For Her

I took my kids to something the other day. When I walked in there were two other moms already there. One of them was hugely pregnant, and the second one had a little girl in a stroller, who looked to be about 7 months old.

I sat down and they were of course talking about pregnancy and babies and all things related. The baby was babbling and cooing and being incredibly cute and endearing. It was all a little hard to listen to, but I was doing okay. Until one of the kids walked over to the baby and said “Hi, Eliana”. And then the other kids joined in, saying Eliana this and Eliana that. I spent the next half hour or so with tears in my eyes, a hitch in my throat, and fighting desperately not to break down completely.

I got through it, though, the whole 2 hours of it. Even when she crawled over to our group and started undoing the puzzle my kids were working on. Even when she crawled underneath my table and was about to pull herself up using my legs. Even when she started crying and I thought my heart was going to break again. It was so hard, but I got through it.

I guess this is a sign of healing. I must be stronger than I was at first, because I was able to stay, and not walk right back out the door. A couple months ago I probably would have done just that. I managed to wait until that night to give in to my grief. My scar tissue if getting thicker, and I’m both thankful and upset at the same time. Part of me rebels from the thought that I’m getting “better.” It feels like I’m betraying her when I’m not as sad, or sad as often, or as long as at first. Part of me doesn’t want to really live or really be happy, because she can’t be alive and happy with me. Survivor guilt.

Nevertheless, as time goes by, there are more moments of okay or good than there are of bad or horrible. And the bad and horrible times are more tolerable, because I know that I will get through them. I know that the next time I run into an Eliana, or a baby that looks like mine, that awful tearing in my soul will not last forever. I will survive, and I will live, because that is what will honor her. Not by pretending I’m fine, but by being true to my feelings, all of them, the good and the bad. She deserves my tears, and she deserves my smiles, and I will do both, for her.

Good news

I just wanted to let everyone know that after the different doctors and tests, they found that neither Elisabeth nor Rebeckah have any of the issues that Eliana did. They both have two kidneys and they function well. Their airways and lungs are normal and function well. And they have none of the allergies that they tested for. Yea!

I am really relieved for their sakes that everything was normal. But it does leave me with questions regarding Eliana. Was it totally a fluke thing, one in a million and she drew the short straw? Or was it some sort of genetic thing they haven’t discovered yet? Could my kids be a carrier for something we don’t even have a name for? And since I have no idea why it happened, I have no way of trying to prevent it from happening again. Sometimes we can attempt to do everything right, and still have things go horribly wrong. I wish it weren’t so.

Anyway, I wanted to share the good news with you. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. Deanna