Ode to Liam

I can't believe my little guy is already turning three. It seems like yesterday that I went in to EJGH to have him and came home 5 days later after 22 hours of labor, a C-section and a NICU stay for Liam.
There are no words that a mother can use to express the feeling that comes over you when you see you child for the first time. So much so that you are speechless. You can't hold back the tears. Not because you have just experienced pain and exhaustion that is unmeasurable but because of what you are given now that this grueling journey has come to an end. (Or is it the beginning?) What you are given is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. They place him in your arms and tell you congratulations. You look at his tiny little creature you've been waiting so anxiously for the last nine months. And think, how did we make something so beautiful?
This is what I thought after I had Liam. Once I could feel my legs again and could walk down to the NICU to hold him. He was the BIGGEST baby in the unit. And had the least serious problem(s). He had a high white blood cell count that they couldn't figure out. (and never did)
Four days later they let him sleep in my room for the first time, and the following morning we packed up and left the hospital and all the fun that goes along with it. For example, the never ending temperature and blood pressure checks every five minute, or a nurse waking you up to give you pain meds every four hours, walking to the NICU every 1 1/2 to feed Liam, and last but not least the ever so delicious meals that they somehow find edible.
The first night he woke up every 2-3 hours and around 3 am he decided it was noon and the whole house should be awake.
Nate took him downstairs, to give me a break, and I woke up to "just SHUT UP, SHUT UP...don't you get tired of crying?" That was when I stepped in and slowly and calmly asked for my baby back and told him to go to bed, he obviously needed the sleep. Then I did what every smart mom does. Fed him and took him into grandma and said, "here he's all yours. Enjoy. And that she did! And that is what Nana's are for. She'd be able to catch up on the missed sleep when she got home. Me on the other hand. I still haven't and don't think I will till the youngest in married and it's just the two of us.
After that, well, it's history. The last three years have been crazy. Yet some of the best years of my life, and mostly because of that white haired little boy that came into our lives April 18th 2005.
We love you Liam! Happy Birthday.