Dylan Jonathan Lane

We had just arrived at the hospital, and the doctors had told mommy that she was 7 1/2 cm dilated. “Today is going to be the day,” they said! So Daddy started calling all my grandparents, aunts, uncles, the photographer and our priest!

The nice nurses told Mommy that she could finally have an epidural. Whatever that is, she felt much better afterward. She hadn’t really been in a lot of pain, but the she’d been having cramps for five straight days, so she was happy that she could no longer feel those.

Mommy, Daddy and I had a LOT of visitors at the hospital that day. Nonno and Nonna Ferruzza were the first people there, then Grandpa and Grandma Lane showed up, then all my aunts and uncles, some great aunts and uncles, and even Great Grandpa John! They all wanted to be there for Mommy, but they let her rest since I was ready to come out, and Mommy needed her strength!

Mommy was eventually 10 cm dilated, but her water had not broken and I still had not dropped. The doctors said that because of my condition they would not break her water. They needed to wait for it to break on its own before Mommy could start pushing. It seemed like forever, but finally …

At 3 pm, Mommy’s water finally broke … and in epic fashion! It was so loud, and so much, that the Nurse, Daddy and Nonna all gasped when it happened! Daddy says that it was almost cartoonish. Nonna was at the foot of the bed and said that she would have been splashed by it if Mommy hadn’t been covered by a blanket! Even the nurse said that it was probably a hospital record, and couldn’t stop telling the doctors how “unbelievable” it was. Daddy told Mommy that they were going to take a picture of her and put it up on the wall … All-Time Water-Break Record-Holder!

All I knew was that I was ready to come out, and that Mommy was finally pushing.

At 3:40 pm, on the Feast of the Holy Family, I was born into heaven. The doctors immediately handed me to Mommy so she could hold me. Mommy said that she felt a sense of calm when she saw me, and called me “precious.” I think I saw a few tears fall down Daddy’s face, but both of them looked very happy. They had so much love in their eyes.

At 4:30pm, the doctors were done fixing Mommy up, so they let in Father Tim, Nonno & Nonna Ferruzza, Grandpa & Grandma Lane, Zia Amalia, Zio Mario and Aunt Sarah. Father Tim performed a blessing over me, prayed with my family and then left so the rest of the family could spend time with me. Zio Mario kept taking pictures of me with my family … grandparents, aunts, uncles, Mommy and Daddy. I also took pictures with some great uncles, great aunts, cousins, and great grandpa John. I had a blast!! When that was all done, our friend Ken came in to take pictures of me with Mommy and Daddy.

I am thankful that there are such beautiful pictures of me with all my family, so they could be shared with everyone. I am also very lucky to have talented grandmothers! Nonna made the hat that I am wearing in all the pictures, she also made the outfit that I was buried in. The blanket in all my pictures was given to me by Grandma Lane. She also made a quilt for Mommy and Daddy to remember me by.

Even though I am not with you right now, I am watching over you. I love you all!

After three days in the hospital, we spent Thursday night resting at home. Grandma Lane stayed with us that night to make sure we were fine. Mommy was very glad to be home. She was also very glad for the Ambien the doctors had sent with her.

We spent Friday, Christmas Eve, having dinner at Nonno and Nonna Ferruzza’s house. I was really excited, I had never seen so much fish in my life. I know that Mommy loves fish and I wanted to try it all out! I was also excited because I got to spend time with all my family on my mother’s side. We had a fun time!

On Christmas Day, Grandma and Grandpa Lane came over to Mommy and Daddy’s house to celebrate with us. Aunt Sarah and Brian brought over a game called Mario Kart … Mommy and Grandma loved playing this game. It made me happy to see Mommy and Daddy happy!

That night, even though Mommy had taken Ambien, I woke her up at 3am. She tried to get comfortable so she could sleep through the night, but I wouldn’t let her. She got up to read but that also was not helping. She was feeling the same cramps she had felt in the hospital and did not think anything of it. Finally, at 4:30am, Mommy decided to call the hospital. Doctor Morningstar told Mommy that she should come to the hospital right away.

