A TIME TO HEAL

A TIME TO HEAL

The last few weeks have been emotionally rough.  I have been secretly terrified that something is going to happen and I won’t bring home a baby.  It has been an irrational fear that has had me crying everyday.  I thought that if I talked about these feelings it would make it real so I didn't even share what I was feeling with my husband.  On Friday I was driving around by myself doing errands and getting my toes painted for the big day when in my moments alone I thought back to my pregnancy with McKaylan and how different my experience has been this time.  It was then that it hit me as to why I was having all this irrational fear.  

Nineteen years ago I was pregnant with a sweet baby girl.  I was single and alone, but I did have the support of my parents and family.  When I found out how fragile and sick my baby girl was going to be I was devastated.  On top of that all the doctors, professionals, specialists and many family members all felt I should terminate my pregnancy because she was “not going to make it anyway.”  I was told her quality of life was going to be so bad that she would need a ventilator, feeding tube and many other machines to make her live.  At the time I didn’t care.  I was just told I was having a little girl and no matter what I was going to hold her and love her till she died.  She would die in my arms knowing her mother loved her. 

I had to go in every week for ultrasounds and testing for months.  Every week things got worse, she got worse.  She developed in utero hydrocephalus.  Every ultrasound showed it getting worse and worse until you could not see her brain.  Her little skull was so full of fluid.  I cried and pleaded with my Heavenly Father for us to trade places and to make me sick and her whole.  All I remember of that pregnancy was fear, failure, and helplessness.  I felt I had made so many mistakes that I couldn't even grow a baby right. 

When I was almost eight months pregnant my dad came to me and asked if I wanted him to make funeral arrangements.  I felt like my breath had been stolen right out of me.  “No! No! No!” I had screamed in my head.  Out loud I could barely whisper the word.  I was insistent that I was bringing home my baby and I put together her crib and got our room ready.  I got her car seat and diaper bag ready!  That was my stubborn, defiant streak in me. 

In the end we all know how it turned out.  I DID bring McKaylan home!  She DID live!  After all she went through she fought and her quality of life is amazing!

Clint and I had to work and fight so hard for this blessing!  I am in a different place in my life.  I have a wonderful husband, a temple marriage and I am older.  This pregnancy has been “boring” as the doctors say and they are pleased just as we are.  A lot of my emotional trauma I had with McKaylan has been healing during this pregnancy.  I have my loving husband who ADORES me and is amazed at the changes and the beauty this pregnancy has done to me. (His words, not mine)  I have been able to focus on what is going on with MY body and not be to worried about how the baby developing.  I am able to enjoy the small moments and love sharing them with him. 

Lately, with this pregnancy, the old fear has been haunting me.  Last week I was terrified to put the crib together.  When I got the car seat out of the box I had a panic attack.  I balled my eyes out when I washed the pink load of baby clothes and folded them and put them away.

When I reflected on the emotional trauma of my first pregnancy, I was able to connect the dots!  I realized where my current fear was coming from!  It is still irrational, but I now understand it and I have been able to get it under control and actually talk about it with my husband.  Since then, I do feel better.  Talking didn’t make the fear real, but it helped start the healing process.  I still have some anxiety.  I am having a baby by c-section in FIVE days!  My brain is having a hard time processing that!   Now I am able to actually enjoy these last few days!  We are so excited and have felt all of your love and blessings.  I will keep you all updated!

Long Time Father, First Time Dad!

Long Time Father, First Time Dad!
   
Throughout this pregnancy, I have tried to continue to do the usual things I normally do and not ask for any help.  I really do have a hard time asking anyway. In the beginning of the pregnancy Clint would really get mad at me tell me to get him if I needed help.  For example, lifting McKaylan in and out of the car and then her wheelchair.  It has never been difficult for me, and it wasn't in the beginning either.  Clint would get so frustrated and finally said to me one day, "If you lose this baby it will not be my fault!"  There were other confrontations and I didn't understand why he was getting so upset.  Finally, in a moment of calm we talked about it and he said that we were having a baby and this was new for him.  I just laughed it off and said we have had babies before and that we have had up to 9 kids!  What was the problem???  He said that this is MY first baby.  We have never had a baby together.  I have never been pregnant with him!    This was a new experience for him.  I never had really thought about it that way.  So I have since then dialed it down a bit.  Asked for help more (sort of). It is soooo hard for me!

