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The Waiting Game

I mentioned in one of my first posts that when the NICU doctors kept using the word “months” in reference to the length of time Luna Bell might be in the hospital, I was indignant, even a little angry that they would even think that it would take my little superhero months to be well enough to go home. But after two months in the hospital, the reality of “months” was now like a punch to the face.

Luna Bell was doing well, all things considered. She was finally extubated, she was growing and she was a relatively happy baby for being stuck in a hospital bed and not being allowed to do all the things that babies her age should be doing. Now that she was extubated, I believed that we were thisclose to getting her home. But we still had a road ahead of us. Her lungs were still not doing all they should be doing, she still needed help keeping her oxygen levels up and she was still struggling. This part of our hospital stay was a lot of waiting. A lot. The daily questions between Kevin and myself as we did our check in’s with each other depending on who was with Luna Bell, was how is she? What are her stats today? How is she breathing? Is she happy today? Did you get to hold her? The answers varied, as they would for any baby. Some days she was breathing really well and her levels were great, some days she was struggling a little more and not happy about it. This part of the NICU story gets a little mundane…almost boring. There were no longer the high highs and the low lows. We were just seeing how she was doing every day and letting her continue to heal and grow and get stronger. About 2 weeks after Luna Bell was extubated and put on a c-pap, she was moved from the critical NICU to the NICU. This was a huge move. Literally to a different part of the hospital, the newer part where we had a huge room! There was bathroom in her room, a pull out couch we could sleep on if we wanted, the ability to eat our meals in the room and a tv that played little programs for kids, soothing videos with music and movies for kids. Where was this room when she wasn’t doing well at all?! Where was this room when we didn’t want to leave her on nights she was having a rough time? We got over the frustration of not having this luxurious room before and just enjoyed ourselves. Some days she was racing to the finish line, and other days she just maintained, but we could see that finish line. It may have only been through binoculars, but we could see it. Until we reached it, we would keep playing the waiting game.

FULL CIRCLE

I’m sitting at my new desk at home, getting prepared to make a major life change. It’s one that has been long needed and wanted, but now that’s it’s happening it is happened at lightning speed!

Almost four years ago (how is that possible?!?!) I got pregnant. That set off a series of events that no one could be could have been prepared for; a surprise Mother’s Day discovery, concerns because of my age, and a tough last five weeks of pregnancy before my sweet girl was born six weeks early and had to spend a long 117 days or nearly four months at Seattle Children’s Hospital. As a family, we decided that however and whenever we could, we would do things to support the families of other children there. The first Christmas Luna Bell was home, we took gift bags of goodies and necessities to the families who’s babies were in the NICU that year. We planned on it being an every year kind of thing, but when COVID hit that was nixed. At that time, my thoughts turned from just a yearly donation of sorts to something more career driven. But then COVID and numerous things that happened in our family over the past two years, and I didn’t feel a career change was the best for us. I had received a promotion at my current job, but it turned into just taking on another job in addition to the one I already had. I was suffering all kinds of burn out, including compassion, and I started to feel like I was missing out of all of the little things that come with having a growing little girl. I know many of you have suffered the same way over the past couple of years.

Luna Bell started preschool last November. She has had some delays in a few ways, including speech which she was receiving therapy for. Again due to COVID that has been relegated to Zoom meetings only and she aged out of the program she was in. So when preschool was offered we cautiously jumped at the chance. She is good about wearing her mask, but even then she caught COVID the end of January and gave it to her dad and I. It was during a week of caring for her and Kevin and being forced to stay at home due to my positive test but few symptoms, that I again was thinking, “If I could have been working from home the past couple of years, I would still be able to work at least a few hours a day, and when I couldn’t get to work due to snow in December, I could have been working full time all week. And if I was at home before Luna goes to school everyday, I could be doing her hair and getting her ready.” So I started the job hunt.

Seattle Children’s offered me a phone and then Zoom interview and on March 11th, I was offered a work from home job that includes a pay raise, a savings on medical benefits and with rising gas prices, an easy $60 savings on gas each month. I get to make my own hours after 90 days and when Luna starts school in the fall I will be able to take her to school and pick her up every day if I want and have extra time with her everyday! It will allow Kevin to work additional hours as well -he’s been amazing doing the stay-at-home dad and working thing for three years-and give us more time together as a family.

I waited a long time to be a mom and have the kind of relationship Kevin and I have, and I don’t want to waste the time we have together before Luna Bell is a teenager and doesn’t want anything to do with us! The work/life balance is something I don’t think I’ve ever had so I’m looking forward to that a lot.

