Tragedy avoided, Miracle born. Part I

On the morning of October 2, 1990, a miracle was born. We didn't realize it at that point but my son Robert would prove to be more than just the miracle of life. Against all odds he would fight for his life at a mere 8 pounds 10 ounces of life on the brink. I was not there at that moment of my first child being born, something I still regret.

Let me back things up for a moment to frame things up for you, so you can more understand the roller-coaster of emotions my family and I endured. I met my wife Denise in the summer of 1989, I was 17 almost 18 and already out on my own. At that point in my life I had already gotten into a lot of trouble and was living on the streets. This was of my own accord, my hardheadedness abounded in those days. After dating for awhile we found out she was pregnant (she still goads me about my line of "It's okay honey, TRUST me, you won't get pregnant") and things started getting real adult real fast for me. She already had two children from a previous marriage, Abby and Josh. They really weren't too fond of me at that point, as their father had only recently left the seen (a few months before Denise and I met) and they had Denise's whole family whispering in their ears about me being the cause of their parents breakup. Needless to say I was finding out very quickly how hard parenting could be. On one hand I was the evil "wannabe replacement" and on the other hand I was as inexperienced as you could possibly be in parenting. I seemed to be doomed from the start. And now we had my first child coming up in a few months. I was in the hot seat to say the least.
At the time we were also in the lower income bracket so money was very tight. Denise's Ex was causing us much grief in various ways. At one point, a friend had found a couple of high paying jobs in Garner North Carolina (very close to Raleigh) and we figured we could work it for a few months for some fast cash. At the time I was on probation for driving on a suspended license. I had been way behind on my fine payments with probation so I figured the job was a great idea. Yeah I'm an idiot, leaving the state is a violation of probation. And sure enough, unknown to me, as soon as I left someone in the know, either her Ex or the sister-in-law from hell, anonymously called probation to report my "flight". They put out a warrant, and scheduled a court date, which I obviously missed because I didn't know about it. Long story short, two warrants were issued, one for VOP (violation of probation) and a FTA (failure to appear, automatic 90 day sentence on this one). We came back after the "job" turned out to be bull, and I got a job at McDonald's. I had it for a few days, and my lovely sister-in-law from hell turned me in. At first appearance, I made the most idiot like move and plead guilty. I was sentenced on the spot to 90 days and 60 days, running concurrently for a total of 90 days. This time was shortened up in the end for good behavior and I was a trustee (worked in the radio shop installing electronics into the Sheriff's cars).
This pathetic string of events lead to one unforgettable, heart wrenching moment.