Mommy went upstairs, turned on the lights in the bedroom and told Daddy to get up, because it was time to go to the hospital. Even though Daddy had been sound asleep, when he heard those words he bolted upright and started moving. Mommy thought she had given Daddy a heart attack!

When we got to the hospital, the doctor checked Mommy and told her that she was 7 1/2 cm dilated!

It was time for delivery … really!

As it was getting closer to my December 16th due date, Mommy’s doctor said that I might need a little “encouragement” to come out. So Mommy and Daddy set up an appointment to be induced on December 20th, just in case I was being stubborn. Sure enough, December 16th passed uneventfully. So four days later, Mommy and Daddy went into Highland Hospital to begin the induction process.

Before hooking up the machines, the doctors asked if Mommy and Daddy would like to hear my heartbeat one more time. Mommy and Daddy thought it would be nice, especially since my grandparents had never had a chance to listen! So a few minutes later, Daddy and my grandparents all crowded around Mommy’s bed for a listen. The doctors had always said I had a strong little heart, and it sure was pounding that night! I knew I was in store for an exciting few days!

When we arrived, Mommy was only 1cm dilated … as she had been for the last two weeks! The doctors started giving her something called “MISO” every 4 hours to “ripen” the cervix. The next morning, she was 2cm dilated. The doctors let Mommy and me eat at the buffet. Mommy did not like the food very much, but Daddy loved the endless supply of bacon. “Any hospital that serves ‘all-you-can-eat-bacon’ is fine by me” he said!

After breakfast the doctors started giving Mommy and I “pitosin” … we did not like this. Mommy kept feeling cramps that she thought were labor pains; I just thought my home was shaking! Throughout the day, Mommy and Daddy kept getting a lot of text messages from friends and family who wanted to know how I was doing. So Daddy, being the tech geek that he is, decided to create a twitter account for me! He tried explaining to me what that meant, but I’m still not quite sure I get it.

After being on the pitosin for 7 hours on Tuesday, Mommy was still only dilated 2cm, and I hadn’t budged at all. They took her off the medicine, and let her eat with the mob of family that had been camped out at the hospital.

For the next three days, Mommy and I had MISO throughout the night and pitosin during the day. At the end of the third day, all three of us were exhausted, and Mommy was still only 2cm dilated! The doctor said that the pains Mommy had been feeling were only “uterine distress,” not labor pains and that I still had not budged.

So on December 23rd, Doctor Morningstar let us go home to spend the holidays with family. She said that she would not be surprised to see us back on Christmas Day.

I was being stubborn, but I did not like the fact that they were trying to rush me. I wanted to come out all on my own! First, I needed to have my Christmas adventure!

While Daddy was looking for a ring for Mommy, she was trying to find something for Daddy to remember me by.

Mommy was home from work for 2 weeks before induction. During that time she was scouring the internet trying to find something that Daddy would wear to remember me by. She finally found the perfect gift: a “dog tag” necklace. I’m not sure why it’s called that since my Daddy is not a dog, but I trusted Mommy’s judgement.

She engraved the front of the “dog tag” with my initials, DJL, and the back of it with “In our hearts, forever”.

Mommy was positive that Daddy would love the necklace, and so was I. But we were very disappointed that the necklace would not arrive until the 23rd of December since we wanted Daddy to have it by the time we all went into the hospital.

Mommy sent the necklace to Zia Amalia’s house since she was not sure they would be home for Christmas. Zia promised to wrap it and bring it to the hospital as soon as it arrived. When Daddy got the necklace for Christmas, he was very surprised to receive it. He wears the necklace over his heart every day which makes me happy!

After the adventure with the bad ring, Mommy and Daddy were still on the hunt for the perfect ring. We had already been to several jewlery stores, but none of them had a ring that caught their eye.

