"lucky"

I just finished reading a friends blog where she vented about some of the comments she receives from people when talking about the premature birth of her sons. In no way have I had to deal with all that she and her boys have been through. But I could relate to what she was saying.

In conversations about Benjamin, I often hear, "Oh, you're so lucky to have a baby with a helmet! I'll bet every mother wishes her baby had a helmet."

Here are my thoughts (and vent) in response to that.

Are you kidding me?!?!

Sure, the helmet does give me a certain peace of mind now that Benjamin is becoming mobile. But I wouldn't wish to go through this again.

Yes, I'm sure every mother wishes she had to make major medical decision like we did. We were lucky to get to sign tons of paper work listing all the possible risks that our son could encounter during surgery. It was a ton of fun to get to sit in a waiting room for four hours, knowing that my baby was having having major surgery, losing blood, having a transfusion, and all the while I wasn't with him. He woke up to strangers, not me.

We were lucky to spend three full days in a hospital, two hours away from our other children and our church family, getting about three hours of sleep a night.

We are lucky to have made almost a dozen trip to Austin in a three month period. We are lucky to have to spend the money on food, gas, and of course medical bills.

I'm sure every mother wishes she could go through all that, just to have the reassurance that a helmet might bring.

I know people don't intend their comments to come across that way. I've often thought, "What would I say to a mom or dad if I saw them with a helmeted child, and didn't know why he was wearing it?" And I don't know what I would say. So, I would say nothing. And sometimes, I wish strangers would just say nothing too.

I don't consider myself, or Benjamin to be lucky. However, we are very blessed. We are blessed to have caught his craniosynistosis when we did. We were blessed to see a wonderful doctor, and be in a wonderful hospital. We are blessed with family and friends who have surrounded us with their love and prayers. And most of all, we are blessed with the daily grace to walk down this road and continue on this journey. It is truly amazing the grace that we have been showered with!

You're right Lindsey, that does feel better. :-) Until the next comment.