I believe in signs. I believe in intuition and I believe in the cycles our lives take. I was offered the job with Children’s on March 11, Luna Bell came home three years ago on March 15. My start date is April 4th, and I’m certain for many reasons that is the date four years ago that I got pregnant. All signs lead me to believe that this is going to be the best move for me and for my family and I can’t wait to get started.

This life event is truly bringing my life full circle.

Mother’s Day

As I’ve mentioned before, it was on Mother’s Day, now three years ago, that I found out that I was pregnant! It was surprising, exciting, terrifying, and it turned out to be the best thing that has ever happened to me! My little girl is now almost 2 1/2 years old and the surprises and excitement have never stopped. Toddler life is a challenge every day; trying to figure out what her babbles mean, why she is laying on the ground crying when two seconds ago she was TOTALLY fine, and why she thinks that throwing something, including her tiny fist, at me or her dad will get her what she wants!

But there there are the smiling contests at night, when we’re cuddling in her bed while her squishy owl lamp glows on our faces. There are the moments when I get home from work and she runs up to me, squealing, arms out stretched to say hi. And there are the tight, neck breaking hugs when I tell her I love her. That’s what it’s all about.

Oh, I know, the years are going to bring challenges of their own, and my strong willed girl is not going to be the easiest. I say this because, I don’t think either her dad or I were the easiest to raise either! And I’m pretty sure we got the kiddo we deserve! But I also know that every day, for the rest of my life, I’m going to be so grateful to be Luna Bell’s mom.

To all the mom’s, the ones who have come before us and paved the way, and those who are still in the trenches, one day a year isn’t enough to celebrate you. May you have a beautiful day, whatever that mean’s to you, and have a very happy Mother’s Day!

Giving Back

There isn’t a day when I don’t think about or feel grateful for every single person that helped Luna Bell and Kevin and I through the past three years really. It has been three years since my VERY unexpected pregnancy began and I LOVED being pregnant!!!! I was very lucky and wasn’t sick a day and I loved my growing belly. I loved every movement or kick and I loved all the cravings and the crazy amount I wanted and needed to eat to sustain growing a baby! It was weeks later that we began to get concerned about my pregnancy and then a few weeks later when we were officially concerned about my pregnancy, and even in that concern and growing fear, I loved what my body was doing, was able to sustain and frankly, I was amazed that the structure of my body didn’t completely give out!

After Luna Bell was born and the real adventure began, I was so deep in the daily in and outs and tracking numbers and breaths, that I barely allowed myself to heal from my intense pregnancy, c section and deal with all of the crazy hormones, some increased by my superhuman milk production. I didn’t know what to ask for, who to talk to , what website or Instagram page to seek out or have any idea the amazing support systems out there for families in the NICU.

Since I’ve been out of that NICU vacuum for two years, and nearly 2 months now (not that anyone is counting), I see these amazing support organizations all over the place. And I started thinking that there should be a way to get these support systems to those that need them the most. While they are in the thick of it, not a month later, or two years later.

At 3:30am, a time when I either do my best thinking or my best anxiety attack, I was thinking about how I could reach out to NICU families and get some of this information to them. As a former NICU parent I now know more of what I needed at that time, but didn’t know I needed. Even if it was a Facebook group or Instagram page or blog where I could have dumped my fears and stresses and frustrations at 3:30am or at 2pm in the afternoon when Luna Bell was sleeping, but still struggling, even if the words were hitting a void, I feel like it would have helped to put the feelings into words and get them out instead of keeping all of that locked up inside.

I saw ALL of this to come to a point. It’s been a very, very long time since I’ve been in school. And unfortunately college is something I never got to complete. But after all I’ve learned, experienced and seen in my life, I feel like I may have finally found some purpose for professional life. I not only want a way to give back to the nurses and doctors that helped my little girl out, but also give a hand up to those who are in the thick of the storm. I want to do something that will make my daughter proud and teach her sympathy and caring for other. So, I may being going back to school for my degree in social work.

There. I’ve said it out loud. I’ve put in out there for others to support or judge. But I’ve also put it out there for others to hold me to it! So the search for schools and what I need to do for prerequisites and how the hell I’m going to do this while working and momming full time! But at the end of the day, somehow, someway, I need to find a way to give forward, give a hand up, and give back.

