I was fortunate to spend 5 days of mother-daughter time at a cute little cottage in Michigan last week...just me, Jaime, and Baby J.! It was wonderful! I felt the baby kick for the first time, got to feel his little hiccups, and generally just relished our time together. While we were there, though, I noticed something that I can't stop thinking about. It was her hands. The first time I saw her hands, they were tiny little fists flailing about uncontrollably seconds after her birth. Later, they became the hands of a little gymnast--calloused, peeling, sometimes bleeding. Later still, when she was quite a bit older, her hands were those of a dancer...graceful and soft. But now...I watched her over and over as she rubbed her baby belly, soothing our little guy. Sometimes it seemed to be done consciously. Other times it seemed to be instinctual. Her hands are now the hands of a mother. It brought tears to my eyes.
May 12, 2015 This is my blog...my first blog. It's called "Loving Baby J." So I think I'll start by telling you who Baby J is. Baby J. is my soon-to-be grandson--our first grandchild! And Baby J. has Down syndrome. I think I'd better start at the beginning. We've been hoping for a grandchild for a very long time, as our two children are in their mid- to late thirties. Christmas Day of 2014 we got the long-anticipated phone call. Our daughter and son-in-law had just discovered they were pregnant! I can't even describe the excitement and anticipation we felt, even though it was very, very early in the pregnancy. There were some ups and downs over the next couple months for our daughter (not us--we remained ecstatic!). She worried about carrying a baby at age 34-35, but when she saw her first ultrasound pictures, she made it over that worry hump. In fact, she was so much over the worry that we both started buying lots of ...
I also noticed this belly rubbing :) . I think when it really hit me was when we were at Ryan's parents house at the baby shower and she was sitting in one of the comfy chairs on the deck chatting and occasionally rubbing her belly. She was beautiful and glowing. Even though I still think of her as a 9 year old sometimes it was that moment when she went from woman to mother in my eyes.
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