Grateful for life's blessings

My little Giraffe!

This is the first time that I have shown this photo. This was taken right after his surgery.

I came across a woman's blog earlier this evening and cannot get her or her family out of my head. She was pregnant with twins and due to give birth in February. One of her twin's sacs ruptured and the baby died. The other baby was born at just over 1 lb. and is currently in the NICU in Temple. The woman said that they will be there until February.

I was in tears after reading her blog- she set it up so that family and friends can be updated. I cannot imagine how she is feeling/what she is going through. As I write this, I think back when Eli was at TCH and how difficult it was to be there. Luckily, I cannot remember too much- only certain little bits now because it was half a year ago. The 3 weeks spent there seemed like an eternity.

However, I met some AMAZING mothers there. As alone as I felt sometimes, I truly wasn't. One woman had twins-don't remember why they were there- and she had been there for 13 weeks. Another mother knew about her child's heart problem months before the baby was born. The doctors wouldn't perform surgery until the baby was 4 months old. She was terrified for 4 straight months AND they have to go back for more surgeries. Her little girl's name was Mercedes and she was Eli's roommate ( yes, he has already shared a room with a girl!) We were able to cry together and be there for each other when doctors would come in and do different tests on them. They even went home on the same day!

Hearing this woman's story reminds me that my family is truly blessed. Eli may not need any more surgeries, he is happy, and healthy! I get so caught up with life that I forget life's little blessings every day. Her and her little girls are in my thoughts and prayers.

She wrote this about the passing of her first daughter:

Kaiya will always be our first little girl. We miss her terribly and I wish I could say it gets easier by the day, it doesn't. It's still hard to believe my little girl is gone but I like to think she did what was best allowing us to save her sister. I know this was all in God's plan but that doesn't make it easier for me or Eric to deal with this fact.

A quote from her blog:

To you, Lord, I give my precious little girl. Please keep her close. I will forever miss her."

"Kaiya, I love you and always will. You will never be forgotten. You will always be our first little girl. Watch over your sister always, I know she will always have a part of you in her. I miss you Kaiya."