Moments to remember

People tell me to take pictures because they change so quickly. I have been doing this, more so than in the beginning, but I have decided that pictures are not enough. I like to think of myself as a writer and I'll be damned if I don't write down what I want to remember.

Our first dance together. He was about 3 weeks old and he was screaming his head off. I was stumped. I'd fed, changed, burped and cuddled him. He didn't seem to be in pain (different cry) but he certainly wasn't happy. I was getting a headache and very frustrated, so I decided to add some distractions to the mix. I put on music, picked up Jude, and started dancing around with him. The song was Bad Things by Jace Everett. Almost immediately he seemed to falter. I started singing along as I bounced, dipped, and spun him (safely in my arms, of course) around the living room. He stopped crying. I kept it up, and he put on his happy face. (Not quite a smile since he's just learning how to smile, but bright eyes and excited breathing.) By the end of the song, his eyes were drooping and his body was relaxed. I rocked him to sleep. From then on, this song always has a positive affect on him.

When a baby is born in the hospital, the mom, dad, and baby all get bands that have a number on it. The nurses must always check the number on each wrist before handing the baby over. For some reason, the nurses put Jude's identification band very tight around his ankle. This bothered me, but didn't seem to bother him, so I didn't say anything. The morning before I left, Jude came to us from the nursery sobbing. The nurse checked our numbers and handed him over, saying that he was hungry. I tried to breastfeed him, but he wouldn't stop crying. I became flustered very quickly and looked at Scott with a bit of desperation in my eyes. It was the first time that he'd cried and cried and I couldn't stop it. Jude kept throwing his head back to wail, his body was tense, and his back was arched. I couldn't get him to relax, and finally handed him to Scott because I was afraid that I was going to start crying with him. Scott looked a bit lost for a few seconds and then made a decision. He took off his shirt (babies like skin to skin contact) and laid down with Jude on his chest. Jude started to calm down, and as I started to feel relieved, I saw blood on Scott's stomach, where Jude's leg was. The plastic identification band was so tight on his left that it had cut into him. At this point Jude had fallen asleep on Scott's chest. I called in the nurse and luckily, he was getting discharged so they raised no issue with cutting it off. I don't know what I would have done without Scott and his good instincts.

More in later posts. I'm going to keep this up.