Love them, love them, love them!

I have meant to post something since Monday, but when I've gotten on here, I got distracted by reading other blogs. Two of my friends posted on their sites about the same situation and with some quick detective work on my end, I was able to find the story they were both referring to. Then I got wrapped up in this lovely lady's heartbreaking story and I'm still not caught up.

From the day I found out I was pregnant, I was extremely cautious about not getting ahead of myself because you just never know what might happen. But it's awfully hard not to make plans or have dreams when there is someone so precious growing inside you, depending on you to have and make their life's dreams come true. Unfortunately, in her case, she lost her baby at 24 weeks and had to deliver a stillborn baby girl. It was not an easy road to get to that point, so her story starts years ago, but the blog starts there.

These two posts had me sobbing, but were written so beautifully. There are several more.

The appointment that changed the course of life.

The unexpected birthday.

On her site, she encouraged mothers to do the following on Mother's Day and I'm passing it on to you:

Would you please

• Hug them tightly?  Remember what the hugs feel like.
• Play with them?  Remember their giggles and engrave their smiles in your hearts.
• Cuddle with them?  Remember how they seem to fit perfectly in your arms, like a missing piece from a puzzle.
• Be kind to them?  Don't be the people in the grocery store that  make me cringe when they're screaming at their kids.  
• Tell them how much they were wanted and prayed for?
• Send up prayers of thanks that:
• Your child is with you. 
• You know the sound of your child's voice.
• You know the color of her eyes.
• You are not looked at awkwardly by others on Mother's Day.
• You know how to answer "How many children do you have?"
• You know what it's like to watch your child sleeping peacefully, with a beating heart.
• You are awoken in the middle of the night by cries and whines and screams.   

Be thankful for these signs of life.

Because these things, and millions more, are things that I pray that I will be able to thank God for some day.  I pray that I will be able to get up in the middle of the night to hold my crying child.  That I will be able to comfort her and talk with her and sing with her.  I pray that I will know the smell of my baby's new skin and the dimples in her hands, and the sound of her squeaks.