A TOUCHING LOVE STORY
Greetings. Well I started my day today wiping away tears after reading a touching love story. It wasn’t the kind of love story you’d expect because it was written by a father about the baby he lost shortly after its very premature birth. The story was written by Bjork, one half of the wildly successful husband and wife blogging team from Pinch of Yum.
I’ve been following Pinch of Yum for years because Lindsay, the other half of the blogging duo, writes great recipes, and also because they are both very generous in sharing their blogging expertise with other aspiring bloggers. In the past few months they have also been sharing posts about Lindsay’s pregnancy. So to learn that they tragically lost their baby at 23 weeks gestation was absolutely heart wrenching.
Reading Bjork’s words made me reflect on how fortunate I am to have successfully brought into the world 3 healthy sons.
A favorite photo of me with my 3 sons and step son far left
Bjork’s words also brought back a flood of memories about my 1st pregnancy and the premature delivery of my oldest son, Nathan. Not unlike Lindsay’s experience, at 20 weeks my obstetrician informed me that I was fully effaced and in danger of having my baby 4 months early. He put me on complete bed rest and miraculously I managed to sustain the pregnancy until Nathan eventually arrived 1 month too early via emergency C-Section.
My precious baby was unresponsive at birth and required resuscitation which got him breathing. He was whisked into the NICU so quickly that I wasn’t given an opportunity to see or touch him. The first time I saw my baby was via the polaroid picture you see below that a nurse brought to me in the recovery room. The following day they rolled my bed into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit so I could actually touch him for the first time a day after he was born. It was pure agony knowing I had a sick baby down the hall but I couldn’t be with him. Those were the longest hours of my life. Thankfully Nathan was a large baby, 7 pounds at 8 months which contributed to his rapid recovery and development outside the womb. The doctors said they would not have known he was a preemie if not for the lanugo (fine hair that is normally shed before birth) covering his body. Had he gone to term he would have been huge!
In Bjork’s touching love story he writes that his experience has given him and Lindsay, “a profound appreciation for the meaning of family.” I think that in digesting his story the thing that touched me most was the reminder of how fleeting life can be and the realization that, there but for the grace of god go I. How easy would it have been for me to have lost my baby just as Lindsay did had I not so fortuitously gone to the doctor when I did and discovered my condition in time.
I’ve been reflecting all morning about how much my family means to me and how lucky I am that my first born son survived and thrived despite coming into this world too early. I can’t begin to imagine how different my life would be today had I not had him in my life. He and his wife have since brought 2 more precious babies into our family.
Those of you who are lucky enough to be grandparents know the special joy that grandchildren bring to a family.
Honestly it seems like yesterday that I was having my own babies. How is it that I am now a grandmother? In fact, it was nearly 4 years ago that I became a grandmother upon the birth of this little angel baby. I love how she is hugging her daddy in the photo below. In fact, I wrote her this love letter on the occasion of her 1st birthday.
And now as my little grandson is about to turn 3 I started looking at photos of his father at that age. That’s Nathan on the left at age 3, looking a good deal like his son at the same age. Funny how life repeats itself.
I can’t begin to imagine what it would feel like to walk in the shoes of Lindsay & Bjork right now. I can only thank them for sharing a touching love story that was a moving reminder of how important love and life and family are. I wish them peace.
So there you have it: A TOUCHING LOVE STORY
Thanks so much for dropping in!
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All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Unless otherwise credited, all photos are the original property of Celia Becker @ www.AfterOrangeCounty.com and may not be reproduced without specific permission.
