Special Needs

This is the final installment of my mini-series “Welcome to Motherhood.” Miss the beginning? Start here. Every 1-2 hours, Betsy visited our group to give us an update. Each time I spotted her smile beaming out from under her surgical garb, I drew a little courage. Her first words were usually, “Elli is doing well,” then…

This is part ten of my mini-series “Welcome to Motherhood.” Miss the beginning? Start here. Elli made it to the day of surgery. She was the second case of the day, so they told us to expect them to take her to the O.R. sometime after noon. Our family and friends all gathered at the hospital,…

This is part eight of my mini-series “Welcome to Motherhood.” Miss the beginning? Start here. While we all waited to see if Elli’s body would recover sufficiently from the lack of oxygen, her doctors donned detective hats, looking for a reason for her heart defects and the best way to proceed. Geneticists interviewed us and took…

This is part seven of my mini-series “Welcome to Motherhood.” Miss the beginning? Start here. All that day, Elli soldiered on. We stayed in a tiny parent sleep room that night, just down the hall from her corner room in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU), the two of us spooned in tight on a twin…

This is part six of my mini-series “Welcome to Motherhood.” Miss the beginning? Start here. Our pastor spoke into our impasse. “I could go see her first, and tell you what to expect, if that’s ok with you.” Again I wondered if he was an angel. “Yes, that would be great,” we agreed. He and Dr.…