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SUGAR AND SPICE

Jackie G

May 2013

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HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

May 09, 2010 03:23am (EST)

Soooooo... Tomorrow morning is Mother's Day and my kids have told me that they will be waking up early to give me my presents and then they will go back to sleep. (One present is a surprise and the other involves a 4 year old screaming "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY" at the top of his lungs

Guess which one I won't be thrilled with at 6:30 tomorrow morning? )

Very tough call for me.... I *desperately* want to sleep in tomorrow but I know how excited they are and I don't want to dissapoint them. The problem is that I am a light sleeper so once I'm awake it's very hard for me to go back to sleep. Especially if I am woken by a little boy screaming in my ear.

It's been a long couple of weeks with DH traveling a lot for work and then Kimmie hasn't been feeling great. She's been coughing a lot and not sleeping well. Not to mention she woke up early this morning and I took her downstairs so my hubby could sleep in. So I want my sleep.

Horrible, I know, but I want to be selfish, and I feel like on Mother's Day I should be able to be selfish. I have tried to convince the kids that no matter what time they get up (which will be no later than 8:00 am guaranteed) I will still be in bed. But they have made it their mission to get up early and then go back to sleep. I'm crossing my fingers that my husband hears them first and intervenes.... but I'll keep you posted!

Of course, after all this grumbling I come back to Share and it puts so many things in perspective for me. There are so many of you who would like nothing better than to be woken up by your child, and here I am grumbling about it.

Being a mom is tough, no doubt about it. But being a mom to an angel has to be the toughest job around. I can't even imagine it. Heck, I don't want to imagine it. I don't want there to be moms who are missing their babies. I don't want there to be moms with empty arms. I want every mom to be able to hug their child before bed and to whisper in their ears. And I want *every* mom to know that they are loved on Mother's Day, because you are. Not only by your angels, your children, and your families, but by me as well. You are all an inspiration and I am honored to know you.

I hope that, while I am rolling over, cursing under my breath, and trying to fall back asleep tomorrow morning, some of you are being woken up by a bright ray of sunshine through your window that just screams "HAPPY MOTHERS DAY, MOM!"

Hugs to you all! -Jackie

Posted by Jackie G | Comments: (2) | Permalink

I KNOW, I KNOW... IT'S ABOUT TIME

May 07, 2010 05:48pm (EST)

OK, so this is kind of pathetic... I've been a Share member for over 5 years and I am just NOW making a blog. (Sheesh - welcome to the 21st century, huh?

)

I guess I've been holding off because, to be honest, I am pretty intimidated by the rest of you. You are all so eloquent and have such thoughtful and amazing things to say. Not sure I'll be able to keep up with the rest of you, but I'll try.

Have you heard of the Infinite Monkey Theorem? You know, the one where you give a million monkeys a typewriter and at some point they will eventually type the entire works of Shakespere? I'm pretty sure if you gave 10 monkeys a computer they would write a better blog then me in less than a week.

So don't expect too much, you might be disappointed.

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Anyway, I guess the best way to kick this thing off is to let those of you who don't know me already, find out a little more about me.

I came to Share right before my daughter, Kimberly, turned 1. She has made such an impact in my life and, although I never would have wanted the whole preemie experience, at this point, I can't imagine my life without it. Kimmie was born at 25 weeks and weighed 1 lb 15 oz. The drs still aren't sure what happened because by the time I got to the hospital I was already dilated and contracting so they can't tell me which happened first. (Which that leads us into that whole "chicken vs egg" argument.) I was out of town visiting my parents for Christmas when she was born so we were stuck 2 hours from home for the first 6 weeks of her life. Eventually she was moved to a hospital closer to our house for 7 more weeks. Like many preemies Kimmie battled anemia, bradys, and ROP before she finally got to come home. Since then she's been great. Very few healthy issues other than occasional wheezing when she catches a cold. And, man, is she a sweet little girl!

She is so nice and kind to everyone and is very smart. She's the teacher's pet in Kindergarten and just loves school. She's my "Sugar". She can throw one heck of a tantrum, but I try to remember it's that will power that got her where she is today.

Then two years later, Matthew came along. He was my "healing" baby. The one that was supposed to wipe away all the things that happened with Kimberly. And he kind of did. The pregnancy was actually very easy. I was given a cerclage and 17P shots to combat the IC or PTL issues they believed I had. I also had Fetal Fibronectin testing done every two weeks and without it I think I might have wound up in a padded room somewhere. While the pregnancy itself was easy, the stress was not. I remember being in constant fear that something was wrong and just wishing there was a way to be able to put a window in my uterus and see what was going on in there. Luckily things continued to go well and at 38.5 weeks I was induced and Matthew arrived at 7 lbs 13.5 oz, healthy, and full term. He's 4 now and although I consider him my "healing baby", he is far harder to deal with now than Kimmie ever was. Geez, this kid is stubborn! And unfortunately, I know right where he gets it from... me.

He's either the sweetest, cuddliest kid, giving me lots of kisses and telling me "Mommy, you're the best!" or he's being wrestled in a corner for a time out (yep, I said "wrestled", he won't do it on his own) screaming "You're the worst Mommy in the World!" Hence, he's my "Spicey" kid. I just hope I'm paying the piper now and things will get better when he gets older. Of course, by then Kimmie will be a teenager and it will be an entirely different battle.

Here's a picture of me with the kiddos on a pirate ship adventure we did in Florida. Not sure what the pirate's name was but it should have been "Mud" after he handed my kid a pistol to hold for the picture!

IMG_4204

Posted by Jackie G | Comments: (5) | Permalink

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