1 Noah English II Period 7th December 11, 2013 Y.

Garza Almost Not Born It was over eight years ago and I was feeling lonely playing by myself in my room and I wanted to have someone to play with. My mom walked into the room and looked around for me and found me sitting on the floor in my closet doorway. She walked up to me and said, What are you doing? I responded, Playing by myself. I wish I had a brother so I can have someone to play with. I dont remember why I wanted a brother and not a friend to play with instead. Little did I know, sometime later I would get the news I was going to be a big brother. However, this was going to be one of the roughest times in my life filled with excitement, preparation, confusion, waiting, and miracles. I remember when I received the news that I was going to be a big brother. This was one of the most, if not the most, important times in my life. The way I remember how it went was my parents called me to our living room, sat me down, and broke the news. My mom said, Noah, youre going to be a big brother. I dont remember particularly how I felt at the time; I just remember being excited beyond belief. Then they said, Just remember, this means that you will have more responsibilities. I knew that I would have to watch my brother for the rest of the time Im living at home. I didnt know about the other things that would come and bit me later in the butt. So for the next nine months, it was a time of excitement and preparation for me. I remembered going to a Spohn Hospital somewhere in town for a big brother/big sister class. It was a one-hour crash course on how to be a good older sibling. I dont remember much except

2 learning how to change a babys diaper which I never used. Another memory I have of this period of suspense was painting and preparing my soon-to-be brothers room. It was a strange mustard yellow color with the floor trim green and wood flooring. We also would move furniture in and out of the room like taking out the computer and putting in the changing table or moving boxes and putting in a crib. Another memory of this period was watching a series of videos about how a baby developed over a certain time. Every month, my mom and I would sit down at the computer, put in the disk and watch a guy on a white screen standing next to a picture of a sonogram explaining whats new with the baby this month. I found it interesting to know how my baby brother was developing. This waiting period wasnt as happy and joyful for my parents because everything wasnt going perfect with this pregnancy. I remember, every now and then, I would go with my mom for her sonogram. We would show up at the doctors office, wait for a while and then go into this really cold and dark room with a single light fixture bolted on a wall that only lit that wall. I would sit at this table that was in front of this wall that was plastered with strange pictures and comics about pregnancy such as babies doing funny things inside the mothers womb. A few times this lady who came in the room would let me see what she was doing and I saw her put this bluish gel on my moms stomach and then getting a microphone-like instrument and put it on my moms stomach. And a few moments later we could see my baby brother on a screen in black and white. I thought it was most amazing this when I was little and to this day I still do. One day we went into the room like we always would with the same temperature, same wall, same pictures and same lady. After some time of looking at the monitors, this time the lady seemed distressed and walked out of the room. Shortly after she ran out, the doctor came in and looked at the monitors as well. The doctor then addressed the problem and said, We cant do much. Just pray to your god, if he

3 exists, and lets hope that this thing goes away. This thing was a blood clot pushing on my moms uterus. I didnt understand what this meant as a little child but my mom says it was a bulge that pushed on my baby brother and if it persisted, my brother could die. So as a precaution the doctor put my mom on permanent bed rest meaning she couldnt do everything she used to do. My dad would be the one to take me to school, make breakfast, make lunch, cook dinner and take me to any other events all while my mom stayed home. My mom would only get up to use the bathroom, eat or go to the doctors for her sonograms or other things of that sort. A big event I remember from this time was when a priest from my church came to my house, prayed over my mom and gave her some advice. I was sitting in our living room looking at a book and trying to follow the steps for making the paper airplanes in it. I heard a doorbell ring and I looked at the door down the hall and my mom got up to get the door. As it opened I heard a familiar voice and as he walked in I recognized it was a priest from my church. He came in and said to me, Hi there! Are you doing some origami? I responded, No, its paper airplanes, my parents saw I was fascinated by paper airplanes so they got me a book of how to make them step by step and throw them but I was getting frustrated with some of them. As I was attempting to make a circular paper airplane my mom was sitting at our table a few feet away with the priest. He talked to my mom for a good while asking, Hows the baby? Is he active? Are you feeling different? the sorts of questions you ask to get filled in on things you need to know. After the formalities he told her what we should do regarding the spiritual life. He then prayed over her and went on his way. As he was leaving I was still sitting there in my pajamas and I shout out, I finished it! After this priest visited us it was a short while till the due date and me and my mom went together a few more times for my moms sonogram. One of these visits, I remember, wasnt like others and was a life-changing experience.

4 This sonogram visit started like any other visit; we saw the receptionist, waited, went into the room and I sat looking at the same wall. The same lady came in and did the same thing that she always did but this time she didnt seem the same. She left the room and got the doctor and the doctor looked at the monitors, called me to turn around and look at them and then told us what was going on. The doctor said, I dont know what you did or what you said to your god but the blood clot has disappeared. I dont know if your god is real or not but he sure heard you. Its a miracle! So the blood clot miraculously disappeared and my brother had the ok to be born. So, we no longer had to fear that my brother would die or he would have birth defects if he survived. It was October 14, 2005 and I was sitting in a room with my family from my moms side, some of my dads side was there too. My aunt walked up to me and asked if I wanted anything from the vending machine and I went with her and got a box of Wonka Everlasting Gobstoppers, this was particularly memorable because that box lasted me over two years and every time I ate some I remembered this day. So, my cousin and I were sitting in a little room inside the awkward waiting room watching Cartoon Networks Codename: Kids Next Door and this nurse came into the room and said, Will husband, parents and children of Rachel Dimas follow me. And so my grandparents, my dad and I all went with this nurse into a hall where we saw my mom about to be rolled into labor and delivery. As she passed me she said, Hold on, I want to see my son, and they stopped. I was in tears as she picked her hand up and touched my wet face and said, Dont worry Noah, be brave, Ill be fine. Then, they rolled her through the giant double doors. My dad went with them as my grandparents walked me back to the room and I waited, and waited, and waited for what seemed like two hours. My dad then came into the room and called me and my grandparents to come with him. He walked us back to the hall we were in and through some windows I could see a nurse holding a squirming, little baby. My

5 grandmother said, Look thats your brother! The nurse took him to a sink and washed his big mess of hair and his tiny body. He was dried off and taken to the nursery where we tried to see him through the windows but we werent able to. A little while later that evening we went into a room and there lying on a bed was my mom holding my baby brother Jeremiah. So, I stayed with them for a while and then it was time for me to leave. I remember I was going to stay with my grandparents for the next few days because my dad was going to stay with my mom at the hospital. I then said my good-byes to my three family members. Before I left, however, my parents got me a game for my Gameboy Advanced because, I was so brave over the past few weeks, but as I see it now it was a way so that I wouldnt think too much about them. Over the course of the next few days, I would go and see my mom with my brother at the hospital and after what seemed to be a week my mom came home with my new brother. I knew having a brother would mean a whole slew of new responsibilities I never had to worry about before. Of course I loved being a big brother; holding him, feeding him a bottle of milk or just watching him play/crawl was fun to me. This experience I had with the near death of my brother didnt mean much to me as a child but now as I reflect on it I realize this could have changed my whole life. I would still be an only child so that would mean I wouldnt have the responsibility of watching my brother, I would be more spoiled, and I would be treated with the utmost attention. But I would also be lonelier because I love talking to my brother and just being around him makes me happy. Granted, sometimes Im not in the mood for talking so Im mean to him. Needless to say having another person in your house with you all the time will drastically change your way of life. Sometimes I wonder why I ever wanted one in the first place and I tell myself this is why.