From February 14th to March 5th it is "Party Time" at our House as we celebrate Valentine's Day and 3 birthdays. Our 19-day celebration ends today with Adam's birthday.
On his special day, I'd like to share Adam's Story. It starts back while I was pregnant with our 3rd child, Natalie. During my 3rd trimester, I developed Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP), a liver disorder that basically causes bile to build up in the mother's blood, which causes severe itching all over the body and jaundice. Let's just say I was miserable! The discomfort was so bad, I called Andrew, who drove home from Boise in the middle of the night - this is 1 of only 2 times I've called him while he's been out of town and asked him to come home. My doctor wanted to induce (I was at 36 weeks), but since ICP doesn't affect the baby (so they say), I wanted to hold out a couple more weeks.
I was induced at 38 weeks and almost immediately the itching stopped. After this experience, Andrew and I thought maybe we should stop at 3 children. However, when Natalie was about a year old, we both started to feel like our family wasn't complete. We thought a lot about the end of my previous pregnancy and began looking into adoption. We talked to Brother Cabbage at LDS Family Services (he's a family friend from the Tri-cities) who discussed with us our options, which were private adoption or international adoption because we already had 3 kids.
We prayed and prayed and prayed for an answer, but the solution eluded us.
About this time, I had planned a trip to Nauvoo with my grandparents (they love to travel and occasionally invite me to join them as a little "break.") I won't go into all the spiritual details, but will share that the Nauvoo Temple is where I first met Adam.
After sharing my experience with Andrew, we immediately started trying to get pregnant. It worked on the first try - so to speak :-) and from that moment until March 5, 2004 I had the most spiritual experiences I've ever had in my life. A few months ago I read a book, "Expecting Adam" (thank you Kristin) and while I didn't share this with my book group, my pregnancy with Adam was similar to the author's pregnancy with her Adam. Even the naming of our babies was something beyond us.
On his special day, I'd like to share Adam's Story. It starts back while I was pregnant with our 3rd child, Natalie. During my 3rd trimester, I developed Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP), a liver disorder that basically causes bile to build up in the mother's blood, which causes severe itching all over the body and jaundice. Let's just say I was miserable! The discomfort was so bad, I called Andrew, who drove home from Boise in the middle of the night - this is 1 of only 2 times I've called him while he's been out of town and asked him to come home. My doctor wanted to induce (I was at 36 weeks), but since ICP doesn't affect the baby (so they say), I wanted to hold out a couple more weeks.
I was induced at 38 weeks and almost immediately the itching stopped. After this experience, Andrew and I thought maybe we should stop at 3 children. However, when Natalie was about a year old, we both started to feel like our family wasn't complete. We thought a lot about the end of my previous pregnancy and began looking into adoption. We talked to Brother Cabbage at LDS Family Services (he's a family friend from the Tri-cities) who discussed with us our options, which were private adoption or international adoption because we already had 3 kids.
We prayed and prayed and prayed for an answer, but the solution eluded us.
About this time, I had planned a trip to Nauvoo with my grandparents (they love to travel and occasionally invite me to join them as a little "break.") I won't go into all the spiritual details, but will share that the Nauvoo Temple is where I first met Adam.
After sharing my experience with Andrew, we immediately started trying to get pregnant. It worked on the first try - so to speak :-) and from that moment until March 5, 2004 I had the most spiritual experiences I've ever had in my life. A few months ago I read a book, "Expecting Adam" (thank you Kristin) and while I didn't share this with my book group, my pregnancy with Adam was similar to the author's pregnancy with her Adam. Even the naming of our babies was something beyond us.
While Adam is an active little boy, who keeps me on my toes, I nevertheless marvel at the spirit inside, feeling inadequate and unworthy to be raising him in these latter days. I don't know if he has an important purpose on this earth or if I needed the "spiritual boost" while I was pregnant with him, but I'm thankful for this gift from my Heavenly Father.
Happy 3rd Birthday Adam!
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7 comments:
I can't believe Adam is 3. That was an awesome post full of details I never knew about. You will have to fill me in more when we get a chance.
Reading your post makes me realize that you and I missed out on a couple of years there after we had Natalie and Anna. It makes me sad we aren't still in the same ward but I'm glad we've reunited again.
Thank you for sharing Adam and Natalie with me every Monday! They are such great kids and I am happy to know them.
Happy Birthday Adam!
Carolyn, this story is beautiful. I hope someday to be lucky enough to hear more. It is inspiring.
Thanks for sharing Adam's Story. What a cute little boy - and full of energy it sounds like. What an awesome experience for your last pregnancy!!
Add my echo to all the other comments. Beautiful Adam story, he's such a charming boy. I love the perspective you shared about feeling like your family wasn't complete. I think it's neat that we can rely on the Holy Ghost for those promptings. I was trying to explain that feeling to someone of another faith recently and she just wasn't getting it. I'm so grateful that we are so comfortable with relying on the Spirit for important decisions.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful experience. It is truly humbling to be a mother. Adam is a beautiful little boy and this post really touched my heart.
Thanks Carolyn!
What a sweet story, and such a darling little boy. Kids are awesome! There's nothing better than to be a mom!
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