I always knew that I want to be a mom.
I was lucky enough to grow up with two sisters and understood how important siblings are.
After we got married, we waited a little bit of time before deciding that we wanted to begin our family and our journey to becoming parents.
It was certainly not an easy one from the beginning. After some time, we were excited to find out that we were expecting a little baby girl.
When you find out you’re expecting, you start thinking about all the hopes and dreams you have for your unborn child, and I was no exception.
However, when your child suffers a hypoxic event, all of those hopes and dreams that you have become less important. You’re in a battle for mere survival.
We heard lots of wait-and-sees and our first year of parenting was less ideal than what I had imagined. By the second year I was ready to begin healing and I knew that involved taking a leap to become a mother again.
Certainly I had dreamed of having more than one child, but the thought of going through what we had experienced the first time around was almost enough to stop growing our young family.
However, because of Hope for HIE I knew that when I was ready to take that leap I would have an army of mothers behind me. Brave and strong women who stood in my shoes, who have experienced my trauma, and triumphed over adversity.
Emma came to us in April and while this new life is hard, it is also incredibly beautiful.
Hannah has proven to be a tremendous big sister and I know they will have a lot to teach each other.
We hope to raise Emma to value individual differences, to be sympathetic to somebody who needs a helping hand, to value each other’s abilities, and to love unconditionally.
We know that when we’re no longer here she will be there to support and love Hannah in a way that nobody but a sibling can do.
Having two kids is a lot work, but I couldn’t imagine our life any other way.
I’m so grateful for the love that we get to give to both of our children and I’m excited to see who they become as individuals and as a team.
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