background: Recently my brother in law and his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. This little bundle of joy gave us all a scare by deciding to come into the world prematurely, resulting in some hectic road trips and unintentional hospital stays. Some of you may know that 21 years ago our daughter was also born premature and put us through some adventures before coming home too so we had a pretty good understanding of what the parents were going through. This is a little bit different for the blog, but the following is the letter I wrote to them and I have been asked to share it here. Little baby Lincoln is doing wonderfully. 😊
“I remember when our little Kirsten was born early. She was also right around 5 pounds and her little lungs also weren’t quite up to the task of being called into service ahead of schedule. I remember the absolute joy of seeing her for the first time, quickly followed by the anguish of having her whisked away from us. I had no idea what the next few months would bring: victories that brought tears of joy followed by setbacks that made me scream “why??”. Emergency flights to Vancouver. The unbearable heartache of being sent home for Christmas without being able to bring her with us. The helpless feeling knowing that I had to put all of my hopes and dreams in the doctors hands. I remember the pain of watching her in a little oxygen chamber, unable to hold her, unable to make it all better. As a parent it feels like your only job is to make your baby safe, and here I stood on the very first day, the very first shift of my new task and I couldn’t do it. I was helpless. I was failing at the only job that mattered at that point. But it turns out I wasn’t failing. Just staying strong and believing that everything would be alright was it’s own victory. The job description had temporarily changed for a while is all. And when that little ray of sunshine does break free of the clouds she will shine brighter than you ever imagined possible.
Wishing you all the best and know that we are here for you guys for anything you may need.
Love Marty”
The Involved Husband 