When we brought our oldest boy Jaden home, he was crying, and it was cold and rainy outside. We both hovered over him from changing his little diaper, to getting his little bottle, making sure he was warm, kissed, snuggled, held and loved. We were both all over him day and night – like he was the future King of England or something. He slept between us on a little “baby bracket”, and we could hardly sleep, both thrilled that we had a baby (what a privilege) and scared to death, because now he was our little man to care for, and he was just a newborn, fragile and small. During his first night in bed with us, he was finally calm, fed, dry and loved. He looked at Shelli, looked at me, as if to say “what’s up”? We told him that we’re his mom and dad and we were excited about him, loved him and would be there to take care of him. He fell asleep.
With Jeremy, our younger one, Shelli was able to be in the delivery room with the birthmom. She wanted Shelli to immediately bond with her, so right after Jeremy came out, Shelli placed her index finger into his little hand, and he closed his fingers over hers. When I got the call to come in, I was able to do the same with him. Nothing else like it!
Shortly after Jeremy came home from the hospital, Shelli got the flu, and I had to bottle feed him every two hours through the night for a couple of weeks, so the two of us slept on the couch. He was wrapped up nice and warm, as all newborns are, and every 120 minutes would make his little baby rumblings and stirrings. I had the dining room table covered and set up for a diaper change, with formula bottles waiting for a quick warm up. I could unwrap him, change his diaper, have him fed and back in bed in two minutes, and me back to sleep for another two hours. It was tiring, but another great bonding experience.
With our oldest, Jaden, once he got beyond the infant stage, he became an aggressive bottle feeder, who sucked out his formula (and later milk) so forcefully that he got sweaty! Then he’d scream if we didn't have another bottle on hand the moment he finished with the first one! Once he finished the second, he’d pass out and go limp. We’d quietly, gently, place him back into his crib. He was sweaty, unconscious, bloated, but needless to say, grew fast and big.
Having the boys has been great, tiring, and it changed everything. We saw that our first, Jaden, needed a brother or sister, so we got Jeremy. We’ve been told that at our age, we probably wouldn't even get one baby, and we know that some people go for a long time without getting one child.
Our boys are strong, smart, healthy and very handsome. We literally thank God multiple times a day, and when we pray at dinner, do that in front of them, so they know how we feel. You’ve been there for us, we have appreciated it greatly and Nightlight changed our world beyond words.
Sincerely,
Scott & Shelli