Miracle

I have always been amazed at the miracle of conception and birth. It is so fascinating and just incredible. Now that I have a child of my own, I am even more in awe of the whole thing. The fact that Colton was once this tiny cluster of cells that divided and eventually formed into a baby... it's awesome. Before November 29, 2007 (or thereabouts) he didn't exist. He was just a thought, a dream. And then he was created and became a human being, with all this capacity for learning and potential to do great things.

I am even more amazed and continually thankful that he is healthy. That everything developed over those nine months just as it should. A few months ago, I stumbled across a blog of a young mother who lost her newborn son just minutes after he was born because of a rare genetic disorder. Her story has forever changed the way I look at my child. This mom is the same age as me, whose son was due almost three months after Colton. While I was picking out paint and furniture for our nursery, she was choosing a casket and burial plot for her little boy. While I was recognizing my son's two month "birthday", she was grieving the loss of hers and all the birthdays that would never come to pass.

In her posts, she talks about wanting her son's short life here on earth to matter. He may have only lived a mere 16 minutes, but his life did have meaning. It had weight. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for giving me a perfectly healthy son, who hasn't had anything more than a cold since he was born. Yet it can be so easily taken for granted. I know now that some parents don't get to take their babies home from the hospital. That instead of planning for the most wonderful time in their lives, they have to prepare to face the most indescribable grief and pain.

I am so grateful for my little miracle.



Check back for another update on what Colton has been doing lately in the "Seven Months" post coming soon! More pictures will be posted also.