Our Journey #4: Being Real, and Having a Baby

While I worked hard to have a good attitude and gratitude, I had many days where I felt very done with it all. It became increasingly difficult to look on the bright side. As my belly grew, I began more and more to "look forward" to having my son without my husband by my side. While soldiers are permitted to go home for life-threatening emergencies, children's births are unpredictable and most soldiers aren't able to make it home. I started to get a little panicky at the prospect of having a child alone. Yes, my mom and other family members were there, but it wasn't the same.

The birth of our daughter was fairly traumatic. Preeclampsia hit me very hard and very quickly, and I had to be induced a month early. Braden was such a rock during that time. He was my support, advocate, and protector. I didn't know how I would manage having our son without Braden there. My patience wore out the closer it got to my due date, and my sweet family had to put up with the wrath of witch-woman more than once.

I again developed preeclampsia, but this time we were watching for it. Since we caught it early enough, I was put on bed rest and didn't have to be induced as early as with our daughter. I don't know how I would have survived without being able to live with my family. My 19-month-old daughter was such a whirlwind, and she was kept busy and out of my way by my wonderful family so I could rest and care for her little brother and myself. But still, I was so frustrated I had to deal with this while the other half of my heart was in Iraq.

I've learned, however, that hardships are frequently blessings in disguise, and my sickness ended up being one of the greatest blessings of my life. We discovered that preeclampsia was considered life-threatening, so the Red Cross would fly Braden home and he would be able to be there for the birth!

I cried and prayed and gushed gratitude to my Heavenly Father for this miracle, and on August 13, 2005, after a five-day journey, Braden was home. Very soon after, our baby boy came into the world to meet his daddy, mommy and big sister all together, as it was meant to be.