Monday, October 8, 2012

Happy Birthday, Sloan

Today, October 8, was Kerri's original due date.

Somewhere between the 3:00 AM feed (which really was 2:37 AM) and the stirring/grunting/crying at 5:59 (yeah, it was supposed to be 6:00 AM, that felt great). My mind started to go through what this day would have been like for us had Sloan not come into this world eight weeks early. The thought didn't last long as I was juggling a bottle in one hand and a squirming (yet cute) child in the other but I wondered what the day would have been like.

Would Kerri have jumped up in the middle of the night, a strange pain in the lower half of her body and the immediate concern of how quickly we would get a cab and traffic conditions taking over otherwise calm sleep?

What would she have told me as I certainly would have been in deep sleep myself? Would it have been a yell or a gentle nudge (can you guess?)

Would I have had a bag ready by the door and a pre-written email in my drafts ready to be sent with a single screen touch?

Would Dr. Feldman be on call at NYU or would it have been one of the other Drs from the practice that we had come to know in our weekly appointments leading up to today?

Would it even have been overnight? Why not 11 AM, 2 PM?

As it has been documented (probably ad nausea to many), our baby girl came to town on her own schedule 56 days ago. It took us a three days to name her and a five weeks to spring her from the NICU but Sloan is in our world and making Kerri and I stronger every day.

I thought it would be fun to share one of the first noises I heard from Sloan (then Warby) in the hospital.


We're only getting started, Sloan. Happy Birthday.



2 comments:

Casey Kelly Nicholson said...

What a sweet post, Barry:) It's crazy to think she's already been here for 56 days!

Anne C said...

I have to say, this parenting thing is a wild, wild ride. Never at all what you expect it to be - starting with delivery. Having said that, I like that Sloan decided to keep you on your toes and REALLY surprise you:) Not to mention, we know that your guys' daughter wouldn't miss football season!