Today however, I want to give us something that we can all write about forever: our kids. Even if you have babies in heaven, in your tummy, in your arms, in another state, there is something that makes them special... what is it? Feel free to go on and on and on... as there is no limit to our love for our kids, there is no limit to the length of your comments! (at least I don't think there is... :)
Always excited to read what you have to say,
Sarah
Question #3: What is it about YOUR kid(s) that is wonderful, unique, miraculous, marvelous, endearing, inspiring, and lovely?
I never really used the term "miracles" before in my life. I thought a miracle was something truly HUGE, OUTSTANDING, UNBELIEVABLE. But then I had Ben & Hannah. Now I think of them as miracles and my pregnancy as miraculous.
ReplyDeleteB&H are IVF babies. But they are not IVF babies because we had trouble conceiving. We did IVF because there is a genetic issue in the family that we wanted to make sure B&H didn't get. So as tiny little 3-day-old, 8-cell embryos, they were biopsied and their DNA tested. (All our embryos were; the ones that had the issue were discarded - and I hope not to stir up a philosophical belief debate with that). As embryos, B&H "passed" the DNA test and were transferred to me on 5/5/10. The fact that they do not have and never will have the genetic issue is a miracle to me!
Then there is my pregnancy that is a miracle. I went in on Oct. 1, 2010 for a routine check up and ultrasound at 24 weeks (when you're carrying twins, you get ultrasounds so much that they become "routine"). My mom came along with me (visiting from SoDak) for the ultrasound since she never saw one. The babies looked great and were growing so healthily. But then the tech couldn't find my cervix. She called the doctor in and the doctor told me I had to go to the hospital immediately. That was the single most frightening day of my life. Terms I never heard before were thrown at me: short cervix, betamethozone, mag sulfate, NICU, preemies, odds of survival, etc. I seriously thought I was going to deliver that night. I didn't. And after 3 days in the hospital, I was released with the prescription of lying down for 16 weeks. It is a miracle and I count my blessings every day that the babies were not born at 24 weeks!
Have you ever lain down for more than 2-3 days at a time? I laid down for 9 weeks. I could only get to take a shower, go to the bathroom, fix lunch, and go to doctor's appts. The sheer fact that I survived THAT is a miracle to me. Dear friends and family kept me going with visits, meals, emails, phone calls, etc. But it was NOT easy.
THEN, there is the babies' birth that is so miraculous. My water broke at 33 weeks on Friday, Dec. 3, 2010. I went to the hospital, no contractions, and got put in the "wait and see" unit to literally wait and see. The doctor thought I might make it a week before delivering, and was OK with that since I had a high level of fluid anyway. (That extra week - to deliver at 34 weeks - can be crucial for baby development). Friday night passed, Saturday passed, and I sent my husband home for the night to get some rest and bring me some good movies to watch on Sunday. Then at about 1 a.m. on Sunday I felt weird. By 1:30 a.m. on Sunday I was having huge contractions. At 2:54 a.m. Hannah was born; at 3:37 a.m. Ben was born. Naturally, no epidural, I might add.
Then, a miracle is their very short NICU stay. Hannah was in for 7 days; Ben for 12. Everyone was home for Christmas!
Of course, now that they've been around for 8 months, I find miracles in them every day. Like Ben's guffaw. And Hannah's long beautiful eyelashes. And how they are giving me slobbery open-mouthed kisses. And how they love to eat anything - no pickiness here! And how they get excited around each other. I swear, you'd think no one else was in the room when they are doing their twin talk thing! And how my heart bursts out of my chest most days. And how good they are at sleeping. And at traveling. And how they love to be outside. But mostly, how Hannah is a mini-me and Ben is a mini of my husband. It's like I get to see Aaron as a baby, which cracks me up.
They've also brought my family all together, which makes me happy. My mom and dad don't really get along, but they will be cordial for the sake of the grandkids. And my dear aunts, my dad's sisters, have come to help us out quite frequently, traveling from across the country. Just to see these two miracles!
This is a wonderful question for me in my current "mom state of mind." I struggle with having 2 kids. I take that back - I struggle having 1 toddler who is stubborn like her Mom and a teething, sweet infant.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to remember that while I want to scream and yell and cry sometimes, these are WONDERFUL AWESOME gifts in my life.
