Happy Birthday to me.
This birthday is so different for me than any other. Typically, I am what some would call “over the top” about my birthday, but this year, I barely thought about it until the week of. Although I’m excited to have made it through another year and to be getting a year older, my time has been so focused on my little one, that my birthday became a bit of an afterthought for me.
However, waking up today, I could only feel gratefulness and abundantly blessed. Blessed to be seeing 32 as a mom of a 26-weeker who currently has a trach and g-tube. Blessed to have made it through what I see as the toughest time in my life where I literally had no control over anything. Blessed to be able to wake up to my son being home in his bassinet instead of a hospital bed.
I will never be able to truly express how thankful I feel for being able to see another birthday and share it with my husband and son. As I sit here and pump while typing this post, I feel like my birthday means so much more this year than any other year before. Today, I plan to reflect on everything I went through at 31 and look forward to what is to come with 32. Making it through so many medical issues, transitions, and “new normals” over the past year has made me stronger and ready to embrace whatever comes in this next year. Sometimes, you want to forget all the pain and heartache of NICU life, PICU life, the surgical procedures, and everything else that you go through with a micro-preemie. However, looking back and remembering what you went through helps you also remember the strength that lives inside of you. 
Medical Mommy 