Faith, Love, and Blazer: A New Year & Looking Back at 2010

Beginning the new year has made me think of the year past, which was full of a few surprises.

STARTING OFF WITH A BANG -

The grand year of 2010 started off with a beautiful pink line. We were pregnant with our first child. After 8 years together, 2 and a half of which we had been married, we were finally adding to our duo. It was wonderful news to us and gave us 9 anxiety filled months of something precious to look forward to. Blazer's due date was set for Oct. 2, 2010.

BLAZER -

How might someone come up with a name like that? You might ask. Well, Aaron is a die-hard Portland Trailblazers fan. In fact, all the men in his family (a total of 4, 3 sons and the father) are quite the Blazers fans. But it doesn't stop there. Aaron's online aliases are all named for the Blazers and our beloved Oregon Ducks. "BlazerDuck" is a name Aaron uses often for usernames. On the day of our first and only ultrasound of the baby, we found out the bundle of joy was a boy. We had decided way before we got pregnant that we were going to name our first son Landon Daniel. On the car ride home from the ultrasound, we started throwing other names around. "BlazerDuck" came into our conversation somehow and Aaron said, "Well, we can't name him Duck." He proceeded to jokingly say, "We can name him Blazer." He began to laugh but I pondered the idea of having a son named Blazer. I responded with, "I think Blazer is kind of cool. We can name him Blaze for short." From that moment on, we were set on "Blazer."

A GIFT FROM GOD -

Being a teacher, I started my summer off in June. I had pre-arranged to stay in Bend, Oregon, for a few weeks to work for my best friends towards the end of July. I was 29 weeks pregnant when I went to Bend. My doctor, who is in Portland, Oregon, told me I had to make my 30 weeks appointment, even if I was in Bend. After spending a week in Bend, I hit 30 weeks on a Saturday and that following Monday was my appointment.

I didn't get much sleep Sunday night, nothing new with how pregnant I was. Portland is a 3 hour drive from Bend and my appointment was at 3:30 pm. I was going to take someone with me but decided against it. I left Bend in my 5-Speed Mitsubishi Lancer at around 11:30 am on that Monday. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Driving started out well; I had the music playing and AC was on. About an hour into the trip, I started getting really sleepy. No sleep and the pregnancy was catching up to me and quick. I had juice I was sipping on from a metal water bottle, hoping the sugar would keep me awake. I set the car in cruise control when I hit a straight stretch. I was going about 62 mph.

When I woke up...I was hitting the white reflector poles on the right side of the highway. I could hear the rumbling of my tires hitting the ridges in the road. Startled and disoriented, I grabbed the steering wheel and veered to the left, trying to get back onto the highway and avoid more reflector poles. Bad idea... I turned too quickly, the car caught on the highway and starting rolling. I remember letting go of the steering wheel and tucking into my seat, completely awake and aware of what was happening. The sunroof shattered when the roof hit the ground and dirt started pouring into the car. I heard smashing and scratching, all the while hoping this wasn't the end of my life and that the car would land on the wheels. Thankfully, I stopped rolling on the opposite side of the highway and I landed on the wheels.

I didn't really think about what was going on; I just wanted out of the car. I opened my door and got out, barefoot on a hot day. (My sandals came off while I was rolling.) Cars and a semi truck had already pulled over before I got out of the car. I ran to the semi truck driver and asked if it looked like I was hurt. Then I told him I was 30 weeks pregnant. At that moment, I prayed to God. I prayed that the baby was okay and I hadn't just ruined the new life inside of me. The truck driver ran off to get a phone to call 911. I looked back at the car and could not believe I was alive.

When police and paramedics arrived, I had already called my mom, dad and Aaron, who was 5 hours away at home in Rockaway Beach. Dad was on his way to the hospital the paramedics were taking me to. After all was said and done, I was absolutely fine. And so was the baby. In fact, it's quite a miracle. I spent about an hour in the ER. I ended up with a few scratches, bruises and some glass in my hair. The baby was completely unharmed and there wasn't even a scratch or a bruise on my belly.

That was God's gift to me that day, my life and my child were safe.

THE BIRTH OF BLAZER -

I went back to work when school started in September. All I was able to get with the kids was 2 weeks. Blazer decided to come 2 weeks earlier than expected. On Saturday morning, September 18, 2010, at 4:30 am my water broke. We got in the car and drove the hour and a half to St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland. When we arrived, I was only 1 centimeter and in a lot of pain. An hour later I had my epidural and the doctor brought me to 5 centimeters. My labor was pretty easy after the epidural shot. A little after 3 pm, I started to push. At 4:37, Blazer Daniel Brumbach was born.

Blazer weighed 6 lbs 9 ounces and was perfectly healthy. We stayed 2 days at the hospital and brought our new joy and love of our lives home.

It was rough at first with Blazer. He had a hard time digesting breast milk and the formula we were giving him to supplement. He wouldn't sleep at night and only slept in spurts during the day. When he was 6 weeks old, we decided to try him on Soy formula and take him off breast milk. It was the best thing we had done since his birth. He was happier and slept better. By the time I went back to work at the end of November, he was sleeping through the night.

HOW OUR LIVES HAVE CHANGED -

Blazer is now almost 4 months old. He is still sleeping through the night and is growing so fast! He keeps us on our toes and is constantly making us smile, laugh and awe in amazement at the wonderful person we have created. Our lives before Blazer were not terrible by any means but we both felt something was missing. We live 5 hours away from our families and have not made many friends in our town. It's rough being so far away from the ones we love. Finally creating a family of our own seemed like a natural step to take. We are never bored and we definitely never feel alone. It's still hard being away from our families and friends but now we have Blazer, who makes life so much more worth living.