I received an e-mail the other day from a pretty awesome woman named Heather Von. St. James. Heather is a survivor of a very rare cancer called mesothelioma that is caused by asbestos exposure. She was diagnosed shortly after she gave birth to her daughter and was given roughly fifteen months to live. That was eight years ago and this amazing lady is still going strong and is determined to spread the word about this type of cancer. You can see her incredible story as well as read about it here.
Because she was diagnosed in November, Heather now does "30 Days of Thankfulness" each November to help her get through her "November blues". This year she has asked other bloggers to participate, and I was one of them! I feel like a real life person with a blog now! Even though I did a Belated Thanksgiving for our own Canadian Thanksgiving, so much has happened for me to be thankful for in the past few weeks I decided to give it a shot again, so here it goes!
I am extremely thankful for our gigantic new addition who has already put two whole pounds on! I think you forget how quickly you fall in love with your children and I'm so happy to get to feel that again. I am also thankful that as crappy as I feel after having a cesarean, I know exactly why I feel this way and I feel better every day. After seeing Heather's story, reading about it, speaking with her, and especially three weeks after giving birth and experiencing being a mother to a newborn again along with a toddler, I can't imagine someone telling me that I only have fifteen months left with my kids. Kind of makes me appreciate my own health a little bit more.
I am thankful for how well Avery has adjusted to being a big sister. She mostly just ignores Liam, sometimes she brings him his blanket or a toy if he's upset, but she doesn't hate him. She has showed us no signs of jealousy. Jealousy and resentment were my biggest fears. The other day she attempted to play peek-a-boo in the car with him, and on a few occasions he has gotten upset and she comforts him with, "It's okay, it's okay, Avery's here," which melts my heart. I'm thankful for those moments when my children interact.
As you might know if you followed the few blogs I've posted through my pregnancy (sorry about there being so few!), this pregnancy was not a great one, right up until the bitter end when I had to give birth the one way I swore I never would. While I was pregnant I dealt with my bloodwork showing that the fetus might not be viable within the first few weeks, severe sickness in the first trimester, blacking out, double vision, then had the sickness come back again, was back and forth to the hospital with false labour, and on one occasion ended up admitted because Liam's heart rate was irregular. This led to more tests, biophysicals and a fetal echo. All in all, it was a worrisome pregnancy from the start. The day Liam was born, when all our visitors had gone and it was just myself and Brad in the room, he was holding Liam and he looked at me and said, "I feel like everything that happened is all worth it now."
More than anything this year, I am thankful that I have had things happen that help me put the little things into perspective.
I am thankful to have so much to be thankful for.
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