Motherhood…Unprepared

It’s here. He’s 5. I cannot believe it. We had a small party with us and my aunt. A little cake and a few little presents. I’m still a little disbelieving of it. See, technically, Henry almost was never here. A few small changes and he wouldn’t be.

When I was newly pregnant with him - about 8-9 weeks along - I had some spotting. Which wasn’t unusual for my pregnancies, but since I’d had 2 miscarriages in the past, I was vigilant about it. I went in, had blood drawn and had a quick ultrasound. And was informed by the doctor that he couldn’t find anything. Nothing. No baby. Just an empty sac. Very often what happens in these cases was just that you go in and have a D&C to eliminate everything. In fact, my first pregnancy ended just that way.

This doctor, however, hesitated. He actually said that he wanted to wait a few days and see what happened and he’d probably schedule a D&C then. But he didn’t want to do it yet. So, I went back home to wait. And wait. And wait. 5 days later, I went back and had another blood test. Surprisingly, my HCg levels went UP. Which made the doctor go, “Hmmm.” So, another ultrasound. This time? They found him. There he was. Measuring right on schedule. I don’t know where he was hiding previously, but I do know that I thank God all the time for that doctor. My first OB would have aborted Henry without knowing that he was fine. I wonder if that’s actually what happened with my first pregnancy. But…dwelling on it won’t change the past. All I know is that I’m very, very thankful that Henry’s doctor hesitated. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here.

He wouldn’t be here to celebrate turning 5. I got a very simple little cake from the grocery store and bought a big Elmo card that I stuck into it. I got him a mini Elmo Speak & Spell thing that he loved. Maggie wanted him to have a Webkinz, so I got him a pig an elephant and a cat. He didn’t much care about those. But he loved that we all sang Happy Birthday to him and smashed his hands into the cake. Check it.

For the record, he did NOT like the cake. He did NOT like the frosting. But the boy digs on Elmo.