class. The room flooded with equipment and about a half dozen nurses. Someone told someone else to ready the defibrillator. There were beeps and flashing lights from machines that measured ... measured what exactly? And all the while I lay on the bed wondering how this could possibly be happening. Everything up until now had been so ... normal.?

And then, like a choir of angels, I heard the most wonderful sound of my life. Crying. That wonderful newborn baby cry where they scream their lungs out, but they don't really make much noise. His little heart was beating and his little lungs were breathing. I remember that I just kept saying thank you over and over and over to everyone in the room.

And that, folks, was my first three minutes of motherhood.?

For my trouble, I happened to get the sweetest boy in the world. Gabriel was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome when he was 4 years old. And he seemed to get all of the good parts of it and none of the bad. He has an incredible memory (think Rain Man), which has come in handy many times. If I want to make sure to remember something, I just tell Gabriel. He can remember the birthday of every single person he's ever met, which is very helpful when you're in the card store and can't remember who you need cards for.

He's kind - he's never hit either of his sisters even once. In fact, he rarely even raises his voice to them. He's hard-working, polite and diligent. And he's tidy. Every mother should have one tidy child. It helps to make up for the pain of childbirth.

This morning, I tried to take him breakfast-in-bed (our new family birthday tradition) ...

... and found this. He'd already made his bed. Not the least bit surprising to anyone who lives in this house. I don't think he liked the possibility of toast crumbs in his bed anyway.

So, my tidy son had breakfast-in-bed at the table.

Love you to bits G-man!?

Source: http://www.happycanadianhome.com/2012/12/my-first-3-minutes-of-motherhood.html

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