The Doobie Brothers song, Long Train Running, became the soundtrack and mantra for the birth of our son. There was a documentary about the Doobie Brothers that we watched in the hospital after his birth and that particular song just worked its way into our subconscious. The question kept repeating: Without love, where would you be now? Through the long cold steel tracks of life that long train running brings us many places, but without love, where would we be now?

A week after the blessed birth of our son Aeden I became very ill and had to be hospitalized for 4 days due to a partially retained placenta. A fever developed that shot to 104 F and I lost so much blood that I was on watch for cardiac arrest and needed two blood transfusions, an iron infusion, IV antibiotics and a surgery under general anesthesia.

Lots of pokes, tests and prods

After some very scary moments on the line between this world and the next, we are now hopeful that we are in the clear and that my condition has improved. I am recuperating currently and finally have had a chance to give an update. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the village that came together behind the scenes to help our little family through this very rough time. If it weren’t for this crew of amazing people, I am not sure how we would have made it through.

First of all, thank you Britton for being there in the “sickness” part of sickness and in health. You have been extremely strong through this period that could break most people. I love you so, so much.

Britton is a great dad!

Thank you Missy, Ben, and even little Juliana for taking in a newborn, our precious baby, feeding him and loving him when we could not have him. Not many people would open their homes and hearts in such a way. Thank you to Missy for also rallying the troops for even more help. She kept us in communication, checked on us, provided us with supplies and so many other things. I do not know what we would have done without you when we were desperate standing at the emergency room door and they wouldn’t let Britton and I enter with our baby.

With Missy and Ben (and little Lucia)

Thank you to Megan and Kat who nourished us and our baby and provided us with extra breast milk when we had none. Thank you for everything else you did behind the scenes. Thank you to the fairy sprites Joanne and Francine (who I still have yet to meet) for cleaning our house and providing us with food and encouraging words. Thank you Jo for also making sure I made it to the hospital and making a special trip for the breast pump. After our ordeal it was so nice to walk into a clean house rather than the disaster we had left it when we rushed off.

Thank you to Ricia for washing our clothes and linens as well as the food and other supplies that have helped in my recovery. Thank you to Laura for the visits to the hospital, the food and the supplies we forgot in the hustle and bustle (like towels and pillows). Thank you to my family especially my mom Charlotte and aunt Annie who flew a long, long way to see me and make sure that I was alright. Thank you to Bill and Jenn for being in constant contact with us, the hospital visits and the smorgasbord of food when I was finished with surgery and doped up on morphine. Thank you to Brittany, Missy’s long distance ER doctor friend, who walked us through the steps and urged us into action or calmed us when it wasn’t needed. Thank you also to my friend Lisa who is a nurse and also encouraged me to seek medial help. Thank you to the medical staff at Mayaguez Medical Center. Thank you to the nameless people who donated the life-saving blood.

Blood transfusion

Thank you to Britton’s side of the family and everyone who wished us well and prayed for my recovery. I felt very loved in my darkest moments. Please forgive me if I missed someone in this list; it was quite the whirlwind. But know that you are appreciated! We may not have village tribes per se anymore in our modern world, but this was a shining example of the power of love when people come together to help one another. Without love, I don’t know where I would be right now, but it is possible my train may have stopped. So, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Back at home recovering and bonding with our baby