New Year New Attitude

When I was pregnant and we found out that my pregnancy was high risk and that Luna Bell as probably going to have some challenges when she was born, I went into survival mode. I was only about keeping myself and my baby safe. I didn’t want certain people around me or things or noises or stresses around me, for fear that it would in any way put me into labor early or in any way put my baby at risk. When she was born and did have challenges, more than I could have ever imagined, those four months she was in the hospital made me toughen up more than I ever thought I could.

But with that toughening, and the fear of what was happening with my baby girl, I put a wall up around me. It was high and made of concrete and reenforced with rebar made of fear, helplessness, exhaustion and anger. And I started to push everyone away. I didn’t reach out for the help and support I really needed, and I felt a loneliness that I didn’t even realize until many months had gone by. This wasn’t anyone’s fault, I didn’t feel this way because of anything anyone did, it was because of my old habit of hiding myself away and trying to deal with my stress, anxiety, pain and fear all on my own. I tried to let Kevin in as much as I could, mostly because we were both going through the same thing, the same trauma, and the same insane schedules and lack of sleep. We were the only ones that really understood and it felt like he was the only one I could be real with.

I think that my anger at god, the universe, my age, the guy who cut me off in traffic, hardened me. I became resentful and jealous and wanted everyone around me to feel the depth of the pain I was feeling. It thought it would have lifted once Luna Bell came home, but I think it intensified when I had to go back to work. I was resentful of Kevin having his best friend near by and every moment he spent with him away from me and the baby and I was sad that I didn’t have my closest friends nearby.

Over the past two years much has happened to change me. Becoming a mother, working full time and feeling like I’m abandoning my daughter everyday, the intense way Luna Bell came into the world and how challenging her first two years were and on top of all of that COVID for the past year. I wish I would have spent more time being grateful for everything that was good, instead on focusing so much energy on the negative. And it was that realization that prompted me to focus on the good in this new year. The expectation that the preverbal shoe will drop has to be set aside, because it’s an exhausting way to live.

I also realized that when I expect to be disappointed by someone, that is a great way to ensure disappointment to come my way. So I’m trying to be trusting again, and not look for the worst in people or imagine the worst, because that is typically when the worst comes around. I’m trying to break habits of sometimes self imposed anxiety and the same fight over and over and I’m trying to be grateful for the amazing things I have in this life. Amazing boyfriend, superhero daughter, good job, friends I love more than anything and an amazing extended family.

There are still people and things that I don’t want near me or my family, and for good reason, but I’m no longer letting these people who don’t matter live rent free in my head. In true Scorpio fashion, I will ruin them if they hurt my family, but until then, I don’t give them any of my valuable time thinking about them.

I still feel guilt when I leave every morning to go to work, and I miss Luna Bell every minute of the day and feel like I’m missing out on all the good stuff. And I feel like I could always be doing more or better as a mother, but I know she’s safe with her dad and that he is taking really good care of her and that she will be ok.

This year, I’m not going to let fear get the best of me. I’m going to live every moment with appreciation for what I have, who I have in my life, and how lucky I am to still have everyone I love still with me. Over this past year, we’ve all been scared of the destructive path that COVID has taken across so many lives. A year later and over 500,000 families are dealing with the tragic, unnecessary loss of someone they loved dearly. If this past year has taught us anything, it should be to live life to the fullest, hold those we love close and believe in the science! So as we get vaccinated (I’ve had my two doses!) and the world starts to open up a little bit at a time, maybe we’ll look at things with different eyes. That dinner out for the first time in a year will be a little more special, the first time you see friends or family you haven’t seen in a year will be even sweeter than all the other times you’ve seen them before. And when there is finally a concert to go to, I know that I will dance harder and clap and scream louder than ever before, because of everything we missed due to a pandemic and for everyone that didn’t make it out the other side to see things go back to a little more normal.

The sun is starting to break through the clouds that have been so heavy and dark for the past couple of years. Breathing is getting easier and saying what I really need is getting easier too. I’m starting to trust again; not just others, but myself too. I’m starting to find my confidence and trust in it so that I can make the changes I need to make to do what is best for my family.

