Strength

Strength and resilience, something I've been thinking about alot the past couple of days. I often wonder what your personality will be like, and if you will posses the great deal of strength that I think you will. You don't realize it yet, but you overcame quite a few obstacles before you were even born! Your daddy and I weren't trying to conceive when I became pregnant with you, and I went almost 2 months having no idea I was expecting. During that time, I ran 10ks, traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and drank my fair share of Don Julio, ate and drank things that I shouldn't have, and basically broke most of the rules surrounding pregnancy! When we first went in to confirm that I was pregnant, your heartbeat was very low. We went an entire week not knowing if you were viable. That was the longest week of our lives, and required alot of strength on our end. When the dr spoke the words "the heartbeat is 150, we have a baby!", they were some of the sweetest words we've heard. A few weeks later, I experienced very heavy bleeding while alone in Chicago at a sales meeting. I thought for sure I was miscarrying... We were over the moon with the idea of having a baby, yet once again my hopes were dashed for those few days where I was stuck in a strange city, alone, praying for you. The day I returned home, went to the dr, and heard your heartbeat we thanked God. I knew I would fight and do whatever it took to keep you safe and healthy from that day forward. Your delivery is another example of your strength. When you were born, you were blue and had been through alot of trauma. Your APGAR score was a 5 at 1 min post partum; not good. But by 5 mins you were at 9, which shows how quickly you bounced back and fought.

We all have circumstances and situations that test our strength... it is how we deal with them that shows our character and what type of person we are. Life is a series of lessons, trial and error. We never stop learning, no matter what age we are. Yet it seems that the older we get, the harder our lessons are and the stronger we have to be. I guess that is why 'the older the wiser' is such a true statement. It is how we handle hard times and obstacles that determines our character and grit. We pray that you are a strong, independent, kind hearted woman, and that we can teach you how to be that person :)