Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Celebrating Gideon

Last night Jericho found the tattoo of Gideon's footprint, on Seth's arm, for the first time. The timing seemed very appropriate as if she knew it were Gideon's birthday. It was so sweet how she kept touching it and staring at it. We have video of it, but the stupid computer would not let me upload it so the picture will have to do for now.

Last year for Gideon's birthday there were a few things that we knew we wanted to do in honor of him. This year is no different and it seems that we are making our own traditions in honor of our son just as we will have traditions that we will do during holidays and such as Jericho, and hopefully other children, get older. One of the first stops of our day is the hospital. Strong Memorial Hospital to be exact. It has one of the best NICU's in the nation and we are so thankful for it. The shirt that Jericho is wearing in the picture below is from Strong Hospital. When we were in the hospital with Gideon we always said that on our way out the door, with Gideon in tow, we were going to stop and get one. That obviously did not happen. I had almost forgotten about that until one of my good friends, that was always by our side when Gideon was in the hospital, came to the hospital, NOT Strong, when Jericho was born bearing this t-shirt as a gift. Jericho is not a Strong Memorial Hospital baby, she was born at a different hospital, yet she very much is! So today we were off to Strong Hospital in honor of Gideon to reminisce of his days at the NICU with high hopes of see a few of the doctors and nurses that we grew to know and love.

We did get to see Carol one of the nurses that had Gideon much of the time. Carol is a seasoned nurse, I'm using her words and they mean that she's been there for a long time and knows what she is doing. While in the NICU she told us that because of this she usually gets the sickest baby's in the NICU, I guess it wasn't a good thing that Gideon always had her, but we sure did enjoy getting to know Carol. The picture below is Dr. Chess one of the best, in my opinion, neonatologist that you will ever meet. Every time we visit the hospital we get a chance to talk with her and catch up. She is a very busy woman but she always takes time for us and we are very grateful. It was wonderful seeing both of them and we can't say, "THANK YOU!" enough and not just for what they did for Gideon but for all the babies that they see!
If it were for those two ladies and many others this Wall of Miracles and Memories would not be possible. Isn't it beautiful. It's full of pictures, birthday dates, hand prints, and each tile tells a different story from a different family that was in the NICU. This wall was not there when Gideon was in the NICU but we heard about it and it's so neat to see in person. If you ever find yourself at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY go up to the 3rd floor, find the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and then to the right of the main desk it the wall. If you have the chance go see it!

The walls leading into the NICU used to be bare but now they have these beautiful picture of newborn and preemie babies. It makes it feel much warmer, much more like home rather than a hospital. It's nice I like it. I want to get copies of a few of them.


This was one of my favorites. I wish I would have thought to take a picture of Gideon like this.


One of the other things that we do ever year is get a Hess Truck for Gideon. Even before Gideon was born Seth said that he would like to collect Hess Trucks, he has a few from when he was a boy, for Gideon. Things were a little crazy the year Gideon was born so we did not get one till a little later but when we went to buy it we found out that in 2005, the year Gideon was born, the theme, they do a different theme every year, was an Emergency Truck with a Rescue Vehicle, it seemed very appropriate for the kind of year Gideon had. This year it's a Monster Truck with Motorcycles, again very appropriate for a two year old. I think it's kind of neat how it has all worked out.
We have enjoyed out day but it's not over. We still have to head to the cemetery to see Gideon and sing Happy Birthday and there is also some angel food cake to eat, yes angel food cake for my angle boy! It's been a good day. Thank you all for your prayers!

1 comment:

Becky said...

Wow. I don't know what to say...Happy Birthday Gideon