So, yes and crazy as it sounds, it is true.  My husband is a wonderful father.  We have had many children in our home that we have loved and lost.  This is the first time that he has fathered a child and has experienced being an expectant dad.  He has been so attentive and amazing through this whole process.  Now that we are at the end of this I am having a very hard time doing anything including walking.  He is right there by my side helping me, getting things for me, even pulling/carrying me to where I need to go.  He is my protector, defender, my forever knight in shining armor.  I love him and this pregnancy journey has added another layer of unconditional love in our marriage.  Probably a layer we would not have without going through this experience.  Again, I am humbled and amazed at the love my Heavenly Father has for me and the incredible blessings he has granted me and my family.

Full of Emotion

I have decided to start blogging again.  It has been a few years and a lot has happened.  I am so full of emotion and crazy ideas I need to get them down.  I am currently 34 weeks pregnant with a miracle and I still can't wrap my brain around it.  I look in the mirror at my body in disbelief, yet when I feel my baby move I am full of wonder and amazement.  I want to share my life and all the blessings and crazy that I have been blessed with.  I feel like that someday I will write a book about it, but until then blogging is a platform I will try and use. 

Like I said I am pregnant.  After 13 years of trying and dying we finally did it.  It was a seriously unbelievable journey with loss that was hard, but looking back things had to happen before our baby came to us.  They always say, "hindsight is 20/20."  I have found myself so full of emotion and many of them are conflicting.  I am so grateful, happy and in a state of wonder.  At the same time I am fearful, in denial and I can't believe this is happening.  With all this add the pregnancy hormones and I am a basket case.  I have an ultrasound pic of my baby on my phone and I burst into tears every time I see it.  My heart is ready to burst especially when I feel and see her move.  She is amazing, unreal, miracle, out of reach, and so close.  I am terrified and excited.  I am seriously a mess and I love it!

Two 3 year olds, a 7 and a 4 month old. I am too old!

Well, my babies turned three on tax day.  Luckily we had our taxes done months ago so we could party.  We had a fun party with friends and family.  Yummy food and great conversations with fun movies for the kids.  We are also proud parents of a 7 and 4 month old foster babies.  We love them to pieces.  Needless to say we are very busy and tired, but we have so much fun.  I defiantly feel my age sometimes.  I am so thankful that I am able to be a stay at home mom.  I could never do this if I had to work.  I am also thankful that I have my husband at home to help too.  It takes a team to care these kids and I couldn't have a better partner. 

Dang, How Time Flies

I can't believe it has been so long since I blogged. It has been just long enough to forget how to do this. Anyhow, we have been given the blessing again to adopt. I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for helping us find our children. We are adopting a very special little boy who will be two years old next week. He has been blessed with some physical challenges that actually makes him fit well with our family. He was born with hydrocephalus and CP. He also as some vision issues that we are still figuring out, but if you know our family what better baby to come into our home. I can't tell you how excited I am to get to be his mommy. I also want to share how thankful I am for his birth mom. She is definitely a brave hero in my book. As a family we got to spend time with her at the mall the other day. It was so fun to be together and get to know her. What a fun time for our family. I posted earlier how thankful I am for adoption and this just strengthens my testimony of the love my Father in Heaven has for me and my family!

Goodbye summer Hello school!

So many things have happened this summer. We are so excited to be back in school. McKaylan has weathered the worst with pneumonia and surgery. She is a trooper! We just got the great news that we have been approved by LDS Family Services for adopting again. Let those little spirits find our family because we need them! The boys are growing so fast and my arms are missing that little baby feel.

