Fifteen years ago today, my life changed forever. My beautiful daughter Cailyn was born and I finally became a Mom… someone I had wanted to be since I was 5 years old.
In hindsight, the exceptionality of my pregnancy might have been foreshadowing for what has certainly been an exceptional 15 years. The last 6 weeks of my pregnancy with Cailyn were spent in a hospital. I had placenta previa and both Cailyn and I were at risk. At the time, I would never have guessed that it wouldn’t be the longest amount of time I would spend in a hospital with Cailyn! She was in Special Care for the first 8 days of her life, most likely as a result of her being delivered by C-section a little more than 3 weeks early. I got to take her home on the Friday afternoon leading into Thanksgiving! How wonderful was that!
I sure didn’t anticipate just how intense our roller-coaster ride would be… the “downs” certainly make the “ups” more precious, and the “ups” give us an emotional lift that helps us cope with the “downs”. There are so many moments over the last 12 years that I have felt pushed to the edge of my ability to cope. Thankfully, I only need to observe the way Cailyn copes with everything in her life to be inspired to keep going!
Cailyn – You are truly a gift and you navigate your tumultuous journey with such grace. It’s not just your health journey that is miraculous… it is your amazing spirit. We love and admire you!