Putting my 10 month old grandson to sleep.
We have a special bond that I believe came from when he was in the hospital awaiting a heart transplant earlier this year.
It was three weeks before he could be held and at that time even visiting him might be limited to 2 or 3 15 minute periods
sometime during a 24 hour period, that includes parents.
I happened to be there the first day they would let him be held.
My son had just held him for about five mins. for the very first time when I arrived.
We got suited up (the entire surgeons kit) and went back to see him.
He held him again for about 10 mins. His Mum was afraid to hold him as he was quite tiny,
breathing on the ventelator and had about 100 wires and tubes hooking him to a dozen or so machines
and 2 IV's so holding him was a bit daunting, so's she lets me be next.
He wiggled around a bit till he got comfortable and then snuggled up against me and layed his head on my chest.
I told my son look he's listening to my heart beat.
My son leaves and goes to find my wife (who had gone to take some things to their apartment) so she could hold him
and I was left alone holding him for about 15 mins. when the nurse returned and told me time was up. But he had fallen asleep
so I convinced the nurse it would be less stressful to let him sleep rather than to wake him up just to put him back in the bed.
She said "he looks like he's resting comfortably I'll give you a while longer" which ended up being another 30 mins.
When he woke up on his own she put him back in the bed.
The wife missed out but she like his Mum was afraid the first few days to hold him, he was quite pitiful at the time,
hooked to all that stuff, his little heart beating double time and gasping for every breath even on the venelator.
But none of that seemed to bother me I was comfortable holding him no matter what.
A few weeks later he had the transplant and was what the Docs say was one of the quickest recoveries ever.
He still has to take medicine but to look at him now you'd never know he wasn't just another healthy child.
Now he reaches for me to take him whenever he see's me.
When no one else can calm him down, all I have to do I hold him.
He spends the nights here often on the weekends, like this one.
He loves watching animated Christmas movies and when he's tired he wants to sit in my lap and watch them.
He'll watch for a while and when he's ready to go to sleep, he lays his head on my chest and listens to my heart beat.
I really love being with him and putting him to sleep is the icing on the cake!
That is my smile of the day, of the year, and maybe more.
