Category: Mindful Wanderings

Friday was this guy’s 29th birthday. I’ve been mulling around and crafting words for this post since Thursday. Warning: this is a long one! We met when we were 17 and never could either one of us ever have imagined what was in store for us. I know, what a cliche, right? But how do you express the loyalty and growth that started as two teenagers and developed into a marriage, and a family of four, that has asked each of us to simultaneously grow out of and into ourselves. The growth can be gentle and slow, but mostly the growth busts through the walls we each carefully built. What I admire about Casey, though, is that when that growth decides to crash into his life he looks at the pieces and continues to move forward. What has resulted is a person that takes being a father and a husband and a Catholic very seriously. All things that ask you to surrender who you thought you were supposed to be. Surrendering to the unknown is something Casey and I both have continually done along this path we have forged together muttering, “I don’t know. We will figure it out.” A set of phrases we have had to become very, very comfortable with – especially in the last 2.5 months – but a concept that comes much easier to Casey than to me. This mentality, has shaped Casey to become a person that I am incredibly proud to call my husband and my friend. Olivia and Oscar are very lucky to have him. I am lucky to have him. I am so glad that we are doing life and family together because he isn’t afraid to have the tough conversations and to put in the hard work. The best part though, is that even in the midst of what has been the most stressful and trying time in our life thus far, I still find myself in tears from laughter – even in the NICU surrounded by monitors and sick babies and sterile rooms. Happy birthday, Casey. Here’s to many more years of figuring it out!

Casey and Oscar came back today from a short trip home taking care of a few things. It wasn’t easy being away from Oscar for a few nights. This NICU experience actually forced my first nights away from him. He can’t come on to the floor Olivia is on until flu season is over so he hasn’t even met her yet. Until this protocol is lifted, I am forced to figure out how to split my time between my two kids. I long for the moments that I can be holding Olivia constantly like you do with any newborn, and watch Oscar play with his trucks. When I was pregnant I daydreamed about slow afternoons snuggling both of them or watching Oscar play while soaking in small fingers and toes.

I know that I still will get those moments (peppered with moments of realizing Oscar is a giant toddler that doesn’t know how to handle an infant), but these current moments of having to split my time tears my heart apart. And each day Olivia is more alert and I feel more connected to her and I can’t stand leaving her. But Oscar needs me, too. Each day brings a new schedule as I figure out this balance. Tonight I got to put Oscar to sleep after dinner and then hopped onto the shuttle back to the hospital to practice breastfeeding and to give Olivia a bath. If tonight is like last night, I will put her back in her isolette and watch her root around to which I can only offer a pacifier to soothe her, until tomorrow when I get to hold her again. This month has brought out the complexity in life and made us face it head on — the thin veil between life and death: grief, sorrow, sadness and joy, delight, and warmth all simultaneously sharing a space in our hearts.