2008 - Nicholas' Arrival
Bless his heart!
Nicholas James Rathjen was born on May 17, 2008, "just" six weeks early. Not wanting his brothers to be unopposed in the birth drama department, Nicholas surprised us with some drama of his own... he arrived with a congenital heart defect called Transposition of the Great Arteries.
It was a scary journey, but thanks to the world-class skills of the elite doctors and nurses at Texas Children's Hospital, and to the grace of God, Nicholas made it through eight hours of open-heart surgery and hasn't looked back since!
After about a month in the hospital, he came home "good as new", with nothing holding him back and eager to learn wondrous new things from big brothers Alexander and Zachary.
Mom and Dad can't help but look in awe at the wonder of him being home, safe and sound at last.
So much to
celebrate!
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Nicole was admitted to the hospital when she was almost 26 weeks pregnant.
She stayed there until Nicholas was born two months later, at 34 weeks. We
had a brilliant doctor who was determined to keep Nicole pregnant for as many
weeks as possible!
With each passing week, Alexander and Zachary gave their momma a photograph celebrating the week's milestone:
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34
weeks
May 17, 2008 ("Have a safe landing!") |
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33
weeks
May 10, 2008 |
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32
weeks!
May 3, 2008 (a huge milestone) |
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31
weeks
April 26, 2008
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30
weeks
April 19, 2008 |
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29
weeks
April 12, 2008 |
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28
weeks
April 5, 2008 |
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27
weeks
March 29 , 2008 |
