I have no idea who to credit this to as it came from the vast internet unknown. But -THIS.
There are women that become mothers without effort, without thought, without patience or loss and though they are good mothers and love their children, I know that I will be better.
I will be better not because of genetics, or money or that I have read more books,…Â
but because I have struggled and toiled for this child.I have longed and waited. I have cried and prayed.
I have endured and planned over and over again.
Like most things in life, the people who truly have appreciation are those who have struggled to attain their dreams.
I will notice everything about my child.
I will take time to watch my child sleep, explore and discover. I will marvel at this miracle every day for the rest of my life.
I will be happy when I wake in the middle of the night to the sound of my child, knowing that I can comfort, hold and feed him and that I am not waking to take another temperature, pop another pill, take another shot or cry tears of a broken dream. My dream will be crying for me.
I count myself lucky in this sense; that God has given me this insight, this special vision with which I will look upon my child that my friends will not see.
Whether I parent a child I actually give birth to or a child that God leads me to, I will not be careless with my love.
I will be a better mother for all that I have endured. I am a better wife, a better aunt, a better daughter, neighbor, friend and sister because I have known pain.
I know disillusionment as I have been betrayed by my own body, I have been tried by fire and hell many never face, yet given time, I stood tall.
I have prevailed.
I have succeeded.
I have won.
So now, when others hurt around me, I do not run from their pain in order to save myself discomfort. I see it, mourn it, and join them in theirs.
I listen.
And even though I cannot make it better, I can make it less lonely. I have learned the immerse power of another hand holding tight to mine, of other eyes that moisten as they learn to accept the harsh truth and when life is beyond hard. I have learned a compassion that only comes with walking in those shoes.
I have learned to appreciate life.
Yes I will be a wonderful mother.
Yes. You will. For all of the above reasons.
Amen to that. I know this is true for me and I am confident you have already discovered it holds true for you, too. I hope you and your boys are doing spectacularly well.
I hope the same for you!
So much this. I read this as my donor egg (3 months old! Already!) sat in my lap babbling away, and I am stupid grateful for every single second. Even as I clean puke off my shoulder, and steel myself for poomageddon, so ridiculously grateful.
Congratulations on your miracle, and good luck with poomageddon!!
I just found your blog by googling “infertility and stepparenting.” Thank you so much for all of your posts; I’ve already gone back years and followed your journey! We have similar stories (went from seeing the kids every other weekend to gaining custody from their drug-addicted mother). It’s been a rollercoaster, and adding infertility has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. This poem made me cry. We just did our first ER for IVF, so I’m hoping after the years of trying and failed IUIs that this is the one. Thanks again for sharing your journey. It gives so many women hope.
Thank you for your kind words! Its such a hard and lonely thing to be a step-parent and adding infertility to that is just adding insult to injury. I will be hoping and shamaning as hard as I can that you have success with this ER and IVF cycle. I know how hard it is, and what a precarious position your heart is in. Be strong. There is hope.
Please let me know what happens. All the best to you, my dear. Xoxo
Thank you for your reply! I’m happy to announce that we did our FET on 4/19 and it took! It’s still so early that I am not getting my hopes up too much, but our first two betas looked good. Our 7-week sonogram is in 2 1/2 weeks. I doubt I’ll breathe a sigh of relief until we make it to the second trimester though.
I’m so so happy to hear this wonderful news! I am cautiously ecstatic for you. Please keep me updated!
So far so good. One week until sonogram!
I thought you should know that you inspired me to start blogging, by the way 🙂 It’s delicatehope.wordpress.com if you’re interested.
Sonogram!!! My fingers are crossed! How are you feeling?
And wonderful about the blog. Consider yourself followed. 😉