miracle
Main Entry: mir·a·cle
Pronunciation: \ˈmir-i-kəl\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin miraculum, from Latin, a wonder, marvel, from mirari to wonder at
Date: 12th century
1: an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs
2: an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment
3 Christian Science : a divinely natural phenomenon experienced humanly as the fulfillment of spiritual law
The second definition hits home for me. I am a firm believer that ALL children are miracles and are gifts from our Heavenly Father. We are entrusted to raise these little humans to the best of our ability. When you think about it, raising a child is an awesome responsibility and one that should not be taken lightly.
As a parent, we have the responsibility to raise our children in a way that will allow them to grow up to be happy and well adjusted citizens in a world full of temptation. When most of us become pregnant or start the process of bringing a child into our lives through other means, we dream of that child and what he or she will be like. Often, we glamourize what parenting will be like and then, that precious little being enters our world and we are never, ever the same.
As I said earlier, I am a firm believer that ALL children are miracles. That said, I must mention my daughter, Ice Princess and her miraculous begining. Ice Princess and her twin brother, Little Warrior were born 14-15 weeks premature. Ice princess began life in this world weighing 1 pound 7 ounces and measuring 12 inches in length. Ice Princess spent the first 6 weeks of her life on a ventilator, she had a heart procedure done when she was just under 1 month old, to close a fetal/meternal duct(PDS ligation) that typically closes at birth. She weighed 1 pound 11 ounces when that procedure was done. I love to tell people how during this time, it once took 3 nurses to hold my little 1 pound 11 ounce baby still long enough to put a new IV in her! Imagine that! This little girl has had spunk from the get-go! It was that spunk that carried her through her early days of life. Ice princess had a fairly "easy" stay in the NICU... all things considered. Once her PDA ligation was done, she seemed to sail on through her NICU stay with very few bumps along the way! She surprised us at 7 weeks by coming off the ventilator before they planned! July 7th, 1998 was a special day. Little Warrior was scheduled to come off his vent that day. I called from work to check on the twins and to my surprise, Ice Princess was OFF THE VENT! Any preemie parent will know how HUGE that was. Both of my babies were vent free! Anyway, they cautioned us not to get too excited. They had not planned to take her off the vent but due to her tube getting blocked 3 times that day, they decided to give it a shot. They told us she might end up back on the vent, but if she did, it wouldn't be long before she was permanently off the vent. To our surprise(and the medical staff), she never went back on it! Ice Princess came home from the NICU on August 24th, 1998. She was 91 days old. She weighed 5 pounds 11 ounces and was around 18 inches long. She was a healthy baby. She came home needing only a higher calorie formula and iron drops for anemia. She nearly came home with oxygen but she avoided that too!
Ice Princess 13 days of age
2 months old and 2.5-3 pounds
3 months old
10 months old with her twin brother, Little Warrior
14 months old
Over the next few years, we monitored her closely. When she was born, we were given a LONG list of what could go wrong due to her being born so prematurely. She dodged the bullet on everything! She's been a pretty healthy kid. She's had typical childhood ailments and required speech therapy for a few years. She's always been small for her age, but she isn't the smallest child either. She has full term friends who are smaller then she is! She has visable scars on her arms and feet from IV's and PICC lines. She also has a scar on her back from her PDA ligation. I refer to those are her battle wounds. They are so much more then scars to me... they are a symbol of who she is and how fiesty she can be! She is a fighter.
I often look at her in amazement. She's come so far. She's a sweet girl and we treasure her. She's a bit of a drama queen but to be honest, I sincerely feel that attitude is what helped her make it through her first first few months of life.
My mother in law wrote a reply to my blog about Ice Princess being a miracle and how she thought about that fact as she skated last week. Interestingly enough, I was thinking a similar thing as I watched my daughter skate. It really is inspiring to watch my daughter grow. I owe so much to so many people who prayed and cared for my little girl. I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am to have her in my life. I came close to losing her once and I cannot imagine my life without her! She is an amazing little girl so full of love and a zest for life!
Yes, I believe ALL children are miracles, but when I look at my daughter, I see sooo much more. I know her life is truly miraculous. We know all too well the flip side of prematurity and how badly it can all go wrong... but for today, I am going to celebrate my daughter and the miracle she is.
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