Nothing is every perfect, or the way you think it will be, or how you want it to be, but I think that letting go of the fear and believing in yourself and your instincts and your heart will get you a lot closer to the way you want things to be. I’m trying to take this to heart everyday and live in hope and love and not fear anymore. My daughter and boyfriend are healthy and safe and here. My daughter grows stronger and bigger every day and continues to amaze me with how far she’s come. For those of you in the beginning of a NICU stay with your new baby or the struggles that come with finally bringing them home and figuring out how their issues, no matter how small, figure into everyday life, I can tell you there is light at the end of the scary, dark, sometimes very long tunnel. My little girl is proof of that. My family has struggled and been through the worst of it, but here we are; together, stronger, and full of love. No more room for fear, no more room for doubt or anger this year. I choose a new attitude.

Two

My Sweet Luna Bell,

Today, my little girl, you are two.

At 1:33am this morning, I celebrated the 730 days you have blessed this earth with your presence. You have been a force to be reckoned with; a superhero in your own right, the recipient of so much love and adoration by your dad and I, and a joy to so many. You surprised doctors and nurses for the your first 117 days while you resided at Seattle Children’s Hospital. You became known for your feisty personality and sweet eyes and was nominated the cutest baby in the NICU by multiple nurses and all of the resident doctors that had the privilege of caring for you.

You were a challenge and a mystery right from the start. We didn’t know if you would be able to breath or not when you were born and when you couldn’t get that first breath on your own, your strong will came through in the maddest little face. You worked hard everyday to get well and get strong and grow new, healthy tissue on those little damaged, unhealthy lungs and get yourself first off the breathing tube, then the c pap and then you literally took yourself off the high flow support so many times they finally decided you were ok without it. Your voice was strong and clear and even now I say “For a kiddo who had lung issues, you’ve got quite a set of lungs!”

You finally came home with us three days short of four months old. And the joy at having you home with us was overwhelming. You required extra care, continued medication and a feeding tube, but you were home. No longer did we have to hover around your hospital crib or hold you with a dozen wires and tubes. I had told your daddy that it was my dream to hold you with my shoes off. And I finally got to live out that dream when we brought you home.

For the next few months you had some struggles, but with the help of an amazing physical therapist and doctors, we got you through the tough stuff and then one day you were one! A few months later, on a March evening you walked all by yourself for the very first time. We looked at each other and squealed! And then about two minutes later you walked to daddy. From that day on you haven’t stopped walking and running and climbing and getting into all kinds of trouble!

The strangest time of my life came when the Covid virus closed everything down. Hopes of continued visits to the library every week ended. Hopes of days at the park, the zoo and traveling to meet friends and family were stalled. And while everyone around you was desperate for anything to do, you thrived. You walked and learned to run. Your motor skills excelled and you began to eat. And then you really started to eat. Everything. Every meal. You drank from any vessel you could, sometimes with help but more so without. Finally, on August 26th you had your last feeling through your tube. And we began tracking your growth and your calories and and you no longer needed your feeding tube. It was a while before we could convince your doctors that it was time to remove the port, but today you have an appointment to see about FINALLY getting that little piece of plastic removed from your tummy once and for all.

It impossible to describe the feeling or feelings that I have when I watch you run about, so confident and busy and sweet. When you squeal and run towards me when I get home from work, it’s the best feeling in the world. You are more than a preemie baby who had such a rough time for a while. You are more than the baby with the feeding tube and the backpack. You are more than just my daughter or your daddy’s daughter. You are a whole, amazing, beautiful person all your own. You are smart and funny and kind and independent and spunky. And I couldn’t be more proud to be your mommy.

You have rocked your first two years and as you start your third, I know there are big things on the horizon for you. More exploring and learning, talking and finally settling down long enough to have your mommy or daddy read you a book. More dancing and living and meeting new family and friends (once this COVID thing is over) and hopefully still down for lots of cuddles and love.

I love you, my sweet BabyBean. I waited for you for a long time, and you have been totally worth the wait. Luna Bell, you are loved and cherished and I hope that no matter what the years bring, you always feel that love and security and have confidence in yourself. Because you are magic.

Happy Birthday my sweet Luna Bell! I love you so much. And I can’t believe you’re two.

Love, Mommy

Family First

I’ve always been fiercely loyal. Maybe it’s being a Scorpio, maybe it’s because I saw my parent’s families not being very loyal to each other and the damage that caused, or maybe I see a need for a good friend and loyalty in others and feel that I’ve met kindred spirit and I want to be that loyal, true friend.

I’ve typically been that way in romantic relationships too. In my former marriage, I had all kinds of secrets. I didn’t share the problems or struggles with others because I felt it was a betrayal of some kind of vow I may have made to keep any and all flaws hidden from public view. It was more out of fear of what others may say or how I might be judged than loyalty towards the end. And after all my trust had been betrayed, keeping those not-so-dark, but perhaps embarrassing flaws hidden wasn’t all that important. I’m trying to not be so guarded in this relationship, because I have a group of amazing friends that are there no matter what; judgement free, and ready to help a girl out.

