Are we ready for this again? Can we do this financially?
Really, Lord?
Oh, My gosh! Another Baby!
My heart is so full! I'm freaking out!
What the holy heck are we going to do?
Well... Eden has been wanting a bunk bed... good timing, eh?
{just rest. just breath.}
{Choose. Joy.}
1st Doctor Appointment:
7 weeks.
The plan. Lots of monitoring later on.
Going to play if safe.
Another Subchorionic Hemorrhage.
What if something happens? Should we even get excited?
This is really happening!
There's really a baby in there.
Oh, My gosh! Our Baby! When should we schedule our appointments? Will insurance cover everything?
{just rest. just breath.}
{Choose. Joy}
An Unsettling Feeling:
10 Weeks
I feel good. Shouldn't I feel sick?! What if something's wrong?
I should call the doctor! I'm not spotting.
I'm not cramping.
Just be happy I'm feeling okay. Oohhh... maybe this means it's a boy?! This baby is going to be such an adventure!
Share news with friends and family! Yay!
{Resting. Breathing}
{Joy.}
A Queasy Feeling:
11 weeks. I don't feel so good! What if something is wrong?! That's silly... I'm SUPPOSED to feel sick, duh! Oy. This headache is rough! People are excited for this baby! I can't wait to make sure everything is okay. I just want this baby to be well.
I don't want to lose another baby. We're going to be fine.
{just rest. just breath.}
A Dreadful Feeling: 11 Weeks 4 days. Midnight... Uhg. Gotta Pee. Hey! That's a good thing!
Wait, what's that?
Spotting.
Oh no! This can't be happening.
Just calm down. Call the doctor. It's fine.
Probably just the SCH.
Text a few friends. Please Pray. Why isn't the doctor calling back?!
Just try to sleep. 6am. No more spotting. Phew! False alarm. Well... call the doctor again... just in case... Everything's going to be okay. Going in soon to check on this sweet baby.
7am. Gotta Pee... Oh no... that's a lot. No! This can't be happening. Call again. Going in NOW.
9am. Waiting. Of course. Don't they know I'm FREAKING out?! COME ON! Here we go. Ultrasound. "I'm going to go talk with the physician..." No!!! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... No, Lord. Not this! Not Now. I knew it. I shouldn't have gotten excited about this.
I'm so stupid.
"Hi Jess... I'm so sorry..." Don't. Just don't say anymore! "Missed Miscarriage" I can't breath.
"You have options" I want to get out of here. "We can go about this anyway you'd like..." Shit. Shit. Shit.
{just. rest. just. breath.}
{joy. ha.}
A Painful Feeling: 1:30pm. Administer medication. I really just have to sit here and wait. They're just going to take my baby away. I should really go get a concealed weapon permit for my uterus... It's time. This sucks. It sucks. It sucks. It sucks. It sucks. Ow. Wait... the pain meds really aren't working that well... This really freaking hurts. "It's taking a bit more effort than we expected..." Oh Great! No Big. Just my lady bits you're jacking up. "Okay, we're all done." Woah... I feel weird.
A Fuzzy Feeling: 4:00... maybe? Basically I don't remember anything after I wheeled out of the procedure room. I think they said I can't drive... I gotta call my boss. "Check up in two weeks." "Should have a pathology report..." Where am I?
Man It is cold. Oh, there's Eden. My sweet girl. Wait, Who has Lydia? Where is she?! She hasn't nursed all day! My poor girl! Ahhh... my bed. I gotta pee... When did I get home?!
Oh... yeah. I just had a miscarriage... Shit.
My baby is gone. Another one.
2 for 4.
I have to tell everyone we sent Christmas cards to. Merry frickin' Christmas...
Wait, I already did?
I'm hungry.
Food sounds disgusting.
Why is this happening?! Why this, Lord?
Why now?
What good can come from this?!
{just. rest. just. breath.}
{you can be sad.}
{but choose joy.}
I feel so peaceful. Ugh. My body hurts. How long is this part going to last?
Just more reminders, I guess. I have a lot of work to get done! I know they said not to worry about it... But I really should get it done. I mean... I'm fine. Ow... maybe not. Ugh... This sucks.
{just rest. just breath.}
There's not rhyme or reason to what has gone through my head in the last two months. I truly couldn't explain better than all that ^^^ garbage jumbled up and barfed out. But through all of this... the Lord has given me a strange peace. I almost feel stupid. I feel confused. Sometimes I've found my self forgetting that I'm not pregnant anymore...
{I know it's only been 2 days} But it's been the longest week.
Anxiety truly took the best of me and it stole so. much. joy.
I feared so much for the 7 short weeks that I knew I was pregnant. Why? Why do we let that happen? I wasted so much time I could have spent enjoying the life growing inside of me on worthless worry that got me what? Another baby I'll never get to hold. So I'm sure you're asking... "Why joy?!"
Believe me... I ask the same thing... a lot!
Joy, not to be confused with happiness, is really a great relief to ones sorrow. To be truly joyful, we find delight. To find delight, we seek something that will fully satisfy us. For some, satisfaction comes in wealth, addiction, materialism... For me, I've found my delight in resting in the Lord. I know many people call me crazy. But when you've been carried through hell and back again by the Jesus that I know... There is no doubt. When your greatest, deepest fears are made real
and you can lift your heavy, weary head to breath life, still...
My Hope is in the Lord. My Delight is in the Lord.
It doesn't make sense.
It doesn't have to.
It doesn't make the present hurt any less... But it does bring
{joy} {delight} {true, complete, satisfaction}
I can't get time back. I can't bring back the babies I've lost.
