Where to begin.
We left off with me still being pregnant with Sebastian and had a scare when I was 16 weeks along. Well, the story didn't end there. We were still in Los Alamos, NM and headed back and everything was back to normal from August - September. Ania started Kindergarten and Cameron started Pre-school.
I knew I didn't want to end up in NM, so we started think about places we wanted to settle and plant roots. No more moving. Throughout this blog we've lived in NY, NJ, TX, NM and we decided on MA. Tom found a new job and my job transferred me to the Boston office. All was good. We packed up our rental townhome and were making our way to our new home, which we purchase online. We made an offer, but was able to do a walk-through in September.
Here was our plan. Fly to Houston on October 25, stay a couple days to hang out with the family and have the girls birthday parties, then fly to Boston to settle in our new home. Didn't quite work out that way. On the way to the airport we had to go to the ER because I started bleeding. What we thought was going to be a short stay, ended up being a months journey before we could all be together.
I ended up being checked into the hospital and not allowed to leave until Sebastian was born. At this time, he was 24 weeks and the doctors wanted him to bake as long as possible. Original schedule was to do a c-section in December to get him to full term (~34ish weeks). The hardest thing was to figure out what to do with Ania and Cameron. It wouldn't be fair to them to live in a hotel and it was around the time kids wouldn't be allowed in the hospital rooms because of flu season. I called my eldest sister in New York and agreed to watch the kids while we remained in NM. Tom and I had to find a notary and sign guardianship over to my sister and brother in law. This was so they could enroll them in school while we weren't with them. The next couple days, we got their plane tickets and Tom flew the girls to MA, showed them the new house, drove them to NY to live with my sister, then hopped back on a plane to be with me. This was all in a matter of about 3 days. So, the girls were in NY living with my sister and Tom was back living in my hospital room with 3 suitcases and waiting for Sebastian to be born.
Tom and I were in the hospital for a month until Sebastian was born. There were a lot of scares and emergency rushes to delivery thinking he was going to be born from week to week. The week of Thanksgiving, we were just enjoying Cracker Barrel and I had the last big scare. Another 24 hours in delivery trying to keep Sebastian baking a little longer. The doctor decided to perform the c-section on 11/25/17, exactly 28 weeks. Everyone assured me that his survival rate was past 90%. We have great friends and a baby doc giving us information and assurances that Sebastian was going to be OK.
The morning of the scheduled c-section, it was the most calm we've ever been. We knew exactly what was going to happen and the doctors, nurses and staff were so nice and supportive of us. Sebastian Pascual Gramza was born on 11/25/2017 at 8:30am, weighing in at 3lb 14oz and 16 inches long.
Sebastian stayed in the Nic for 3 weeks before giving the green light to go home. He is the strongest boy I know. He grew at every weigh in and learned so fast to eat from the bottle. Before that, he was being fed by the tube. He passed all tests and just to be on the safe side, we wanted to travel with oxygen for him. Thank goodness for face time because the girls were able to meet their new brother.
We were given the green light to travel on plane on 12/16/17. We booked our one-way tickets, red eye flight on JetBlue. We arrived in JFK and took an Uber to my sister's house. We surprised the girls and they almost didn't know what to do. I was so exhausted because I hadn't slept in 24 hours making sure Sebastian was breathing on the plane. Tom took Sebastian straight to the pediatrician to get checked and ensure his oxygen levels were good. He passed and the oxygen tubes were removed! We spent Christmas at my sisters. Tom ended up driving back to MA to start work and I ended up staying with my sister a few more weeks with the girls. 1/8/18 we all drove back as a family to start our new journey in MA in our new home.
Fast forward 3 years, we're still in the same home and the kids are doing amazing. Sebastian has grown and no longer considered a preemie size. He loves anything candy and milk. It's so hard to get him to eat anything, but we're getting there. Sebastian still doesn't sleep through the night. He ends up sleeping next to me and think he's a mama's boy. He's talking so much!! To rewind a little bit, he met all of his milestones as a baby and we're trying to enter the potty training phase. I can't believe he's almost 3 years old. He's an amazing kid and the perfect little guy to complete our family of 5. Ania is almost 9 years old! She's in 3rd grade and the best kid. She's an awesome big sister to Cameron and Sebastian. She played soccer, and gymnastics. She's becoming a really good swimmer and adapting to remote school. Cameron is almost 7 years old! She's in 1st grade and such a smart kid. She's a comedian and makes the whole family laugh with her jokes. She tried soccer and gymnastics as well, and also becoming a strong swimmer.
We are so blessed to have 3 beautiful, healthy babies and watching them grow to be strong, independent people. We're all navigating through a pandemic now with COVID-19, the kids are doing amazing. We're working from home and the girls are in remote learning until schools open up again. Sebastian is in Pre-school 3 for a few days a week.
On to the next chapter for the Gramza Family. I started this blog 10 years ago to capture moments of pregnancies and stories of Ania, Cameron and Sebastian growing up. More memories to come....
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