Because I don’t have a large or very close family, MY family; the one Kevin, Luna Bell and I have created, is the most important thing in my life. We’ve been through a lot from the very beginning of Kevin’s and my relationship to today, when we have a toddler, and busy work schedules and the need to still be individuals and not just partners and parents. And from time to time, we have to deal with those in our lives who are less than helpful in our efforts to be a strong, happy family. There are those who’s selfishness and disrespect has left their mark on our relationship and caused some trying times. So how do you deal with family or “family” or friends who take advantage of a kind heart, a willingness to forgive, and continue disrespect your relationship? How do you call out those that aren’t worthy of your friendship, but you still feel a loyalty towards?

Full disclosure, I don’t have a clue.

I’m still navigating the delicate spiderweb that is family dynamics. Being part of a new family (or a few families in my case) and being the mom of a new member of that family can be difficult. There is also an age gap with Kevin and myself that puts me in the age bracket just above his oldest sister and in old-enough-to-be-her parent range of his youngest. Still I look to these amazing “sisters” as role models for how to be a good sister, wife, girlfriend, and especially mom. I’ve found a group of women who are fighters; strong and proud and always there to give a kind word, an encouraging hug and some of the best support when Luna Bell was first born and all through her fight in the NICU. This is the family that I think I always hoped for. There are also amazing older cousins to Luna Bell. Three strong, smart, active in their community and social issues young women who couldn’t be better role models to my daughter. And a young man who just turned 6 and watches over Luna Bell when they play, has always been super sweet to her since the day they met. And then the little girls. One is one year, five days older than Luna Bell and they are two peas in a pod! And a nearly one year old that Luna Bell doesn’t know what to do with yet, but will love when she can join in the running around!

Finding family or friends who can support you in the most difficult times of motherhood, or parenthood and the trials of relationships, is like finding a diamond in a sandbox. Those reassuring words that come at the best time or the recollections of when their child was your child’s age that make you feel like your kiddo is going to be ok. In a sea of negativity and judgement, these people are life rafts.

I can only hope that I am the same support to my family and friends. I try every day to be supportive, a good listener, give advise when I can and sometime just say “I’m so sorry, that sucks!” I love my family and chosen family and am loyal to the end. And luckily the family members I have become close to are amazing. I want to be open and kind, but I’m guarded with most people. Too many have mistaken an easy smile and a kind heart as willingness to be taken advantage of or have myself, my relationship or my family disrespected. I learned long ago to listen to my instincts and to hold some at arms length. As we get deep into Scorpio season; I am a Scorpio. I am fiercely loyal, quick to dismiss toxic people and I will always keep my family first.

Some Days

Some days are a little easier or harder than the others specifically when raising a child. Many times we just coast through the days, maneuvering the little bumps and twists and turns that come with the greatest of ease and drop at the end of it with a little more knowledge than we started with and a little more appreciation for the little lives we have been given charge over. Then there are days when nothing is easy. We burn the toast, we spill the coffee, we leave for work without said coffee (only to realize 10 minutes into our commute that it’s sitting on the kitchen counter…), technology at the office isn’t working, we miss lunch and end up eating a bag of chips instead, and the whole drive home with mascara goop in the corner of our eyes, a wrinkled shirt and flat hair we think of our little people at home who can’t wait to greet us when we walk in the door. That is, until they see you, run to the other parent or child care provider and refuse to to even look at you, much less smile at you or welcome you home in any way. <sigh>

You spend the evening doing laundry, picking up snacks left all over the house, giving baths and then finally it’s time for bed. Yeah right. The battle of wills between a full grown adult and a toddler at bedtime should be what they make movies about, not WWII or the fall of the Roman Empire. Those little unreasonable, diabolical, sassy faced and mouthed little ones can give even the fiercest competitor a run for their money. But when their eyes finally close and they settle in next to you and they fall asleep, they are the most beautiful little angels in the universe. We parents are hopefully able to go sleep soon after and get ready for the next day, stirring once in a while to check on our sleeping cherubs and comment on how beautiful they are.

