counting down...

As we are counting down the day to welcome our new family member, A and I finally kinda got into our parents-to-be mode.

We spent a weekend assembling the crib and did some research at babiesrus. The more we spend time preparing, the more I believe that A would be a wonderful dad. So the crib was more complicated than we expected. A spent both saturday and sunday working on it. This time he was more careful in the process than any other furnitures he's built. After each step, he would make sure many times the part was attached firm enough. As we finally finished this weekend project and were ready to move it to the bedroom, we realized that the crib is too big to go through the bedroom door!!!!We tried so many different angles and took some small parts but still couldn't get the crib to the room. So A had to dissemble most of the part and start over! Usually he would be too frustrated and decided to ignore it for a while, but this time, without a word, he patiently carried all the parts to the bedroom and reassemble them. Somehow I was in tears when seeing this. I really saw the love he put in building the crib. So I hugged him from the back and said thank you.

As I am in my final weeks, A and I would go take a walk after dinner to help the process of labor (as the doctor and experienced moms suggested). The other day when we were walking, a dad with a little boy came talk to us. The dad said he told his son that last time he came to this park, he also saw me and A walking. He told the son that there's a baby in my belly and he (the son) was in his mom's belly few years ago too. The son asked his dad how he got into the mom's belly and this question really got his dad, hahaha...

The boy is very cute and friendly and it seemed that he had some bike accident because his left hand was covered by a plaster cast. Then the dad told us a tragic but touching story. The boy was born with cerebral palsy and has been in therapy since he was born because of the negligence of the hospital. When his mom was in labor, his head was stuck and couldn't go out. The mom was too painful and kept bleeding, so she asked a c-section. However, the baby was in the crowning stage, so the doctor thought the baby could still come out. They tried vacuuming and others but still could't work. After 4.5 hours of pushing (the instructor at our childbirth class told us that pushing is between 30 mins to 3 hrs max, so 4.5 hrs is waaay too long for both mom and bay), the doctor decided to do c-section. But then because the wife was bleeding too much when the doc finally decided, the mom was very sick already. The dad faced the most difficult question in his life "if we can only save one, do you want to save your wife or your husband?" He told us that he almost fainted when being asked.He came to the hospital to welcome the new born, how did this even happen especially when all the doctor visits showed they would have a normal baby!!!???? Thank God that both mom and baby survived after the surgery, but because they didnt do c-section timely, the baby didn't have enough oxygen when in the crowning stage so he was born with cerebral palsy. I was surprised, I told the dad, your child looks like a very normal kid to me except for the wound that I think is from a bike accident. But the dad told us that his son is 2 years behind all the development and he couldn't walk until he was 4. Also, the insurance company denied his son, so they have to live with the huge medical expense for the rest of their life. However, the dad didn't tell us the story to complain, instead, he told us because he doesn't wanna see another mistake/negligence by the hospital. He felt that he is responsible for this because he should have insisted on c-section when his wife first asked. But being a first-time dad, he trusted the doctor. He was telling A that if he senses anything wrong, he should make a decision right away.

What I admire more about this dad and son is their thankful attitude. The dad kept telling us that he's really thankful that God saved both of his beloved. Even though his son is not as normal as other kids, but he is definitely a happy child, which is more important than anything else for the dad. As we were saying goodbye, the son asked me, "how about this, you come here next time, and I'll introduce you to my mom." (His mom was in class on that day). I smiled and said "sure, I would love to meet your brave mom!"

As we were on the way home, we both expressed how touched we were by this family and how much we were impressed by the husband and the wife to go through this. We also pray to God nothing but the health of the baby.