Baptism, Miracle Man Style

That's right, Spencer was finally baptized today:) Don't be upset if you didn't get an invite...it would be because we didn't send any out! We nearly had Spencer baptized in the hospital, on a few occasions, but decided to hold off in hopes of having it in the same church we were married and had Avery's baptism. He's nearly 6 months old and we finally got to have it! Jake and Cim (my brother and sister) are his sponsors, and since Jake leaves next Sunday for basic, we wanted to have it this weekend before he left.

I had tears in my eyes today as he was being baptized and thinking about when Pastor came to see him in the hospital. He was so sick and we were such scared parents thinking we might lose our beautiful son. Today, Pastor wouldn't have known he had been such a sick boy if he hadn't seen it for himself! Since Spencer is older than most babies when they get baptized, he's a bit heavier to hold and didn't fit in the traditional outfit! Plus, when Pastor was holding his hand over Spencer, Spencer grabbed it and put it in his mouth:) It was so cute.

So far, as time has gone by, the pain of what happened to Spencer hasn't eased at all. There hasn't been a day go by that something hasn't triggered a painful memory from the 6 weeks we spent in the hospital. I'm not so sure time will ever heal this wound. As a mom, I feel an enormous amount of guilt because I should have known my baby was sick while I was carrying him. I don't think I have ever publicly shared this, but what happened to Spencer should have never happened at all. At my 8 week lab draw (yes, the appointment you first go to before you ever see the doctor), it was detected that I carried the anti-E antibody (It's a minor group incompatibility like the Rh- one everyone is familiar with only much more rare). Very complicated, but basically Avery and I had a blood incompatibility and I developed antibodies to fight it. Then, Spencer had the same antigen in his blood Avery did that was incompatible with my blood. Since I already had the antibodies built up, they attacked him. For 30 weeks, this information sat in my chart, unknown to my doctor because the person that read the results signed off on them. I carried a high risk pregnancy to term without ever knowing anything was wrong. Had someone read my results thoroughly and saw this, I would have been monitored by a specialist the entire time and other measures would have been taken to avoid what ended up happening to Spencer. What's done is done and we are trying to move forward, but knowing that my baby and I didn't receive the best care in the hands we trusted during a delicate time, makes the healing process much tougher.

Then, there was a beautiful day like today-literally. It's 70 degrees and sunny here in Indiana, in November!! We couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day. Watching Spencer get baptized was such a wonderful moment. It was a wonderful moment with Avery too. But Spencer is our Miracle Man. Things could have been so much worse than they were, but a miracle let my little boy stay with me. I couldn't be more thankful. He is the most wonderful addition to our family. Spencer Cole, it is truly an honor to get to be your mom, I love you baby boy:)

Here we are with Pastor Al:) Notice Spencer opted for a shirt and tie with khakis instead of the traditional garb...he did have cute little white socks with a cross on them:)

Just the 4 of us:) Aunt Beth & Uncle Dave, I know this isn't the best picture to tell, but Avery is wearing the beautiful pink dress you got her!!

Us with Spencer's sponsors, Aunt Cimmy and Uncle Jake.

Avery wanted in on this one:)

Us with the grandparents...my mom and stepdad on the left and Artie's dad on the right.

Uncle Chad and Aunt Jamie celebrated the day with us...cousin Garrett was a sleepy little man today:)

Me and my siblings...I love these guys:)