Thankful again for the little things

I know. I know. It's a cliché title. But I wasn't exactly sure what else to call this piece. There have been some people wondering how I'm doing. After all, giving birth is a life changing experience, and my experience was anything but simple.

I gave birth to a healthy, beautiful baby girl. But how that happened was anything but fun. The short story is that there was an induction that didn't work out, a C-section, and some unexpected bleeding that led to another stint in the OR. It was traumatic. It wasn't like the pain the difficulty I had anticipated.

The recovery time in the hospital was extensive. I was induced on a Thursday and wasn't discharged unitl the following Thursday. Getting out of bed and walking for a few feet was exhuasting for a while.

But at a snail's pace, things started to get better. Throughout this gradual recovery, I've had some time to appreciate things in a new light. Becuase when you hit a certain level of weakness and exhaustion, the little things you took for granted become special again, and you can realize there are good things that happen in the midst of trying circumstances.

Of course, there are the big things to be thankful for as well. A healthy baby. A loving and supportive husband. Caring family members. All the people who checked in and prayed for us. But in this time of forced slowness, I'm glad I've been able to appreciate blessings in a fresh sense:

• An understanding nurse

• Getting IVs taken out

• A warm shower

• Brushing my teeth

• Naps

• My mom delivering extra items I wanted while in the hospital

• My husband getting me decent coffee from the hospital lobby

• Changing out of a hospital gown and putting on sweatpants

Leaving the hospital was a major milestone that came with other joys:

• Finally getting in the car

• Sending a coming home picture of our daughter to the family chat

• The Chick-fil-A drive-through

• Coming home to a dinner going in the crock pot (courtesy of my mom)

• Coming home to groceries, coffee, snacks, and a clean bathroom (courtesy of my mom and sister)

• Our dog loving the baby from the moment we carried her through the door

• Scrubbing off the tape residue from IVs and heart monitor leads

• Sleeping in my own bed again

And in the week that followed, there were more things:

• Instacart groceries delivered, courtesy of a wonderful sister-in-law, even though she's states away

• My sister visiting with my nephews

• Dinner delivery from my mother in law

• Meals from our church family

• Naps stolen in between feeds

• My mom helping with laundry

The blessings have built during this time of healing. We took our baby on her first walk in the stroller. She was healthy at her follow-up appointments. We got to go to church on Sunday. We took her to the dojo on Monday. We're slowly figuring out what life looks like now that we have this wonderful, adorable human being in our lives in a whole new way.

Working towards thanksgiving

I was talking with my mom about my birth experience. I'm still processing what happened, and I'm sure there will be other writings to follow. But my mom made a point of saying that you don't have to start at "Look at everything I have to be thankful for." She said I'll get to that point, but sometimes it starts with "I had a horrible birth experience." It's okay to start in the pain and acknowledge what happened.

But even as I wrestle with the bigger questions and get over the disappointment of not getting the birth experience I wanted, there is still joy. There are still moments of many good things and much to be thankful for. And yeah, maybe that sounds a bit cheesy how I worded it, but it's where things stand at the moment. Besides, who doesn't need a little bit of cheese? Maybe I need to go get a snack. And drink water. Drinking water is good. Maybe you should go do that too.

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