A Mother's Love

There is something amazing about a Mom. And there is something even more amazing about MY Mom. I am lucky to be very close with my mom and I truly feel that she is one of my best friend's. When I had Keaton, my mom offered to come whenever I wanted...and I chose to have her come right before he came home from the hospital to help me at that time. This time, when I went on bed rest at the hospital, my mom asked if I wanted her to come and there was no hesitation. Cortney and I talked about it and decided that Friday would be the best day for her to come (I was checked in to the hospital on tuesday). I can say truly that Cortney and I were inspired because she could not have come at a better time...

Although I did not want to have the baby so early, I feel so truly blessed that my mom was HERE when I had the baby. She was not allowed in the room when I had the baby because of him being such a high risk small baby...but having her there the second I came out of the delivery was so reasurring. I truly know I could not have gotten through my hospital stay before having the baby and then coming home right after. I COULD NOT have gotten through all the emotions of everything without my mom being there. There was content and peace in my heart, a comfort, just knowing she was in the room with me.
There truly is nothing like a Mother. The night before I had Paxton, my mom had come up to the hospital and wheeled me down for an ice cream Sunday. It was awesome. Having an ice cream Sunday with my mom...it is actually such a great memory for me and such a pleasant thing to do the night before my life would change forever.

These pictures document TWO very special moments that happened when my mom was in town. The day before my mom had to leave, she and I went to the hospital together to see Paxton. When I walked in the room, they had the lights on for the first time sine I had been there. Normally even when they are checking on the baby, the lights are low. But he was being so calm that they were able to turn the lights in the room on to check on him. When my mom and I came in, I said "well hello Paxton" and he opened his eyes immedietly and was looking around. He stayed awake for about 10 minutes and it was amazing. After things calmed down, my mom and I were both feeling so peaceful and my mom said to me that she had the overwhelming feeling that my Grandma had been there with us for a moment, checking in on Paxton. I knew she was right and we both got teary eyed thinking about it. It was such a special moment that I will never forget.

The next amazing moment happened the next morning. My mom had to be to the airport first thing on Monday morning, but we had about 40 minutes we could visit with Paxton after taking the kids to school. So we were visiting with Paxton and he was very squirmy and having trouble getting settled. The doctors were in the next room doing "rounds" which means they were discussing each baby and their plan for that baby for the day. So the nurse came in and told me they were going to round on Paxton so I could come out and listen (it is my goal to be at rounds every day so I can talk to every single person involved in Paxton's care and know their plans/goals). Paxton was so unsettled that the nurse recommended my mom stay there and put her hands on him to calm him down. This was a HUGE deal because at this point, we didn't really touch Paxton. I had not even done this before...babies at this gestational age are not ready for any kind of stimulation and can only have limited touch. But it was clear, Paxton needed to be settled and since I was leaving the room, the nurse carefully placed my mom's hands on Paxton in a very sweet and special way. It was such a sweet moment. My sweet mom stood so still, being so afraid of putting too much pressure on Paxton that she locked her knees and almost passed out! But once we figured it out, she was fine ;) It was actually a very sweet and special moment. Paxton calmed right down and it was such a nice moment to have right before having to go to the airport. I will never EVER forget it.

And I will never forget her staying up late and brushing and braiding my hair. Taking my kids to store, playing with them, fighting my boys to get them to do their homework, stroking their backs at night to help them fall asleep, cleaning my house, making my family dinner, doing endless laundry and ALL just for us. But more than anything, just being HERE for me during the hardest time of my life and my families lives is something I will never forget. Thank you for being the most amazing Mom and for all you have done for us. I love you Mom!!