15

When oldest was in the NICU, and when he was healthy enough for me to hold him, I would sing the theme song of Mary Tyler Moore to him.
( totally showing my age -but it was appropriate)

"You're going to make it after all."

Now I'm singing Five for Fighting (which is so much more hip than Mary)(Although the fact that I just used the word hip is probably making me very un-hip)

"I'm 15 for a moment
caught in between 10 and 20"

How is the kid 15?

It was a tough road and a frightening as hell pregnancy.
Oldest spent 180 days in the NICU.
(You for sure know the story by now because I've told it quite a few times...)

I relive it every August.

For two years all I knew was how to care for a sweet boy with a tracheostomy.
A ventilator was attached to him which was attached to an oxygen tank which sat in my family room which was next to a suction machine which was next to his feeding pump which was often attached to his feeding tube.

It took two people to get him up and down the stairs.
He turned blue on more than one occasion.
We had nurses in and out of our home.

And now it is 15 years later.
My 2lb 9oz baby boy who came close to losing his life is turning 15.

(Take that Dr's Doom and Gloom who wanted me to terminate my pregnancy!)

While August 8th is a day of sadness  (because in the wee hours of the morning we were told that we lost Zachary), August 7th has always been a day of honoring and celebrating.

And this coming August 7th is no different.

And to prove I love this kid with every inch of my being I am going to not one, but TWO out of town baseball games this week at TWO different stadiums.

And one is a YANKEES game.

The sacrifices we make as parents.

You're welcome kid.
Just remember this when I'm old(er)

Happy Birthday my miracle boy.

You have made me a better person by being your Mother.