Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Brand New!

It's my absolute pleasure to introduce a brand new addition to our family...a 6 pound 13 oz. baby boy! He was born on March 27, 2007 at 2 PM.

His name is Graydon Lee H__ . He has his sister's inquisitive, heartbreakingly beautiful gaze. Just after a long birth, during which he had breathing difficulties and was taken by Cesarean section, Graydon was introduced to his family.

Wide-eyed and astonished, he met my eyes for a long moment, thereby imprinting his energy into my deepest being for eternity.

His birth ended a long, hard delivery. My daughter was taken to hospital at 2 AM. Gray and I traveled from Qualicum Beach to be with her and the rest of the family.

I am in awe of my daughter. She endured an excruciating time, with focus, determination and strength. When she was almost fully dilated, it became apparent that her baby was in trouble, yet she never faltered, helping the nurses and doctors do all sorts of invasive procedures to her body, while she was contracting. She earned the respect of the medical staff with how she dealt with her son's birth.

At first, there was no operating room available. Incredible as it seems, this was indeed the case. The baby was without oxygen, and it was our Doctor who knew how to keep him alive, during what seemed like an excruciatingly long time.

Then, suddenly the room was ready, operating staff were ready to go, and she was whisked away...with her husband left behind, with the rest of us.

There are no words to write, perhaps no words yet thought of, that can describe the next half hour or so.

And then the doors banged open, staff shouted, It's a boy!...and he's fine! And so is his mother!

I only finally saw my daughter for a few minutes after she came out of the recovery room, at 5 PM. Drowsy and spent, she remembered to thank me for my help during the labour. All I could whisper to her was that I loved her...other words left me.

I spent the remainder of the evening with tears running down my face, total joy and awe and thankfulness in my heart.

For awhile, during the latter part of the delivery, when mother and son were in distress, I kept a running litany with Creator...this time, as once before, I went straight to the top. This time, my prayers for a happy beginning were answered...with a well mother and little Graydon Lee.

He is still doing extremely well, as is my daughter.

A brand new baby has arrived amongst our family. Every time I've seen him, he has the most amazingly smug look on his face...he's congratulating himself for a job well done!

23 comments:

  1. ...and they all lived happily ever after!

    Congratulations!

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  2. Congratulations, Marion! Your family has received another blessing to love and nurture. I truly believe babies are a gift from God. Your daughter did well because of the life examples shown by her very special mother. hugssssssssss

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  3. I thought you might have been involved with birthin' a baby. My heart if full for the new man in your life.

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  4. Miss T, I am so happy you visited! Are you still on the road? lol

    Lorna, I gained a few more white hairs and a few more wrinkles waiting for Graydon's birth! I worked with both my daughters during their deliveries...it is an incredible gift to me to be able to do this!

    Sheila, I was indeed birthin' a baby! I remember my first husband's grandmother helping to birth babies. I went along, after I had experienced my own first birth. What a difference then,in these old homes where birthin'took place, compared to the ultra modern birthing room my daughter was in!

    With a scary delivery like this one, I'm glad she was where she was!

    I come from a family of four girls, I have two daughters, and a granddaughter. I am a total neophyte when it comes to boys...it will make for some funny posts!

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  5. Anonymous3:39 p.m.

    Blessings to the new baby, mom, grandmother, and everyone else. Congratulations! (Lovely photo of the two of you.)

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  6. good Idea from DOWNUNDER
    At 7.30pm on 31 March 2007, we are inviting Sydneysiders - businesses and individuals - to turn off their lights for just one hour, Earth Hour, as a sign of their commitment to reduce global warming.

    http://earthhour.smh.com.au/

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  7. Anonymous11:08 p.m.

    Congratulations to have a new little boy in your family. He looks beautiful, and will bring such joy, best wishes, The Artist

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  8. Congratulations, a spring baby. A good time to have a birthday.

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  9. Barbara, that photo was taken after a very long labour, I look very happy, but less than my best, lol!

    But Graydon looked beautiful!

    Lloyd, great idea!

    Thank you, Artist, he has already filled this family with amazing joy!

    DaveM, there is nothing like a spring birthday. There is such happiness at this time of year, and Graydon will benefit from the renewal that happens every year in March.

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  10. Anonymous10:00 a.m.

    That is so great. The baby shares his birthday with some great and notable people, like, well, me.

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  11. Happy Birthday, Jan! You're absolutely right, and Graydon will follow in your footsteps!

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  12. Marion, congratulations to you and your brave daughter. You described the tension of the situation so well that happy tears came to my own eyes when I read about the voice shouting that mother and son were both well.

    What a beautiful boy he is!

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  13. Congratulations Marion! What an incredibly beautiful picture of you and baby. You should frame that one.

    tea
    xo

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  14. Congrats Marion :)

    Graydon (love the name) is really cute.

    Sorry to hear your daughter had such a hard time of it but it was great that you could be there to comfort her.

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  15. Velvet, it was an unforgettable moment, to be sure. Tears are still coming to my eyes, lol!

    Tea, I felt like a wet dishrag when that photo was taken, but I guess I could expect no more than that...I've come up with a few more white hairs, and perhaps even lost a few, lol!

    Jackie, yes, I was very happy to help her...I used Reiki and it really helped throughout the labour. Graydon is adorable...he sleeps and socializes all day, and yells his head off at night!

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  16. Oh that really is wonderful news! I'm so happy for you! He's so beautiful! Nothing sweeter than holding a baby!

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  17. Another being; I trust that he will be taught well. You are very lucky.

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  18. Thank you, Desiree and goatman...I feel very lucky! He's one grand little guy!

    He keeps us all very busy...isn't it amazing how much work a little tiny being such as Graydon can create?

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  19. Congrats congrats, how how cute!!!
    Good wishes to you all.

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  20. Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful grandson Marion. That's a lovely photo of the two of you. I'm sure Graydon is a wonderful addition to your family. After all those girls.it will be nice for you to have a little boy around. Look forward to reading some fun posts!

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  21. Oh Marion, I'm so relieved to hear that Graydon and your daughter are both OK!

    I've been in the delivery room with our younger daughter, while she had her twins, who weighed almost 16 pounds between them, so I know what you mean about being limp in the picture!

    I'm glad to be getting back to reading what's going on with everyone who was so thoughtful to comment while I was away from blogging after Daddy died.

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  22. This is a deeply moving birth story. You are right that it is moments of crisis that define us. You have a daughter to be very proud of and blessings to the new baby.

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  23. Thank you all for your best wishes and congratulations...family and baby are still getting to know one another, with new surprises every day.

    DB, glad you're back! Twins, wow! You had to go through all that twice...I'm in awe! And sixteen pounds of twins...my gosh!

    There will be some funny posts, to be sure...I've already experienced some moments of sheer confusion, lol!!!

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