My Greatest Gifts!

Good morning! Another day, another "positive" outlook into the life and times of Beth Forey! I am so thankful I discovered this wonderful world of "blogging" so that I can journal my thoughts/feelings/progress and keep myself honest about myself!

Ok, so as promised yesterday, today I am reflecting on my two greatest accomplishments, blessings! Namely, my most beautiful daughter, Bri and my most handsome son, Taylor!

Part 1

Bri was born on February 20, 1991. I was so excited to meet her! I remember taking our birthing classes and the instructor telling all of us soon to be parents that first time mother's can sometimes deliver up to two weeks early. Well, of course, I convinced myself that I was going to be one of those mothers. Not! Bri decided that she was not ready to come out on her due date and as a matter of fact, she was going to make me wait an extra week because she was "comfortable" in that little world I provided her inside my tummy! I went for an ultrasound on February 19 so they could determine when I might possibly have this child and what she would weigh. They determined that she was in "position" for delivery and estimated her weight to be around 7 lbs. Later on in the day I started having pain in my back but nothing that felt like the contractions they described to me in my birthing class and therefore I just went on with my daily routine. On February 20 I went to my scheduled ob/gyn appointment. I picked up my mom on the way and had thrown my suitcase in the back just in case. Mom waited in the waiting room while I went back for the doctor to check any progress. He proceeded to ask me if I was having contractions to which my response was no, I just have a back ache. He gently patted my leg and said "honey, you have to go to the hospital immediately. You are dilated to a 6". What was my response you might ask? "I want my mom!" and "I don't want to do this now. I've changed my mind!"

Well, off to the hospital we went and 6 hours later I got to finally meet this BEAUTIFUL little Angel! Wait, let me back up for just a minute. Remember earlier I told you that they estimated her weight to be approx 7 lbs??? Well, the doctor almost dropped her when she was born because he was in absolute shock! Much to the surprise of everyone, she was HUGE! The doctor and nurses began taking "bets" on how much she weighed! The verdict? 9 lbs. 12 oz!!!!! She skipped right past all of those newborn clothes that were waiting in her beautiful nursery and went straight to 3 months!

Everything was going along great until she was about 4 weeks old. A bunch of my family had gone to Dyer, IN for my Aunt's birthday with the intention of returning the same night. Yeah, that means no overnight clothes, no toiletries, and no spare change of clothes! I had fed Bri and passed her along to my Mom while I went to put her formula and bottle back into her diaper bag. It only took a few minutes. I could hear a commotion and someone say, "she's not breathing". You know, as a mother we seem to have this built in radar that tells us something is not right with our child. It was my baby they were referring to "not breathing". I watched in horror as my cousin began to perform cpr. 911 was called and when they paramedics arrived they were able to use special equipment that they put down her little throat to clear out her airway. She had projectile vomited and had aspirated into her lungs.

Off I went with my precious little one in my arms in the back of this big scary ambulance. I had been in an ambulance before but never before did it look as scary as it did that night! Bri and I would later learn that she was going to be admitted and that this starving baby who couldn't understand why her mommy wouldn't feed her would have to go the entire night into late the next morning without even a drop of food! Needless to say, that was an EXTREMELY long night! That was a Friday night. We were discharged on Sunday to come home and follow up with her pediatrician. Thankfully her dad and Grandpa (my dad) drove up late Saturday morning and brought along some comfortable clothes for mommy! The initial diagnosis was that she was allergic to her formula and would have to be switched to soy milk. It had only begun!

We had, I believe, a total of three more of these horrifying experiences of her vomiting, aspirating and not breathing. She was in Riley Children's Hospital all three of these times. It was finally determined that she had reflux/pyloric stenosis and was sent home on an apnea monitor with the understanding that if it happened again we would have no further option but to have surgery to correct the issues. Her little body must have understood the severity of the surgery because it NEVER happened again!

Flash forward now to 17 years later! She is an amazing, beautiful, loving gift to me. I am so proud of how she handles herself, how she presents herself to the world and how she perseveres even though she has been "knocked down" so many times. She has an amazing ability to love and forgive that is pure and so rare in the world we live in today! She has played softball since she was 4 1/2 and has never lost her passion and love of the game even though she had HUGE obstacles to overcome and has had to fight every step of the way! She is an excellent student and much to Mom's despair, will be heading off to college in a little under a year and a half!

Not that I would ever want to hold her back. No way! It's just that I don't know what I am going to do when she doesn't need mom to drive her here and there. She doesn't need mom to figure things out. She doesn't need mom...... but wait, what am I saying? Because even as an almost 40 years young woman, I still need my Momma! She still makes everything right!

I just want you to know my sweet Angel Face, I will always love you. I will always be here for you. You will ALWAYS and FOREVER be my Angel Face! I will ALWAYS love you INFINITY!

Love, Mom