Ethan turns SEVEN today!!!

Seven years ago today my water broke while laying in bed. Ethan was wanting to make his presence in the world known...5 days early. I quickly got a shower, loaded up in the car with all of our STUFF and we headed off to triage. They got me in a bed, got me all hooked up, I was dialated to two centimeters. Bring on the pitocin. While I was waiting for my epidural I got to experience REAL labor contractions and God Lordy Lord...how these woman can do it ala natural is beyond me...drugs...I want drugs...

While I labored we had an entire suite full of guests...at one point I think there were about 35 people all jammed in that tiny room at Arnold Palmer. After about 12 hours of labor I was finally fully dialated and ready to push. With Preston, my mom and Michelle, Preston's mom, in there to help me we got under way. After about 2 hours of pushing it became appearant that Ethan was just NOT going to come out. For one he was sunny side up, and for two, my pelvic bone is very low in my birth canal region making it even that more difficult for a baby to get thru.

The doctor told me that we were going to do a c-section but we needed to wait until the operating room became available. Made it sound like no biggie. I was so exhausted from pushing that I was like "whatever".

My mom, watching the monitor on Ethan, became a bit concerned over what she was seeing and requested to speak to the doctor in the hall. After the doctor came back in she agreed that we needed to get me in there...STAT.

Within 20 minutes later, Ethan Michael Hage was born. 7 lbs. 6 oz. and a head full of brown hair! What a doll he was, is. He was having difficulty regulating his body temperature so they kept him in the NICU for about 4 hours. It wasn't until about midnight that I was actually able to hold him and see him.

I remember them wheeling him into my room, handing him over to me, and then leaving the room for Preston and I to get to know our son. What a special moment. THEN, he started to scream and Preston and I locked eyes with one another and both of us thinking "what in the world do we do with him now????" Where's the manual! HA!!!

As many of you know, it became very appearant to me by 2 months of age that something was just NOT right with him. He would only use one side of his body and leave the right arm hanging. Finally after many trips to the doctor and repeated requests, I finally got someone to listen to me and agree to further testing.

Within a month we got the news from his MRI that he had suffered a very large stroke, late in gestation. Many in my family believe it was due to the delivery and perhaps some negligence on behalf of the doctor, but we will never really know for sure.

We quickly got underway with many many therapies, several times per week. According to the neurologist we saw he should have had a hard time eating, walking, talking, etc...due to the size of the stroke.

I believe due to LOTS of prayer, and early intervention, Ethan has beaten the odds. He walked on time, ate like a champ, sat on time, etc... The area in which his stroke shows itself the most is with his coordination and his right hand. He lacks the strength and fine motor skill control that you see in his left hand. His speech is also slightly effected, but he is talking much more clearly now with on-going speech therapy.

Ethan is SUCH a wonderful little boy. He has such a caring and compassionate heart. He cares greatly for the needs of others. He has the tenacity of a lion and the desire to do great things.

Ethan is a champion, he has such drive and determination. I know the Lord is going to use him for mighty mighty things. He may not be the fastest one out there, but he is most definitely the one with the most guts...you should see him throw a spiral! :)

Before we began homeschooling I was often fretting over worry with him academically, always wanting to make sure he was where he should be. Since bringing him home with me and being able to see his work in action, I am so impressed with him. He has quelched all my fears as I see him blossom right before my eyes. He's so good at math...loves doing his math drills. He's becoming this excellent reader, which warms my heart to no end. His desire to learn scripture and stories from the bible is contagious. I couldn't be any prouder of who he is and what God has planned for him.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy....mommy loves you more than you will ever know! I'm so glad that God gave you to our family!!!