The guilt that plagues me as a mom of a NICU survivor is not more than or stronger than that of a mom of healthy from the start kiddos. But I will argue that it is different. The moments of guilt over whether or not I did enough or too much when I was pregnant or while she was in the NICU growing healthy lung tissue so she could breath on her own. The moments of wondering if I should be working with her more or harder or smarter or whatever to get her to catch up on her development that she had missed those first four months. The moments of pure joy when she does all the things they are supposed to at their age. The realization that she HAS caught up. Yes, maybe the talking isn’t coming as quickly as it may with other kids, but that’s just the thing, no one kid follows the “guidelines” exactly to a t. And while my daughter may not be saying a lot of words yet, or sentences, I can feel her taking it all in. Absorbing language and preparing herself for a deluge of talking right around the corner. Other kids at her age may have been saying “dog, cat, cookie…” but my daughter is waiting until she’s good and ready to start a discussion about music or movies, or her family or possibly why the squirrels in the neighborhood need us to focus on climate change a little bit more. My little one is saving her language skills for the important stuff.

So, I will enjoy the few days I have left before every other sentence uttered starts with “why?” and I will enjoy the game of trying to figure out what she wants from points and squeals. I will bask in the little moments where all she needs to say is “mama” when she reaches out for a hug, all the while knowing that her brain is gathering up the courage to unleash the verbal storm that is brewing. I tell everyone that this pandemic has been brutal for everyone other than Luna Bell and it remains true. She is making such huge strides and I’m excited to share the biggest one with you in the next few weeks.

Some days, as a parent, it doesn’t feel like you are doing anything right, and then out of the blue the biggest steps get made. The sun shines brighter, colors are brighter, progress is made and and everything is right. You remember to take the coffee you made to work, you get a lunch and the toast turns out perfect. You make it home with hair still looking fresh, make up in tact and your tiny angel-chid is still napping (we won’t talk about how she woke up at 3:30am ready to play and didn’t go back to sleep until long after I went to work) and you actually get to finish the blog post you started two weeks ago! Some days you have remember and save for the rainiest, cloudiest, bullshitty-ist days. Some days.

Mom Shaming

As moms, we question ourselves about a million times a day. Did I feed then enough, are they happy, bored, sad, confused, frustrated, getting ready to poop, already pooped, wet, sleepy, mad about teeth coming in, or just mad about not being verbal or mobile enough to make it clear to the neurotic adults in charge of keeping them alive what they want?!?! Wondering if we are using the right laundry detergent or lotion or diapers could keep us up every night if we hadn’t fallen asleep in a heap next to our little ones with the mascara from three days ago still on our lashes.

When we do get some time away from our little ones, we feel guilty that we aren’t with them to tend to their every little need. Whether that means we’re going to work or to the grocery store or the occasional hair or nail appointment or the all needed, super rare drinks with the girls, there is that nagging voice telling us that we should be at home with those little ones we grew and brought into the world and love more than anything-but need a tiny break from. Sometimes the voice we hear is our own, our mother’s, a mother in law or “society”. But when that voice is the voice of another mom, someone down in the trenches, someone probably dealing with the same day to day mom issues that we are, that is some straight up bullshit.

Comparing our kids to other kids around the same age is something we tell ourselves never to do, but we end up looking at those other kids and think; that one is taller or shorter, skinnier or rounder, walking or talking more and better than my kid. That one gave up the binky easier or never used one at all, that one has better motor skills at stacking blocks or rings. That one can climb better or higher and get down more easily. This one doesn’t cry at the doctor’s and my kiddo screams the second I set her on the exam table. That one eats fruits and vegetables better and doesn’t throw food on the floor and that one is just the most chill kid ever and mine just isn’t.

It’s great having friends or family with kids around Luna Bell’s age. I love that she has relationships with her cousins and is starting to get closer to her aunts and uncles and grandparents. And I love working with ladies who have children a little older than mine. They give me ideas on how to help Luna Bell with different things and also commiserate with me when things are just tough and they reassure me that this too shall pass. And I never feel like I’m trying to compare my kids to theirs.

Then there are “the others”. Those moms who, no matter their own age or the age of their kids, think that they have it all locked in. Those moms that have no filter when they’re pregnant and tell their horror stories to all first time moms and walk away leaving a panicked, sometimes crying pregnant woman in their wake. The moms ask a million invasive and rude questions about your pregnancy and then say “we’ll when I was pregnant…” or “my doctor says…” and “if you were younger/older or healthier or fatter or skinnier or taller or smaller, you wouldn’t have this or that problem or issue.” These are the moms that then question everything you do as a mom; “when is she going to sit up? When is he going to talk? Ya know, if you get her to give up the binky she’ll talk more. My child loves fruits and vegetables, you just have to keep trying. Is there something wrong with her, she doesn’t seem as advanced as my child. She should really try XYZ with him, that would help his become a nuclear physicist by the time he’s 10.”