Clint has also returned to school. I love being home with the boys all day. It is so fun with them. Still working on the house and getting the small stuff done like paint and trim, but it is coming together. I can't wait for it to be done.

His smile is different!

This last week has been stressful, but awesome. Braden had eye surgery. He had his blind eye removed and a prosthetic put in its place. He did so good during the surgery, but had a hard time waking up. All he could do was sleep or throw up. This experience, I believe, triggered anxiety from other hospitalizations. With the sounds, smells and environment and just feeling plain yucky, there has been a lot of extra emotional issues that he has had to deal with. The only difference this time was he had a mommy to love and hold him and and rock him. He has become even more attached to me and Clint this last week. Yes he has regressed in some behaviors, but that is to be expected. But his smile is different, more content and happy. He looks at us with absolute adoration. It is so awesome!

Hello, Goodbye and Say WHAT???

So, we moved into our ward last September and met our bishop. One month later he was released. This last Sunday was him and his wife's last Sunday because they are moving. His wife came to me and asked how the boys were doing. Then she said I have something to tell you. I am only telling you this because this is my last Sunday. She then proceeded to tell me that her brother and sister-in-law were the previous couple that had the failed adoption with the boys. She said that her sister-in-law was devastated and had started obsessing over where the boys were. The lady in my ward did provide comfort to her and told her the boys were together and in a good home, but didn't give out names. I was shocked. This is only a portion of our long conversation. Needless to say she did tell me that she has been watching me and my family and knows the boys are safe and with a good family. She said we were doing a great job with them and now the other mother knows it. I tell you. All Mormons in Utah are related!!!

The first official week

This week has been incredible!!! I thought I loved these boys before the adoption, but knowing they are mine makes my love for them multiply infinitely. The power of adoption is amazing and I am so thankful for this wonderful blessing I have been given. Okay enough of the cheese.

It has been so long since I have posted anything, but now that school is done I will have more time on my hands, maybe. With twins my time disappears quick. But I hope to keep more up to date.

We had some fun awesome times with the boys this week and it will on get more fun. Braden hates any food except his bottle. I feel like we have gone 5 steps back when it comes to solids. He used to at least try a bite, but now he is very opinionated about what he wants to eat. Aiden on the other hand will eat just about anything, although we are finding that he does not appreciate green beans, but who does.

McKaylan is loving being an official, legal and soon eternal big sister. She is an amazing help. She loves to get on the floor and roll around with the boys, rock them in the chair, and help feed them their bottles. She sings to them and tells them stories and they both adore her and will seek her out to play and have fun with. Having kids (plural is awesome) is the most amazing thing in this world. I love my family!!!

What to name a baby! We have had this beautiful little boy in our home since May. He is free for adoption and we plan on keeping him forever, but we can't figure out a name for him. He is the one labeled Colton. That just doesn't fit. His brother's name came so easily to me. As soon as I picked him up I knew he was Aiden, but his brother has not inspired me or Clint yet. We are becoming to comfortable with bubba, or mister, but when we are trying to teach or discipline I can't use his nicknames to get the point across. I am sure this poor kiddo is confused with all the nicknames, and no real name. We want to include family names with these boys so in the future they will have that connection to our family. So we are heading towards Aiden Daniel, after my dad, and Braden Thomas after Clint's dad. We will call him Brady for short. A part of me thinks Aiden and Braden are cute, but the other part thinks it may be too much. This would be the umpteenth name we have decided on. Maybe this one will stick.

Well here is the blog. I think I have spent more hours trying to figure out how to post pictures and fun stuff than anything else. Now it will take me 2 minutes to post my words. This summer McKaylan got her bike, finally. After 4 years of begging for one we were able to get one through Shriner's. We love Shriner's!. Also this summer our family has grown. We have three foster children, Emilie, Anna and Colten. Aiden is his twin, but has to be with a different foster family at this time. We are hoping to get him by mid-September. They are free for adoption and we are working to get them. This summer has been crazy fun, but I can't wait for school to start!