Aidan entered the world with his arm stretched out just like Superman when he is flying.

He still does it regularly to this day. Early on in our journey, we began referring to him as The Man of Steel because it reminds us of how much courage he has.

One of the nurses gave him the nickname “Mr. Spaghetti” because of how many lines he had hooked up to him. We watched him endure needle after needle as he was continually poked and prodded during his first two weeks on this planet.

Perhaps the most difficult thing to watch was a PICC line being inserted into his arm. This is a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter that allows medicine to be administered more efficiently than regular lines and stayed in for almost his entire stay. It can be challenging for nurses to set and it took several attempts to get it aligned perfectly.

A Healthy Appetite

Perhaps one of his biggest advantages in the hospital was his appetite. For cardiac kids, a healthy appetite is something that can help them get discharged quicker. From day one, doctors and nurses were thrilled with his intake and Amy’s family joked that he inherited his great grandpa’s appetite. He was basically eating double of what a normal infant would.

Any mother can imagine how much work that would take to keep up with in terms of feedings. If Aidan’s the Man of Steel, Amy would be Martha Kent in this story, a mother who unconditionally loves her son and will do whatever it takes to take care of him.

Superman’s Fortress of Solitude

During Amy’s pregnancy, we spent a lot of time trying to create the “perfect” nursery. Custom drapery, a mirrored dresser and a special crib were just a few of the touches we spent hours coming up with.

There was one corner of the nursery that we couldn’t figure out what to do with. Do we find a custom mobile made from crystals to go with the chic, elegant theme we loved? How about an expensive lamp or clock to fill the space?

Once he was in the hospital and we were in the midst of our crisis, we began to realize how little all of the “niceties” matter in the grand scheme of things. We just wanted our little boy home and could care less about all of the details that meant so much to us during maternity.

One night when we were driving home from a day spent in the hospital, we decided to give up our quest for the perfect nursery and instead put the biggest Superman decal we could find in the corner. It was a distraction we came up with to avoid thinking negatively. There were times when we weren’t sure he would even be coming home to this nursery. We just wanted our little boy home and couldn’t care less about having the perfect design. It would never be the perfect nursery without Aidan.