To these nosy, intrusive, rude, clueless women-thanks, but no thanks. Your words of “concern” fall like lead balloons. They are hurtful and cause needless concern on the behalf of the mother you direct these comments to. Hearing someone ask if there is something wrong with a child because they aren’t doing everything exactly like their perfect little angel, is well anger inducing. It’s those comments that stand out above the “they are so cute or sweet or dress so stylish for a one year old” a year later when you aren’t sure if your child is doing all the things they should be.

In my previous post, I wrote about Luna Bell catching up. And by the time she was 15 months she had caught up on everything except eating (more on that later) and her physical therapist continually reminds me that she is on her own path and there is so much happening at that age that sometimes one thing or another has to take a back seat to something major happening. And guess what? Every kid is different. They all learn to walk and talk and do all the major things in their own time, but they learn them. And when they do, you can throw that video on Facebook and Instagram and tag that obnoxious mom and say “see?! My kid is also doing the thing that your kid is doing, and looks a hell of a lot cuter than yours does!”

Okay, maybe not. Maybe don’t tag them that is, but know that your kid definitely is looking waaay cuter than theirs! If you know they will see the post, you can revel in the joy that they will see your beautiful, perfect child doing that thing and that there is nothing wrong with your child like they speculated with all the expertise of a truck stop clinician.

To claim that this post wasn’t inspired by someone specific, would make me liar. And I’m sure all moms and dads reading this have one or two people in their lives who make derogatory comments about their children or assumptions about their development or health. I’m still working out what the best response to these people is. If anyone has any advise I welcome it! Or if you would just like to share your stories, this is a safe place to do so! Just remember, no mom shaming.

Catch Up

Life with a baby is never slow. There is something new ever yday; a new face made, a new sound, a new movement and a new aspect of their little personality that shines through. When a little baby is playing catch up after four months in the hospital, the seemingly small things to most parents are HUGE, monumental moments for NICU survivor parents. And our girl was no exception to this fact. A couple of months after she came home she began spitting up a lot. From one or two times a day to at the worst nine or ten times a day. We had her checked out by the GI doctor, her pediatrician, her pulmonologist and nutritionist. No one could come up with an answer to why she was doing this. It made going anywhere a struggle-packing extra burp cloths and wipes and outfits-and the poor little thing was miserable. It broke my heart and it kept us on edge all the time.

One of the absolute blessings of having a NICU survivor baby, was the support we received in the form of weekly, in home, Physical Therapy sessions. It was Luna Bell’s physical therapist that figured out what might be going on. When babies are born their ribcage is more box shaped, and over time and movement their ribs spread out to the shape we are familiar with. In doing so, the esophageal sphincter sets into place. Because Luna Bell had been so restricted in her movement, her ribs had not spread correctly yet. So, over a few months, Kevin did daily exercises with Luna Bell and her ribs finally spread out to their correct placement and the spitting up went from 10 times a day to zero times a day! Because she was not feeling great all these months, she basically refused to do anything we asked or encouraged her to do. Once she felt better though, we had a lot to catch up on, and she knew it, but she also has her own way of doing things! We worked with her on learning to sit up and lay down on her own, and after a few minutes of work, she was totally uninterested and had a very “let’s move on mom and dad” attitude. It was during this period that I learned something new about my little girl…She is sneaky!! During the day, while I was work, I would peek in on the monitor to see my little girl. I loved seeing her play with her little toys and hear her baby babble. And then, out of nowhere, she sat up. WHAT?!?!?! Ok, it was a new skill, not perfect movement, but she did it! About five minutes later she laid down on her own without just falling back, and then sat up again. My little girl was showing how like some she is; practicing things while no one watches until the skill is pretty good and then allowing others to watch. I was like that with piano and singing and writing and all the way back to riding a bike. I made my dad teach me during a rare day off in the middle of the week while the big kids in the neighborhood were at school so that they wouldn’t see me fail and fall a million times. And then I would practice while they were at school for the rest of the week until I could ride without falling, I could just miraculously ride a bike!

