Everything You Wanted and More...Part 5

Morning rolled around. The doctors came in and checked on me. They got my permission for the surgery and after a few hesitant minutes, I nervously agreed. 1

I heard Raiem’s distinct cry as they wheeled her down the hallway, away from my safety. I sighed, I knew they’d take care of my baby. There was nothing more then I could wish for besides the fact that my baby be okay. 2

Hours and hours passed. Time went by so slowly. I was so nervous, then a knock came through my door. Brandon opened it, the doctor walked in, hands behind his back. He looked at Brandon, nodded, then looked at me. I bit my lip, trying to refrain from crying and he walked over to the bed. 3

“Raiem’s hole in her windpipe has slightly grown, we were able to close it yet we aren’t sure how long the closure will stay. As our expectancy, it should hold for a while, yet, how long is unknown. In about a week, she will be able to go home. If you have any other questions, please contact us. As for now, she should be coming out of anesthesia and be back under supervision in the nursery.”4

I finally felt like there was a hope. Brandon came over and gently hugged me, tears rolled down both of our eyes. Tears of actual joy and happiness. I had hope in my baby girl, she was a soldier, she could pull through all of this. 5

Brandon kissed me, I smiled and he held me for a while. 6

We talked about our future, about Raiem... everything. Around 6:00pm, we decided to go down to the cafeteria to get something to eat and on the way back we would stop in to see Raiem. 7

She looked so beautiful bundled up in her little blanket like that. She was sleeping so peacefully, they had a few monitors hooked to her, and nurses watching over her. She was in good hands, I could tell.8

I was still in shock though. I was only 16, soon to be 17 in a month, and a mother of a baby girl, her father was 17, soon to be 18 in 2 weeks. My mother didn’t know that I had had the baby yet, neither did Brandon’s parents. My mother knew that I was pregnant but she had no clue about me already having the baby. There was no way in hell that I was going to treat my baby like she did me. 9

Before I knew it, a week passed. Brandon woke me up and we started gathering my things out of the room, the doctor came in and told us that Raiem was fine and that I could take her home. I sighed a breath of relief. Brandon hugged me. We got our things together, I was still sore, yet I could walk. I was determined to bring my baby home. 10

Brandon went and signed us out of the hospital while one of the nurses got me a wheelchair so I could sit in and hold Raiem while Brandon wheeled me out to the car. 11

Brandon was so amazing. He was part of my everything, Raiem brought so much more. I was so blessed to be with them.12

We got back to the apartment, there was a ton of messages and missed calls on Brandon’s answering machine. Most of them were my mom. A few were actually Brandon’s parents. I supposed that mom had contacted them and told them what was going on. Raiem slept the whole way home. We set up the crib that we got for her. We set it up in our room. We wanted to be sure that she was by us our every moment. 13

She grew so fast, by the time she was 3 months old she could say something that sounded like “Mama” and “Dada.” She was such a fast learner. She started walking when she was 7 months, in all the time between, she was going everywhere. Climbing on everything, doing things a baby her age should be doing. Her pictures were all over the house. 14

When Raiem turned 9 1/2 months old, something unexpected happened. We were sitting there watching a movie. Brandon got up and went into the other room, Raiem started coughing in her sleep. I started screaming for Brandon, I ran over to the crib and picked her up. Brandon ran over and took her. We checked her over and over. 15

He told me to take her and get in the car, he’ll get everything else and meet me there. We were going to take her to the hospital.16

He grabbed some blankets, bottles, diapers, everything. 17

We rushed to the hospital and ran her inside. The receptionist pointed us toward the ER. The doctor was walking down the hall. He was the same doctor that helped me with my delivery. He turned around and saw us running toward him. He hurriedly took us to a room where he checked Raiem. He took an X-Ray of her and saw that the corner of the closure had opened slightly and made her breathing become raspy. 18

He immediately took her into the operating room and they got to work, I started crying and Brandon held me, we walked to the nearest waiting room and sat down. Everyone looked at us. They had no clue how I felt. 19

Hours by hours passed. It was about 8 something when we got there and it was close to 1 in the morning. The anticipation was killing me. 20

Turns out that Raiem would have to stay in the hospital for 3-5 days just to make sure it closed. 21

She turned out to be fine. We took her home on the 4th day. She was fine after that. 22

Months passed, she grew and grew. She loved her daddy and mommy. She was in inseparable from us. 23

Before we knew it, her 1st birthday came up. She couldn’t say many words yet, but she was learning quickly. 24

When we put her cake on the table in front of her, she grabbed it, she smeared it everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE. My mom came, Brandon’s parents came, some people from around the apartments came. She absolutely adored all the attention and all the gifts. She shredded through the wrapping paper like it was nothing. 25

Tearing through this gift, then that one, then this, then that. There was no stopping this child, she was invincible. 26

After everyone left, me and Brandon cleaned up as Raiem sat in the living room, investigating all her gifts. She looked so peaceful sitting there. I smiled, Brandon crawled on the floor over to Raiem, she squealed with delight. Her daddy started tickling her, she giggled and clapped her hands. She fell backwards onto the floor and giggled and kicked more. She was practically screaming she was laughing so hard. I started laughing, too.27

My baby girl. She is everything I wanted, and more. More then anything in the world, I wanted to be with her and Brandon. 28

About 3 months after her birthday, something unexpected happened. My mother called and informed me about something. I started bawling on the phone. I didn’t know if I should believe her or not. I told her I’d be over soon, and I’d bring the baby too. 29

Would I ever stop crying over what she just told me?30