Happy 3 months to Irelynn!

I cannot believe we are here, but Irelynn is 3 months old!  The time has gone by so quickly.  As I look back, it seemed as though my pregnancy crept by at the pace of a snail, and with good reason.  However, now that Irelynn is here safe and happy and healthy, the days and weeks have just flown by!  I'm torn because I am enjoying every second and at times I wish she would slow down, but I am so eager for the future.  She has developed her own personality, but overall she is such a happy smiley baby!  She loves her big brother, she sleeps 9 hours through the night, and loves to coo and dance to music.

At her last appointment, on her 3 month birthday, she weighed in at 12 pounds, 7 ounces and is meeting and exceeding all milestones.  As for me, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a total mess.  This is not only a milestone for Irelynn, but also this marks 3 months that I have not totally freaked out, wrapped my child in bubble wrap (although the thought has crossed my mind a few times), or refused to leave the house for fear of the world.

I tried to explain this to a friend of mine recently ~ I really thought my biggest challenge in life was getting pregnant.  Once I got pregnant, my worried immediately turned to staying pregnant.  After that, it turned into having a safe delivery.  After she was home from the hospital, I became fearful of SIDS, cancer, car accidents, viruses, and anything that could potentially harm her.  My pediatrician gave me a stern talking to about being overprotective.  It was easy for him to say ~ he had never buried a child or taken just about everything in life for granted just to have it ripped out of your hands when you least expected it.

But just like I did when I was pregnant, I pray to God.  I thank him for today and I pray that he will give me one more day with my family.  I am thankful for the gift of today because tomorrow is never for sure.  Sometimes I have to stop myself from those anxious thoughts once a day and sometimes 25 times throughout the day, but when I pray, it seems to end those anxious thoughts and brings me a sense of peace.  Just like with my pregnancy, I can only control so much and the rest is up to God.  He gave my husband and I three of the most precious gifts ever and we make sure they each know every single day that they are a special gift from God.  Throughout all of the pain and sorrow, we are filled with faith and hope for the future.  I have Savannah and all of the lessons we have learned from her life to thank for that.

~ Shannon

Savannah is a big sister!

I have been keeping a HUGE secret from everyone (including friends and family).  We found out on May 22nd after celebrating mass in honor of Savannah that I was expecting another baby.  This was such a huge miracle but we knew to be cautiously optomistic.  I have been pregnant a total of 4 other times since Savannah and we underwent fertility treatments to conceive this time.  Every day and every week that went by, we got more and more reassuring news and finally, 961 days after delivering Savannah Grace, we welcomed Irelynn Elizabeth into this world safely.  When I heard her cry, it was totally surreal and a sound Eric and I thought we might never hear again.

Irelynn was born on Tuesday, January 3rd at 11:08am.  She weighed 7 pounds and 8 ounces (a great combo of numbers since Eric's lucky number is 7 and mine is 8).  Also, Irelynn was born on 1/3.  Jeremy was born on 8/3.  There is always something crazy with numbers.  She was 19 1/2 inches and was born amist some drama via emergency c-section, but most importantly, she was born ALIVE.

It's so funny how things happened.  Towards the end, things got very dicey and I am so grateful that I had a doctor who listened to me and took me seriously, which enevitably led to saving her life.  Irelynn was dangerously close to suffering the same fate as Savannah.  If it weren't for Savannah, I wouldn't be so educated on stillbirth, cord accidents, fetal monitoring, or fetal distress movements.  Savannah helped save her sister's life.  She served another amazing purpose with her brief life and I know she is smiling down upon Irelynn, and happy to finally be a big sister!

It's crazy to see how Jeremy, Savannah, and Irelynn all look exactly alike.  In fact, in the first few days being home from the hospital, both Eric and I had to stop ourselves from calling her Savannah.  We miss her so much and wish that she was here to enjoy her new sister.  It has been bittersweet to say the least, but we love Irelynn for being Irelynn, just as we loved Savannah for being Savannah.  We don't want Irelynn to ever feel like a replacement child, because there is no replacing Savannah.  Our hearts just grew wider and wider in order to embrace our new miracle.

Welcome to the World, sweet Baby Girl.  We waited sooooooo long to meet you and you were well worth the wait. 

To anyone else struggling with Infertility, don't ever give up hope and remain strong in your faith.  It is the only thing that got us through the pregnancy.  That and we have a very special little girl named Savannah who kept vigilant watch over us from her seat next to Jesus in Heaven.