Once home with our baby boy, things were different than what Maxwell had expected, he was a little afraid of the baby ( was the first time he had a newborn in his arms ) thought Shawn was fragile and breakable, everytime he cried, Maxwell didn't know what to do. So, he took care of my older kids and the house while i took care of Shawn and myself.

We were blessed to spend Christmas together. On Dec 26, we were back at the airport, to me it was the hardest goodbye of all. Shawn was only 11-days-old, I was terrified of what was ahead of me, alone with 3 older kids was easy for me but, a newborn was frightinig for me. I also had to make a decision, "going back to the job i loved or stay at home to take care of Shawn and live on a tight budget". Maxwell and I had plans about working different shifts so we could take of our son (we had a pretty clear idea as far as not wanting our baby to attend child care at least during his first year of life). I decided to stay home.

Another huge worry I had was, that, as much as I sent pictures, video tapes and the use of a web cam, I even sent him pictures of Shawn before and after surgery showing parts of his body where the baby had stitches, was a way for him to see and feel part of his life, but I always felt like they didn't even know each other.

But I was totally wrong....

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Need to catch up on Natalia's Corner?
Deployment, Part I
Deployment, Part II
Deployment, Part III
Deployment, Part IV

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Additional NOTES from Pam:
* Certain details will be edited to protect security concerns or family privacy. My edits appear in brackets [ ]. Any personal details that appear in these posts have been approved by Natalia and/or Maxwell.

* Maxwell's status as the blog's "adopted" Hero, and Natalia's posts about her experiences, should NOT be construed as their endorsement of any opinion I post on this blog, or representative of any policy or position of the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, or any other government entity. This is merely a way to allow readers to learn more about what military families experience, and to offer an opportunity to support a deployed Hero and his family.

* To learn what you can do to help, click on Maxwell's picture over on the left, or go here.
To adopt "your own" Hero, visit Soldiers' Angels.