It was the day before we were supposed to go to the hospital for my induction, and Daddy really wanted Mommy to have the ring before I was born. So they decided to take one more tour of local jewlery stores. Mommy suggested that we go to Pittsford since there are so many jewelers there. They started with several of the larger stores, but still nothing really caught their eye. So they decided to try Blueground Jewlery in Pittsford Plaza. Neither of them have been there before but they were running out of options.

Mommy and Daddy went to the counter and asked if they had any blue topaz rings. The saleswoman brought out a tray of rings. The selection was small, but Mommy and Daddy could see that each ring was unique and beautiful. Still, nothing they saw was “just right.”

Then it happened!

The saleswoman realized that there was one lonely blue topaz ring that wasn’t in the tray with all the others. She pulled it out of the display and handed it to Mommy. Right away, Mommy and Daddy knew it was the one!

It had a beautiful, princess-cut, deep-blue topaz in the center with a diamond on each side. There was a heart on the setting right below the stone. All of us fell in love with the ring. So Mommy and Daddy bought it right on the spot. Daddy was very happy that they found a ring for Mommy!

By this point, I had made Mommy’s fingers pretty swollen, so she wore my ring on a necklace-chain around her neck. She hardly ever takes it off. In fact, if you look closely at my pictures, you’ll see that she even had the necklace on during my delivery!

It was early December, and my due-date was approaching quickly. Daddy wanted Mommy to have something special to commemorate my birth; something that she could always keep with her. He knew that something called “mother’s rings” existed, but he didn’t know much more than that.

The ring Daddy thought he was buying

So Daddy marched off to the store where he and Mommy have bought all their jewelry. He ordered a beautiful stackable ring with my birthstone – blue topaz – in it. He sent a picture to my aunts Sarah, Elizabeth and Jen. They all agreed it was beautiful and that he had made a very good choice!

Approximate quality of the ring that arrived

Then … it arrived.

Daddy’s heart sank when he saw the ring. “I’m not exactly sure this is what I ordered,” he told the lady at the jewelry store. She laughed, apparently thinking that he was joking. Now one thing you must understand is that Daddy, like most men, is uncomfortable in jewelry stores. He quickly decided that it would probably look better at home. And after all, three women whose opinions he trusted had all assured him that this was a good choice!

It didn’t look any better at home. The “blue topaz” was hardly blue at all – it looked completely transparent. And the ring itself was much thinner than he’d expected; although he should have known better. After all, this ring is supposed to be stacked with others!

Daddy finally caved. He showed Mommy the picture he had been looking at when he ordered the ring. “It’s beautiful!” she said. Then he showed her the ring had actually been delivered. “That is NOT the same ring,” she confirmed.

Daddy returned the ring the next day, and the hunt for the perfect ring resumed.

To be continued …

It was the early morning of October 27, and Daddy had been imagining sounds downstairs all night. But he’s just crazy, and it was all in his head.

Later that morning, Mommy got up to shower before work. Since it takes her longer to get ready, she got up while Daddy was still asleep.

Then, around 6:30, Daddy heard a loud crashing sound. He immediately thought that somebody had broken in downstairs! He ran frantically to the bathroom to ask mommy if she’d heard the noise.

But Mommy hadn’t heard anything. In fact, she was very confused about anything that had happened in the last minute. Then she said “I think I passed out! I found myself on the floor of the shower!”

Daddy helped her to the bedroom and had her lay down while he called the doctor.

Later in the emergency room, the doctors had poked needles in Mommy’s arm, and put funny-looking stickers all over her. They said that mommy and I were both fine, and that I had kicked her vagus nerve, and that was what made her pass out!

Well, I don’t know about any vagus nerve but, yes friends, that morning I had been kicking very hard. You see, I had spent all summer watching mommy coach soccer, and I decided that I was big enough to start playing!

After our emergency room adventure, I kept practicing soccer, but I was more careful around anything that might be a “vagus nerve!”

My Daddy loves music. Mommy says that he is a “music snob.” (Actually, Daddy says that too.)

Being a music snob, Daddy has always dreamed of sharing his passion for music with his kids. So the day after learning how sick I was, Daddy was determined that I would still get to share in his love for music no matter what! He ordered a special set of belly-headphones for mommy and had them shipped extra-fast. Then, he immediately started making a special playlist of songs that he wanted me to hear!