But I can look on with hope
to a time where there will be no more tears.
No more pain. No more anxiety.
No more worry.
A time where I will know my babies in the fullness that God intended them.
I will come along side them and rejoice in the goodness of our God.
And for that hope...
I must
{choose. joy}
Psalm 84:10... Better is one day in your courts, than a thousand elsewhere...
boasted the title "Kim K's Butt Inspired So Many Meme's"
Uhhhmmm... {ew.}
I didn't click on it because I really could care less about
a photoshopped toosh on a woman
who clearly has no respect for herself, her husband, or her children.
{yeah... gloves are off.}
We live in a society where women yell and scream
that they're mistreated.
We live in a society where dress codes are "unfair".
We live in a society where women pose "tastefully nude" to show
that all women are sexy no matter their shape or size.
We live a society where rape is an EPIDEMIC.
We live in a society where {male OR female} people just can't
seem to control themselves and their sexual appetite and it's seen as an illness.
We live in a society where young women STARVE themselves to be accepted and loved.
YET...
We applaud, publicize, and CHEER
for a woman who gets all kinds of greased up
and shows off her uncomfortably un-proportionate
rear end.
We make humor of it even.
Her HUSBAND
has the audacity to tweet
"All Day"
in response to his wife's exposed to the word butt!
Uhm...
{What?!}
We then wonder why young people seem so unsettled in marriage once "reality" sets in.
No guys, sorry... your wife probably doesn't have a booty the size of two pro-level basket balls. No girls, sorry... your husband probably doesn't have a 12 pack hiding under his shirt.
We need to understand that our over sexed culture has taught us ONE thing...
"If what you have isn't "enough" get something better to satisfy you"
I'm embarrassed to be a human some days. Today... I'm embarrassed to share a genetic make up with Kim. K.
If being a mother to two girls has taught me ONE thing it's that
I want them to live with dignity.
Their bodies are precious.
Their bodies are to be protected.
Their bodies are perfectly made.
Their bodies need NO approval from anyone.
The moment we stop looking at people like Kim K.
as role models and rather see them for what they are...
People. Struggling.
We will begin to see reality more clearly.
We will have expectations that aren't un-reachable.
We will appreciate what is before us and truly love ourselves and one another.
The moment we refuse to accept complete and utter depravity
as an effort to "embrace beauty"
is the moment we'll see true beauty.
The moment we stop letting the internet teach our children what love is...
The moment we stop letting the internet teach our children what sex is...
The moment we STOP LETTING THE INTERNET TEACH OUR CHILDREN...
Then.
And ONLY then.
Will we see a change in our society.
Until then...
greased up buns win
and
our children get thrown into the vicious cycle
that is pop culture.
The world that says...
Unless you have lots of money, a "perfect" body, and you're willing to show it off...
Since I was told my 34 week old, unborn baby had died.
Many will say
{have said}
Two Years is
{enough}
Enough?
Will it ever really be enough?
A lot has happened in the two years since Daphne was born.
She has a new little sister.
I think she would have loved Lydia.
Some days I play with Eden and Lydia and wonder what it would be like to have Daphne here too.
Some days I feel guilty for enjoying the girls.
Some days I feel guilty for missing Daphne when I have such blessings in Eden and Lydia.
Some days...
Well... some days I am just angry.
I'm sad.
I feel empty.
I feel joyful.
I feel peace.
I feel like nothing could possibly make me feel better.
I feel like a crazy person for still feeling all these things...
The funny thing about grief
{or not so funny thing...}
is that you just can't predict it.
Suddenly out of nowhere the wind is knocked out of me,
I feel like I can't stand,
and I want to run away from all human contact and hide indefinitely.
In the two years since we learned that Daphne's heart had stopped,
I've learned amazing lessons.
I've experienced great adventures.
I've learned that a mamma's heart never stops growing and never stops loving.
I still re-live the moment she was born frequently.
Sometimes I dwell on our short time with her.
Sometimes a smell (usually of cinnamon) will remind me.
Sometimes it's the news of a friend that has experienced the loss of a child
that brings me back to that moment.
It's just something that can't be
un-seen
un-felt
or
un-remembered.
Two years and I can still give you every last detail of her.
No, it's not
{enough}
Yes, life goes on
and the world around me changes.
New seeds root to the Earth
and new flowers bloom.
The seasons change. Tears get fewer and farther between.
But it's never
{enough}
time to be
{all better}.
Just as there could never have been enough time in the world
to spend with her and breathe her in,
there will never be enough time that passes.
But one thing in all of this terrible, beautiful journey that is
{enough}
is the infinite, enduring, healing
love of our God.
That Love.
It's why I can wake up each morning and breath again.
It's why I can smile through the grief and pain.
It's what gives me deep resounding peace.
That Love
is what gave Daphne to me in the first place.
That Love
is what is surrounding her now.
That Love
is how my life goes on.
And most importantly...
That Love
is how her life goes on.
Two Years.
Twenty Two Years.
Seventy Two Years.
Will never be
{enough}
But trusting the love that God has poured out over us
through all of those times
will always be enough.
Happy 2nd Birthday
my Sweet Daphne Grace.
I wish I could see you waddling around Heaven with your head full of curly black hair.
You are loved sweet baby.
You are missed deeply and terribly.
And while I still don't want to accept it,
You are right where you need to be.
** I have decided to share one photo of our girl. Nobody apart from our family has ever seen her face and I feel like now my heart is ready to share her. I'm sorry if you're offended or upset by the photo.**
If you have found yourself on the journey of pregnancy or infant loss, I encourage you to join this blog. A community of families that know the journey well.