For That Day in May

I want to tell you a story - it isn't too long, if you have a minute, I hope you'll read it.

She's always been a survivor, she's always been strong. Her childhood was not what anyone would label as easy and unfavourable situations at home led her to move out at the age of sixteen. After marrying she bravely moved out west, with her husband, to start something new and leave behind what needed to be left. Her first child came to her easily - a boy - her whole heart wrapped up as a sweet, blond headed baby. He quickly became her everything but like so many, they wanted more children.
As it turned out, the second would not come to her so easily. For four years they tried to conceive, experiencing no luck. When the time came that the doctors decided to investigate her troubles with conceiving, their luck had changed - she was pregnant with baby two.
Life went on, as it does, and at twenty four weeks pregnant she found herself away with her family of three when she started to bleed. She was admitted to the Vancouver Grace Hospital where they began looking into the causes of bleeding and put her on bedrest immediately. Labour had begun - far too soon. She was experiencing placenta previa. The doctors advised her to abort her pregnancy as the risk was not just to the baby's life, but also to her life. She told them no. They told her that even if her baby survived, it would likely suffer from severe genetic defects and not have a very high quality of life. She told them no. They assumed the baby would be born with Cerebral Palsy. Again, they urged, consider aborting this pregnancy.
She told them no. She would not. And so, for nine weeks, she lay in a bed - separated from her family who had to return home. She made fast friends with her room mate, a mother carrying quadruplets and will be forever grateful for the bond shared in that hospital room. She spent her days in and out of testing - tests revealing the gender of her baby - a baby girl. When she wasn't in testing she was praying, knitting and speaking words of courage to the tiny baby in her belly.
By thirty two and half weeks the time had come. Things had changed and the doctors decided they were ready to deliver her baby. On her own, she was whisked to the operating room where they would deliver her baby girl to her via c-setion.

After all of the testing, counting and checking was done - she was given her baby girl - perfectly healthy. She held her baby girl, and cried. All of the worries that she held at bay for those long nine weeks were finally released.

This is the strongest woman that I know - this is my mother and I am thankful everyday that she told them no.

I love you Mom.


P.S. Two years later she did me another solid and gave birth to my bestfriend. 

-lovefrommaria