Before all that, Daddy had taken me (and a very skeptical Mommy) to see a band called Porcupine Tree in Buffalo with Uncle Chris and Aunt Mary. Chris and Mary didn’t know about me yet. But just before the show started, Daddy told them how excited he was that this would be my very first concert!

Then in June – less than a week after Mommy and Daddy found out how sick I was – they took me to Darien Lake to see Darius Rucker and Brad Paisley! Mommy was much more enthusiastic about this concert than the last one. We all had a good time enjoying the show with Grandma and Grandpa Lane.

Finally, in July, Aunt Mary surprised Mommy and Daddy with two tickets to see The Flaming Lips and The Black Keys. Mommy had seen the Flaming Lips years ago, and always talked about how fun and crazy their concert was. She said it was two hours of magic and goofiness that she wished she could see again. As it turns out, when you are five-months pregnant, The Flaming Lips can be a little too fun and crazy. We spent most of the concert listening from the lawn at CPAC. But it was still great listening to the music, and hearing dad muttering about all the “freakin’ hippies.”

Dylan’s Playlist:

1. One Sweet World by Dave Matthews
2. River Man by Nick Drake
3. Cadence And Cascade by King Crimson
4. In These Arms by The Swell Season
5. Les Bouches Du Monde by Gitbox!
6. Which Will by Nick Drake
7. Parachutes by Coldplay
8. The Sweetest Gift by Sade
9. Dream Life by Adrian Belew
10. Alone In Kyoto by Air
11. Love That Conquers by The Swell Season
12. The Road by Zero 7
13. Blackbird by The Beatles
14. From The Morning by Nick Drake
15. When I Get Where I’m Going by Brad Paisley
16. Foreshadowing by Duncan Sheik
17. A Living Prayer by Alison Krauss
18. I Will by The Beatles
19. Father, Son by Peter Gabriel

Sometime in early November, Mommy and Daddy were at Barnes and Noble doing some early Christmas shopping. Eventually, they made their way to the children’s section, where Mommy found the cutest little monkey named Coco.

Mommy loved Coco from the moment she saw him. She thought that he would be a perfect friend for me. Daddy was a little skeptical at first, but once he saw how much Mommy loved Coco, he agreed that Coco would be perfect for me.

Not only did they bring Coco home, but they brought home a lot of friends for him as well! I got to hang out with Scraps (a puppy), Safari (a giraffe), Blueberry (a purple monkey), Cookie (another puppy) and Coco’s twin brother … Coco-2. I had so much fun with them all, but Coco was by far my favorite.

Coco is my bestest bud; he was buried with me to keep me company.

On the day of my funeral, Mommy and Daddy gave most of my friends new homes. Blueberry went to live with Grandma Lane. Cookie went the farthest – all the way to Washington DC to live with Aunt Sarah. Scraps and Safari live with my cousins Dominic and Adriana. And of course, Coco-2 stayed with Mommy and Daddy to keep them company.

On Scraps’ first night with my cousin Dominic, Zia Amalia suggested that Dominic give his new puppy a goodnight kiss. Dominic smiled at his new puppy, said “baby,” and gave Scraps a kiss.

I know that all my friends are very happy in their new homes!

As I grew bigger, so did Mommy’s tummy.

This made it tricky for Mommy and Daddy to find a comfortable way to sleep. Oh sure, every night daddy would go to bed and put his hand on Mommy’s belly and talk to me. But the bigger her belly got, the harder he found it to sleep that way.

Eventually, he started rolling over with his back to Mommy and me.

One night, I’d had just about enough of Daddy ignoring me. After all, bedtime was when I liked to wake up and play! So I told Mommy to roll over and face Daddy, who had his back to us. She snuggled up real close behind him, and …

WHACK! THUD!

“What the heck was that?” Daddy grumbled…

“That,” said Mommy, “was Dylan kicking you in the butt. I think he wants to play with you.”