A year with our Miracle!

Spud turns one on May 8th, and honestly, I have a lot of emotions surrounding this day. This time last year we were terrified that Michael had a deadly illness and feared a different life that I was not ready to come to grips with.

Having a chronic health condition, I know the toll it takes on a family. The benefit of having a chronic illness is that I can advocate for myself and verbally explain what is wrong. When your infant is the one who is faced with illness, you have to truly understand everything about your child to become their voice, and I wasn't sure if my voice was strong enough. I was filled with fear and doubt, at a time when I should have been filled with excitement. Not to mention, our relationship with our surrogate was rocky, so all communication ceased. None of this is what I imagined my step into motherhood would look like.

Luckily, Michael was born just after 3:30 pm on Saturday, May 8, 2021, screaming at the top of his lungs. Happy and healthy. We spent 15 days in the NICU teaching him how to eat on his own (a skill that he has taken full advantage of.)

Looking back, those feelings were real, and my thought of how I would have to handle a child with an illness prepared me to become his advocate every day, even if it just means telling his dad he wants cheese and not milk. :-)

It’s now hard to imagine our life without Michael and the joy, frustration, and curiosity he brings to our family. We have gone on many adventures already, laughed more than we should, second-guessed all of our parenting choices, and learned to love differently. We are so grateful for a world full of medical advances that let’s us have these moments as a family.