Born on the 4th of July | Story Journal

a gracious gift

Once upon a time there was a little girl who early on discovered her love for babies. As a young teen she would often babysit in the neighborhood for other mom's. She served in her church in the kid's ministry. At one point in her late teens she went far far away to help refugee children attempt to have some normality in their lives. She even worked at the YMCA in before and after school care with kiddos.

She dreamed of being married and having a myriad of children of her own to care for and teach the simple daily ways of life.

She married young and they had news of their first child. While the pregnancy was frought with it's share of morning, afternoon, and evening sickness, the nine months went uneventful. That changed, however, when she went into labor and hours later delivered by way of Caesarean. The traumatic birth is it's own story as she discovered her body was not capable of actually being able to deliver a child naturally. That first little girl would be days in the NICU as we waited to hear if there was any internal damage to a very bruised body of this tiny baby.

Happily, baby girl came home and life found it's routine. She's now an exuberant 4 year old bringing her own love of life where ever she goes.

Mom would experience a ruptured ectopic pregnancy between baby no.1 and baby no.2. 

Baby boy was born too by way of Caearean and all went well and as planned with no major hiccups, aside from mom's fair share of morning sickness during that pregnancy. 

A year and a half later, mom is pregnant again. This pregnancy too, sadly, was a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. This event became a life threatening situation that still today holds us all in humble gratitude as to it's outcome. Certain God ordained circumstances were miraculously in place that provided a way for this momma to be cared for and the bleeding to stop. I'm forever grateful to the fire department personnel that knew immediately the situation. That is it's own story for another day.

This ectopic was one to be grieved. For this mom, who's dream of a houseful of children and all the aspirations that were hidden in her heart for what she thought her life was to be, was heart broken. Knowing she would never have children of her own again brought with it a mourning and a grief that would need to be healed and redeemed.

Lo and behold, by ways we know not still to this day, mom, with no fallopian tubes, became pregnant a fifth time! Unbelievable! For months this news was not easily processed. For months, I, her mom, was holding my breath wondering if this was even true, and what would be the outcome. For you see, we had been grieving loss one way or another for years now at this point. Carrying all the what if's was a matter of carrying my heart daily to God with much prayer and supplication that faithfully this story would come to beautiful fruition.

And...it did.

My daughter was scheduled for a Caesarean later this month. However, baby Margaret Mae decided the 4th of July was a good day for even more celebration at 36 weeks gestation. And yet again, an unscheduled Caesarean with high probability that Margaret would be days if not weeks in the NICU. As I write this, tears well up in my eyes to see the hand of God so graciously in our lives. For while Margaret needed some help to breathe right there at the beginning, she did not need to be resident in the NICU. Days later, her pediatrician declared that she seemed full term. Weight was good. Oxygen was good. All was good.

This story deserves a book. There are so many nuances left out for the sake of a concise telling. There were moves and disappointments. There were seasons of illness and discouragement. There were closed doors and never ending no's. There were so many narratives to these past years. But we take every morsel we can get and we swim in gratitude and frolic in thanksgiving for every good gift. And Margaret, in all her miraculous manifestation, is an abundantly very, very good gift.

The making of this celebratory page came by way of the inspiration found in THIS video and THESE ideas here.