Poor little guy. Never expected to live in-utero. But he did. Never expected to live out of mom … but he’s on day 10. He’s obviously a fighter, but all tests confirm no chance for survival, even with the assistance of the vent and such. Such a cute little guy, big cheeks, chubby toes, LOTS of dark black hair.
I will remember Samuel, because despite the paralytic, he opened his eyes and looked at me and I got that photo. When I asked Mom what she loved best about Samuel, she said “everything”, so I made sure to capture “everything” as much as possible.
Samuel experienced several “first” while I was there. Duke went to extraordinary efforts to get Samuel in his mom’s arms. She’d never held him before. Samuel met his big sister. Samuel got dressed, in some baby boy clothes and a little baby cap. Samuel had his picture taken with an entourage of familly at his bedside.
He did not become an angel for me while I was there. I got to meet Samuel live and in person. Baby Samuel will not live, but his memory will. He very clearly touched his family and the nurses and staff at Duke and of course me.