Today as we celebrate Colin's first birthday, I would like to take you back to a year ago and where we were. God has blessed us so greatly with Colin and we are so grateful for this little man.
The day after Thanksgiving we went to the high risk doctor for a f/u sono. The doctor ordered me to take another 3 hour glucose tolerance test since I failed the one hour (despite passing the first 3 hour gtt). I took that on Tuesday, Nov. 28th and ended up failing the whole test. Thursday, Nov. 30th I had a regular OB appointment where they sent me to the hospital for high blood pressure and spilling protein in my urine. I then had to do a 24 hour urine catch from Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon - carting my big jug 'o pee to my diabetic counseling and a bio-physical profile for the baby. After having dinner with David & Lala at Hard Times Cafe, my OB called me at 9:30 Friday night and said my protein numbers were 5 times the limit of what is normal and she needed me at the hospital at 7 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2nd for my c-section. We went in early and got prepped for the surgery. We were having a ball in the OR - I was the life of the party, cracking jokes with my nurse - my poor husband was sitting in the hallway feeling like the kid left out of the "in" crowd in high school! Colin Andrew was born at 9:23 a.m. and ended up having difficulty breathing - he was in respiratory distress - and they whisked him off to the NICU where the intubated him and put him on a respirator. I wasn't able to see him due to my high blood pressure and having to be in the bed on IV magnesium. My husband went and took a picture of the little man - it was so sad to see him hooked up to the respirator and all of those wires. Elizabeth - lovely woman that she is - came to see me that afternoon and brought me some tea - she can make a mean cup of spiced tea! 
Her husband actually went in to see Colin and he came and told me how beautiful he was - for some reason Mike's visit really sticks out in my mind. Through the miracle of prayer, Colin was taken off the respirator after only 8 hours. The NICU nurse came to my room and brought me 2 Polaroid pictures of him sans respirator. I clung to those during the night. The neonatologist told my husband that we now were beginning the wait to see what kind of withdrawal symptoms the baby would have and that it was entirely possible that Colin would be in the NICU for upwards of 2-3 weeks. That broke my heart, but I knew that the Lord would take care of this precious baby for me and that Mary would be there with him while I couldn't. While waiting to recover from the c-section, my urologist blasted my kidney stone which was a whopping 10 mm!!! He had to blast it 2000 times - no wonder I was in such pain 
Back to the baby - incredibly long story short, Colin exhibited no signs of withdrawal at all and was able to come home with me on Wednesday, December 6th - the feast of St. Nicholas - the name Colin, I learned while pregnant, is a diminutive form of Nicholas. Baby Colin, as my boys call him is such a joy and a wonderful baby. He is doing incredibly well, nurses like a champ - the NICU nurses were amazed at his ability to latch on and nurse at his gestational age, and is sleeping pretty well at night even. We feel so blessed that he is well and seems to be suffering no ill effects from his momma's crazy last trimester.
Colin has been such a joy in our lives. He is a wonderful child, always smiling, and so very loving. He has come so far from those first crazy days of his life. As I say in Mass this morning, I thanked God for the gift of this child. Happy 1st Birthday my little man!
I love you very much Kellie Lynn, and wish you all the happiness in the world.