Liv is the light in my day. She's so articulate for her age and says the sweetest things, out of nowhere some times. For example, she'll be coloring at the table while I'm cooking dinner, feeding Avery, emptying the dishwasher (all at the same time) and say "Mom, I love you the most of anything." Now normally, the sweet things she says she's at least heard from someone - but I've never said that. I don't think Nate's ever said that and the grandparents with their multiple grandkids - I'm not sure they'd call her out as the "best" for fear of hurting anyone else's feelings.
I will apologize in advance if any of my comments about Avery's conception seem crude for those who have struggled to have a baby. With my husband's super sperm and my apparent fertile ground, we had no troubles with either baby, and still, I am completely sympathetic for anyone who has.
Avery is my miracle that I never knew I always wanted.
I am embarrassed to admit that for the first several weeks after I found out I was pregnant, I was miserable. I was disappointed that it happened when we weren't planning, I was stressed with my increasing strong-willed child and wondering if I could do it all again.
I always wanted HER. I just didn't want the TIMING. And the moment that I held her in the hospital, all those memories came flooding back and I sobbed. She picked me to be her Mom and I'll never forget that. I'll always try to prove to her that she made the right choice.
Tracy, I never knew the story of how your little ones came into this world. They truly are miracles! Makes me smile to hear it all. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGemma Katherine Wolfe 10.06.10
ReplyDeleteOrigin of the name Gemma:
A borrowing from the Latin, Gemma is taken from gemma (precious stone, jewel).
Origin of the name Katherine:
Cognate of the Greek Aikaterinē, the root of which is katharos (pure, unsullied).
Gemma is the single most amazing thing I've ever done- and I feel like I can take zero credit for her. She's unlike anything I could have imagined, more than I could have imagined and better than I EVER could have dreamt. She is like me in many ways, strong-willed, opinionated, expressive, emotive, affectionate and energetic. She is also a small, feminine version of my husband. She is stubborn- oh, so stubborn, silly, and smart. She has his eyes, head, cheeks and smile. She's beautiful, beyond any beautiful baby I've ever seen (every mom should feel this way about their babies, so no offense to any of you! Your babies are beautiful too!) She's determined and a conqueror. What a gift this strength will be as she grows! She has conquered some fairly significant feeding issues and we seem to be seeing the other side of meds and concern.
Abe and I lost a baby before Gemma and that loss made me want Gemma even more. We prayed and tried for her for awhile and when I saw that little line on the test, oh how my heart sang. I used to sing to her when she was first born, "you are my love, you are my heart, you are my song". And she is- nothing makes my heart sing like her smiling face, her cherub cheeks, her tight little hugs, her silly growling voice, when she "reads" to herself, her dancing, her wild splashing, her radiant joy. She is truly joyful- I pray desperately that she never loses that. How could God have chosen me to parent this miracle? I am humbled and amazed that she is mine- that she gets to be with me- that I get to be a part of the amazing life she's going to live: not because of my expectations for her but because everything she does (in my eyes) is amazing. She is my little "jewel".
My little Brody is our angel baby. He was born at 21 weeks just over 1 lb and almost a foot long. We got to spent almost an hour with him before he went home to Jesus. He's precious because he was a beautiful baby, he is our firstborn son and the first boy in a family with lots of girls being born, and he was named in honor of my brother (who passed away from cancer) and my dad (who was a strong force in my brother's life and mine). Brody's little sibling is on the way, but Brody will always be our firstborn and our kids' big brother.
ReplyDeleteEach of my children is definitely unique in his/her personality, character, strengths, weaknesses, etc. The one thing I would say brings great joy to me right now as their individuality shines through (ages 13, 11, and 9) is that I truly LIKE my children. Of course I love them, but as they are growing and maturing and we can spend time together in a different way, I've come to appreciate the fact that I like who each of them is becoming. It's thoroughly enjoyable to spend an afternoon shopping with Hannah or going to the movie with Sarah or playing a game with Ethan. The conversation is lively and meaningful. The interaction is positive. And I think they like me too...that's fun!!!
