Happy Due Date, Olivia!

As I think about Olivia's due date, it makes me full of all kinds of emotions. Happy that we have a healthy, beautiful almost 12 week old daughter with us already.  But also sad about the pregnancy I missed out on, sad about not being able to provide our daughter the safety of my womb to protect her. Sad that our first days and weeks with her were spent behind a plastic box.  Sad that for many friends, it will be months before they ever get to meet our sweet girl.

When we became pregnant, I was nervous for delivery, but no amount of anxiety could ever have prepared me for the traumatic way we would welcome our first child into this world.  You picture, the pains of childbirth coupled with the beauty of holding your sweet girl in your arms.  There was no way I could have imagined that after giving birth, it would be 26 hours before I would even see my child for the first time.  It would be 2 days before I would hold her for the first time, 4 weeks before I would change her first diaper, it would be 6 weeks before I would be able to nurse her for the first time (this is one we are still working on to this day), and 9 weeks before we would get to bring her home with us.

There is so much beauty in the road we have walked, trusting complete strangers to care for your most precious gift and then having those complete strangers become a family you did not know you needed.  Having people that we don't even know praying for us and our family.  Having such beautiful gifts, meals, and cards sent to us in all forms of support!  Just knowing we having an amazing community of support is so beautiful.  When I went to my 6 week follow up appointment with my OBGYN, she had seen me day after day in the hospital and she asked me how I was doing.  I said I was doing as well as can be expected given the circumstances.  And she said without hesitation, I do not worry to much about you cause it is clear you have a great support system.  What an amazing truth--We absolutely do!

So as hard as it is to believe, I should be preparing for childbirth rather than snuggling my 13-days-shy-of-3-monther in my arms while I type this, I think Marc and I both agree that Ms. Olivia came into the world in the exact way she was supposed to and we are so thankful that God has blessed us with this beautiful miracle baby!


Thanks for following this journey with us, from here:

to here: 

And here:

To here:

 This week we are celebrating her birthday with a follow up eye exam, doctor's visit, and cardiologist visit.  If you would be so inclined, please pray with us that:

1. Olivia's eye and retina would nave no linger effects of her premature birth,

2. That her weight gain will be good enough that she can come off the calorie rich formula that we give her twice a day, but also cause her to have gas pains, and that she would be able to just have breast milk going forward.

3. That the shadow near her heart has shown some decrease in size and/or would totally be absorbed by her body by now.