My Miracle Baby's Second Birthday

Dear Steemians,

Yesterday my daughter turned two years old. It was a powerful day for so many reasons.

First of all, in 2015 I had pre-eclampsia while I was pregnant. I easily could have died had I not been under around the clock care in the hospital for sixteen days.

Ruby, my princess, was born nearly two months early and spent eighteen days in NICU until she finally reached an acceptable weight and was released from the hospital.

So, those reasons alone were enough to make me reminisce yesterday as I remembered how unpredictable my pregnancy was and as I thought of all the hardships we overcame. (I had to recover from a c-section, I was on antidepressants for postpartum depression, my baby had a benign tumor surgically removed from her head, her father was constantly away at work, etc.)

In addition to the tough pregnancy and my baby's long journey as a new human, I've also recently felt emotional as I think about how strong my daughter is and how in love I am with her.

In a recent post, I mentioned the strength my daughter had while I spent a week in the hospital this September. My hospital stay was unplanned, but my angel fought hard and did an excellent job staying strong and remaining patient with everyone around her while I fought to get better and come back home.

This, too, made me feel extra grateful on Ruby's birthday because I couldn't stop thinking about my endless admiration for this tiny miracle.

The other reason Ruby's birthday was such a powerful day for me was exactly the same reason that every other parent would probably mention - my baby has been alive for two years! Wow. That went by way too quickly.

(Here's a picture of Ruby and her daddy two days before her birthday.)

As I compare pictures from 2015, 2016, and 2017, I feel astonished as I take in all the changes my daughter has gone through and how much she appears to have grown overnight. I will never, ever get these years back.

I recently posted about a struggle I've been having since I was told by a doctor that I'm not healthy enough to carry another baby.

Ruby's second birthday really drilled into my head that these years are crucial and once she's a teenager I might not ever experience something similar again.

Because of this, I value my daughter so much more than I realized I could two years ago when I was a pregnant teenager.

I treasure my daughter more than anything else in the universe (except for her father, of course; I can't imagine saying I love one of them more than the other).

I've seen countless stories on local news channels lately about children as small as and even smaller than my daughter who've been murdered by their own parents or someone else who was taking care of them.

My heart aches for those children as I look at my daughter and lose my breath because she's so intensely beautiful to me.

After my sweetheart ate her cupcakes yesterday, I read that a two year old girl one town over from us was killed by her own mother.

Upon learning about that poor girl's fate, I can't help but want to pull my daughter closer and wish that every day could be spent like her birthday.

On a lighter note, something else sweet happened yesterday.

My family and I left Texas in July and started over in Kansas, but before I moved I formed a nice little friendship with a pregnant woman who went to school with my partner.

I gave her advice here and there on pregnancy and parenthood throughout her journey and it just so happened that yesterday she gave birth to her daughter, Dorothy, right on Ruby's birthday!

All around it was a special day - the most important day of my whole entire life...

The day that changed everything, and will continue to be powerful and bittersweet every single year until I die.

I love my Ruby Marie far past the moon, and despite her having no idea what a birthday is, I want nothing more than to shower her in love, affection, adventures, and gifts every day for the rest of our lives.