Unconditional Love

Thirteen years ago, my husband and I were anticipating the birth of our first child.  After my due date came and went, I was beginning to wonder if she was just scared because she knew we were clueless.  I had been admitted to the hospital after my doctor visit because my blood pressure was up again.  To say I was terrified would be the understatement of the century.

They gave me meds to get things moving along and barring any unforseen circumstances, I was to be induced at 6 a.m. the following morning.  Little girl had other plans.  I was in labor by 10 p.m. If you never experienced back labor, then you probably wouldn’t understand why I was begging for pain meds when the screen showed no contraction peaks.  The doctor told them to give me demoral and phenergan until he could get my epidural.  So now I’m sleepy, but I couldn’t sleep because those blasted contractions hurt and kept waking me up.  I finally got my epidural, and I don’t remember a lot other than my husband practically screaming at me to breathe.  I apparently wasn’t breathing normally and it was causing the baby’s heart rate to drop. My husband was holding my hand begging me to take deeper breaths and all I could do was cry because I was so scared.  My labor progressed so rapidly that at 6:16 a.m. just 8 1/2 hours after the first contraction, I was holding the most beautiful creature I had ever seen in my arms.

The day I finally met my sweet baby girl was the day I became a momma and my husband became a daddy.  That colicky little baby changed our lives completely. 

Today, my sweet baby girl becomes a teenager. Even though I knew this day would come, I am completely unprepared.  I didn’t pack a bag or make sure all the dishes were washed and put away.  The car isn’t full of gas and I don’t have a list of people to call.  My parents and my husband’s parents aren’t walking the floor and no one is calling every few minutes asking do we have a teenager yet?

Just like the day we brought her home from the hospital, we don’t have an instruction manual.  We have been playing it by ear for 13 years and by the grace of God our little baby girl has turned into a beautiful young lady. I have learned so much from her, but most of all, I have learned what unconditonal love is and I thank God for her every day.

Goodbye Old Friend

Some people treat their pets as if they are family members.  Nothing odd about that. For as long as we have had a child that could speak, our animals have had first names and our last name.  (That’s not odd, what’s odd is all the inanimate objects that also have our last name…)

We have had one of those twenty-something cent goldfish that came from Wal-mart for longer than we have had our youngest daughter who is now 6.  This goldfish grew quite large and didn’t care for tank mates.  He had moved with us twice and even though he didn’t bark or meow, he was part of the family.  Our kids made him pictures on holidays and put them so he could see them and he would always be so excited when we got close to the tank. 

This evening when we returned home from our second home at the softball field, we discovered that our Goldfish was sleeping with the fishes, or would have been except he lived alone in his tank. 

I can’t help but feel a little sad.  Our goldfish was such a normal part of our routine that I will admit I’m gonna miss him. We plan to have a proper burial in the backyard.  So if someone tries to tell you that they don’t get attached to pets, then they obviously don’t know what a pet is.  Rest in Peace old friend.