ReplyDeleteJen here...
ReplyDeleteEverett is the craziest little dude. I love his personality. I remember thinking his smile was the cutest thing ever and then it developed into a deep, contagious belly laugh that still makes me smile from the inside out. If he's not smiling or laughing, he has this total serious look as if he's just sizing everything up... everyone says he gets it from his daddy. He's like the emotional extremes... screaming about something but then laughing in an instant. Everett is a family name on TR's side... and I fell in love with it from a baby book before I knew it was a family name so it was perfect. We didn't realize the meaning of it... strong, wild boar... would be so fitting! He had the strongest neck from day 1 and hasn't stopped. I just have to laugh as he literally lugs bricks around the backyard for fun or carries/pushes leaf bags, furniture, etc. around that's twice his size. We'll be at the park and he'll fall and get a huge goose egg on his head and after like 2 minutes of crying with me he's then begging to go play some more. I actually had to ask the dr when i needed to be concerned about injuries. He's a total boy! He finds the mud in the yard and can get dirty in an instant. He's completely into like every sport... loves kicking the soccer ball, dunking/shooting the basketball, hitting the baseball both on the tee and just in the air, whacking a golf ball around the yard and just playing catch. I feel like he's peaking in his athletic ability at the age of 2! He loves people and is always saying hi to strangers when we're out for errands. He loves his little school that he's done 1 morning a week this past year and always just runs in when I drop him off. He has an unreal ability to stack things... mostly blocks but he's pretty into legos these days, too. We always joke he'll be awesome at jenga. This summer has been a blast living at the beach. I think there is always sand stuck in his crazy, white blond curls... and probably many other places on his body! This kid loves to eat. I still don't know how he can shove so much in his mouth at once. Even from the breastfeeding days I had to stop him from overeating (and then spitting it all up). I guess he gets that from my side! Anyway, there's not much sitting in this house and I feel like anytime anyone visits or is around him they're exhausted by the end of the day trying to keep up. I love it though and couldn't imagine him any other way.
Wow, that was a long blurb about Everett! I feel bad because I don't have nearly as much info on Grant yet! He was a surprise baby... we knew we wanted 2 kids but we weren't going to start trying for a few months. I guess there were other plans for us though and I'm so thrilled my 2nd boy is here and I'm done with pregnancies (not that I had bad ones, I just wasn't one that loved the experience). I know that we are so lucky. Before I had Everett I thought I always wanted a boy and girl. After I had him, I knew that 2 boys would actually be awesome. So... I'm thrilled that Grant is here! I keep wondering what he's going to be like. So far he loves to eat (guess that runs in the family). He's also very strong... literally moves around when he's on the floor, crazy neck muscles, etc. He has these huge eyes that look like they're just taking everything in. He can make some crabby faces... which TR says he gets from me! His gassy smiles are pretty awesome though so I can't wait for those to be real! It's going to be fun watching his little personality develop and see what kind of boy he turns into.
I've found each age/stage has things that are amazing and things that are challenging. Time goes by so fast and I'm trying to really enjoy all the moments with these boys that will hopefully grow into happy, healthy, respectful men... ahh!
Sam, my 4 1/2 year old is a busy boy. He loves to be active and play. He loves cars (one of his first words CARRR - with a very pronounced R) and playing and interacting with people. We do our activities to fill Sam's need buddy his own age interaction every day... and it has been great as Elin has gotten older because they play together very well (for a brother and sister). He's very creative and loves to build things and figure things out. He is just FUN. He makes me play and laugh every day.
ReplyDeleteElin is wise. Can you call a 2 year old wise? She has a very high emotional intelligence. If Sam ever cries, as a baby she cried, as soon as she could walk she would go find a toy he liked (usually a car) and bring it to him. She is very intelligent (biased) with almost complete sentences and many full songs that she can sing. She loves loves loves reading books and has a crazy-long attention span. (Of course, this is compared to Sam who can't sit still for more than 5 minutes.) She also has some drama, and is much more of a "terrible two" when she doesn't get her way than Sam ever did. Sam had some tantrums, but Elin has always had a touch of drama and attitude.