Luna Bell became determined to do all the things her body knew it should and could be doing. It was amazing to watch all the little things she was learning so quickly. As we neared her first birthday Luna bell had a few PT sessions centered around crawling, she was doing a modified army crawl, which pulled on her feeding tube site in her belly. Finally we did a session in front of the mirrors that are on our bedroom closet doors. She was doing what we asked as far as getting into a better position for crawling. We held her interest for a little while and then she was done. Later that evening she and I were playing in the living room and she saw a box in the kitchen. She got on all fours, lifted up her belly and proceeded to crawl the length of the living room and into the kitchen where she played with the box. I immediately praised her as tears welled up in my eyes. I sat stunned that my little baby had actually crawled. When Kevin came home I hit him with the amazing news and a few minutes later, she did it again. This time I was ready with my phone to preserve the moment with a video. It was like the sun had come out and all I could see was blue sky. Our little girl who had been forced to delay everything that should have come naturally in those first four months, was finally doing all the things we had asked her to at least try. She was definitely winning the game of catch up.

Mother’s Day

My “first” Mother’s Day, I found out that I was pregnant with Luna Bell. My first official Mother’s Day, I finally had my nearly 6 month old baby home from the hospital with me, and I still couldn’t believe that I was actually this beautiful girl’s mommy. I was filled with fear and the overwhelming feeling that it was going to take everything she and I had to get through her first year.

Fast forward to this, my second Mother’s Day. It was everything I could have hoped for. My daughter had been home for over a year, she was healthy and strong and was meeting all of her goals and those milestones that each child is supposed to meet. She had been walking for about two months and was now pretty much running. Her smile and laugh lights up a room and her energy is boundless. She keeps us running all day long until she finally allows us all to pass out each night.

Kevin and I have been through a lot in this past year. Navigating how to be partners and parents and keep some kind of balance. To be honest, we haven’t always we done a great job. Dealing with postpartum depression or panic and the hormonal roller coaster after bringing Luna Bell home did not give me a solid platform on which on make relationship decisions and I didn’t always voice my needs in the most productive way. I reached out to friends for advise and every single parent told me that the first year of their child’s life was the toughest year on their relationship or marriage. And they all prefaced that by saying they had healthy children that did not spend four months in the hospital and they couldn’t imagine how difficult that was on us as individuals and a couple.

Somehow, over the past year and even the week leading up to Mother’s Day, we had made the choice to stay together and to do something every day that gave one a reason to choose the other at the end of every day. And that is what we continue to do today.

I need to say that there is no one but Kevin I could imagine having a child with, going through the past 18 + months with, raising a child with or loving. There is a reason why it took me until I was 44 to get pregnant. There is no one else that I could love more, there is no one that could love or take care of me better, and there is no one that could love my daughter the way Kevin does. The way my little girl looks at her daddy is a constant reminder of why my life has taken the path it has and why I found Kevin along the way. His determination to help me raise Luna Bell to be confident and strong and kind and wise is something I am grateful for every day.

I learned a valuable lesson right before Mother’s Day. I learned that not only do I have the most incredible man in my life, I also have the most incredible friends. It is not my instinct to lean on my friends for support, but in a moment of need, I reached out to one of my friends who gave me the support I needed and a listening ear. He asked if I had reached out to anyone else in our close friend circle (I had not) and reminded me that they love me and are there for me. After a few days, he did the most incredible thing: he called a mandatory Zoom meeting (we’re all in different areas and we’re in the middle of a pandemic) of our group of friends. So on a Saturday morning, we showed up from our individual homes in various states of quarantine attire and hair styles and I poured out my heart. The tears that we shared, the love that was heaped upon me and the promises of “I will be there in 2 hours if you need me” were what I had needed for over a year and been too afraid to ask for. I felt relief and love and support and ready to fight another day. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for these friends that are really more like family, how much I love them and how thankful I am to my sweet friend for calling a mandatory meeting and giving me an opportunity to be vulnerable and ask for help. I hope that if someone is reading this and you need support or help for just a listening ear, that you will reach out to a friend.

I began this post nearly three months ago now. I believe that a little girl waking up from her nap is what stopped the writing and working non-stop and a little girl who moves non-stop kept my laptop and writing at bay. Over these past weeks, my relationship with Kevin keeps getting stronger, as does our little girl. I know that I’m going to make mistakes as a mother, but I think that just acknowledging that already makes me a pretty good one. There is so much of our story to catch you up on, so stay tuned for the next post! And a VERY belated Mother’s Day to all you mom’s out there!