Time for a recap. A lot of you are new, and some may not have ever had a proper introduction. Who am I and what is this about?
My name is Keenan. I live in Denver with my wife and our 5 (almost 6) year old son. I was a totally normal dude in his early 30’s working in tech, enjoying Colorado life and looking forward to starting a family when the bottom dropped out. 3 months into the pregnancy was the first bleed, where we thought we lost him. The second followed a month later. As my camping trip with my brothers approached at week 25 of the pregnancy, I was questioning big time whether I should go. But at 25 weeks, I’d be fine right?
So we prepped as well as we could, organized for our friend and midwife to be with my wife while I was gone, and crossed our fingers that nothing dramatic was in store. It was on our 3rd night that I got the call; my wife had preeclampsia and was being airlifted so they could perform an emergency C-section. But I’m in Big Bend National Park. In Texas. A 16 hour drive away.
The rest is pretty much a blur. Felix was born on October 8th 2020 at 25 weeks and 2 days. I wasn’t there! I was on the phone with our midwife in the car barreling down the road as fast as we could go. The pictures she sent me were insane, it still feels surreal when I think about it. I arrived the next morning with my wife still sleeping, and when she woke up we were guided down to the NICU to look at him in his box. We named him Felix because it means lucky in Latin and he needed all the help he could get. We also have a really cool pocket watch from the 1800s that belonged to his great-great-great granduncle Felix who lived in Vienna and died during WW2. So that sits on the shelf in his bedroom and is his now. He has cerebral palsy, and is the coolest little dude I’ve ever met.
Every special needs parent has crazy stories, I’m not unique. But the stories that don’t get told are our own. Especially dads, and especially about the really hard times. Some dads (and a lot of marriages) don’t make it through, but a lot of us do. It changes you, and it can only be appreciated by a small group of people on the planet. I started Shift because there are so many dads struggling and if I can help them along the path and provide any sort of inspiration or guidance, then I feel that’s my duty. I worked hard to get through these tribulations, and I know that it is not easy. But I had a great network of people supporting me, and that’s what I want to do for all the dads that will walk this path. Because you don’t have to do it alone. Thank you for being here!