You’ve met my eldest son. He wanders through my writing on a regular basis and even wrote a piece for me. He’s rather special in many ways. I first made his acquaintance 29 years ago today.
That is not to say I didn’t know him long before his birth. He was very much longed for and I spent most of a pregnancy of whale like proportions talking to him, playing him music and rubbing whatever lump of his anatomy stuck out like an alien bulge in what used to be my nice flat stomach. Letting him know he would be welcomed into the world with love.
I nearly lost him at five months, sort of a precursor of things to come. But he always was a stubborn little sod and he hung on in there.
I won’t go into the gory details of the birth… suffice it to say that the outstanding memory is of the nurse squeezing me like a tube of toothpaste whilst the handsome Doctor Crossmary placed his foot against the bed and hauled, singing an old French classic, ‘Nicolas’. It is picture of sufficiently graphic detail to show this was not going to be easy.
But he was a delight.
I could, of course post loads of really embarrassing baby pics..but as I will be seeing him shortly I will refrain, in the interests of my personal safety… and post only mildly embarrassing ones. Cute…
I had never been as happy as when my son was released from the incubator, being early, and placed in my arms.
He was a happy, adventurous child. He rode things and fell off, climbed things and fell off, then went and did it again. the stubborn streak was already there. Determination to succeed.
It served him well when tragedy struck, but I always said that if he came out of the coma with any part of himself intact, he would be back. And the stubborn streak came through for him.
I held my breath as he took his first, and held it again 25 years later as the ventilator was switched off and again he took his first unaided breath.
So today is a special day, my son’s birthday. And I am grateful he is here to share it.
Happy Birthday, Nick.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Happy Birthday, Nick. I can tell you make your Mom proud. Hope you have a rockin’ day.
Sue, our youngest was born 9 weeks early. She was in the hospital for a month. So I know that scary feeling – when she went to a hospital that had a Neonatal unit … and I remained in the hospital where she was born. Like you, it turned out very well.
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I was very lucky Judy. Though so early, he was a rather large baby at 9.5 lbs.. ( fairly glad on that basis we didn’t go the whole nine months… 🙂 )so the incubator didn’t last long.. though it felt like eternity to me.
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Happy birthday Nick!!! Your mom is awesome!
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🙂 ( Hobbit wanders off blushing)
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Happy birthday Nick! Have a good one. No. Bugger it. Have a GREAT one… 😀
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happy birthady
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All the very best Nick! Hope you had a very special day. 🙂
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Happy Birthday to Nick!
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Yay, Nick cheers mate!, happy birthday. Hope the days super cool. Have a good one.
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Happy Birthday to Nick, your winner of a son! Sue, my firstborn son had to be hauled out too!
Blessings ~ Wendy
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🙂 It is what you might call an unforgettable experience on many levels, isn’t it Wendy? 🙂
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Penblwydd Hapus from Wales to Nick, and congratulations for surviving everything that life has thrown to Sue. My daughter had heart surgery at 9 weeks and I well remember the devastation of thinking she might die, but she’s still here doing things like sky-diving, tight-wire walking and rock climbing – another determined little bugger making the most of life.
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Amazing animals, our children, aren’t they 😉
Thanks Lizzy. Nick is reading all the comments. 🙂
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Beautiful words for a son from his mother. Happy birthday to Nick! Thank you for sharing your stories. So inspirational.
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Thank you 🙂
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Happy birthday, Nick!
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Happy Birthday, Nick. Thank you for the inspiring story, Sue!
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Happy Birthday to your beautiful boy Sue. His is an amazing story…. so thankful for the outcome, and what a special Mom he was blessed with…. Warm wishes and lots of love as you both celebrate! xrl
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Thank you, Robyn x
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Happy birthday, Nick!
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Probably just in time to wish you a very happy birthday, Nick!!!
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Wishing you all the best Nick for your birthday, 29 is a wonderful age – I’m eternally 29 inside my mind! 🙂 I hope your wedding this year goes to plan and is a start of something very special! And all the best to you Sue for being such a warm loving mother! 😀
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Thank you Suzy
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