Looking Back

Tonight was our last night to visit the hospital, as tomorrow we will be bringing Tayden home.  I will admit that I got a bit emotional as we left and said goodbye to many people that have helped us throughout our two month stay in the NICU.  These past two months have been wonderful and extremely hard all at the same time.  I have learned some very important lessons through our experience and the experiences of close friends that I have known for years and new friends that we have met over the past few weeks.  As hard as these lessons have been to endure, they are part of our journey and have shaped who we are and all that we hold dear.
Getting preganant is not always easy and does not always happen when or how you plan for it to.
Not all pregnancies produce healthy, living babies, but this doesn't make your experience any less real, and part of yourself is forever lost from that day forward.
Seeing owl eyes on a sonogram usually means you are pregnant with twins.
Not all pregnancies last 40 weeks.
A 3 pound baby can steal your heart just as much as a 6 pound baby.
There is always a situation better than yours and one that is worse.
Your dream delivery does not always go as planned and it is okay to be sad about that.
You don't always get to hold your baby as soon as they are born, it may be a week later or even a month later.  Touching their feeble little fingers may be as close as you get for awhile.
Not all women choose to breastfeed, and some that want to can't.
You don't always get to take your baby home with you when you leave the hospital.
Sometimes you must trust your most precious treasures to perfect strangers and in the process they become your lifelong friends.
Nurses and doctors are heroes.
Eating from a bottle is worthy of a celebration.
Having your child hooked up to monitors can be reassuring.
Driving an hour roundtrip every day for two months is completely worth the hour you get to spend holding your precious child.
Getting pregnant and remaining pregnant until term is truly a miracle.
You love your husband more than you thought possible after having his child.
You admire your husband for remaining strong when things get hard, and you comfort him when he cries in moments of weakness.
Becoming a mom gives you a whole new respect for your own mother.
Your parents don't always live to see their grandbabies.
God is very much real, in control, and He performs miracles daily.
Life is precious.
No matter what - if your experience is terrible or absolutely wonderful, your life will never be the same again.