Two weeks before Christmas I brought home my bundle of love, my son. Home was my moms house, the duplex she rented from her sister. It was already a full house with my two out of three nephews living there plus my brother and mother and now my son and me. All of us crammed into a two bedroom with a makeshift bedroom in the old dinning room. The table was replaced with bunkbeds and a portable closet on one side and on the other side of the room was a tall but small dresser. I told my mom I didn't understand why she just didn't move years ago when at the tender age of 19 my sister had her first kid or even sooner when our family grew when my brother was born when I was 14. She didn't have an answer. I knew she wouldn't and when she doesn't she changes the subject. Which she did. But, I suspect she got too comfortable over the years and the years went by and she got older and more set in her ways.
She turned her attention to her new grandson. So did I. While I was in the hospital a woman from my baby group I went to while I was pregnant delivered a basinette that was from her daughter. I was grateful because a crib would have taken up a lot of the room. But, I ddid have a crib unassembled that my sons father's mother gave to me she brought from a thrift store along with a changing table.
After everyone got introduced to him I put him down for a series of two hour naps, feeding and changing. I slept when he slept. I slept in a semi sitting position because of the c-section I couldn't lie completely down if I had any intention of getting up again and so it began. The first month was hard and I was walking around with serious bags under my eyes and I couldn't tell you what day of the week it was if you paid me a million bucks. Then I got mail. Not the social security card for him I expected but a bill from the hospital. I had insurance and I looked at the bill in horror. 97,000 total. From then on I called him the 100k baby.
It took me 4 months and a million calls, letters and e-mail to get the bill taken care of in addition to taking care of a newborn and no sleep.
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