Keepsakes

When I arrived home from the hospital, the first thing I did after settling in was to grab my camera and review all the pictures I had taken. It still seemed surreal. I couldn't believe that just a couple of day ago I had given birth. I wanted to write everything down so that I wouldn't forget my feelings, thoughts, or just the experience as a whole. I did a good job at first keeping up with a journal, but once life began to return to normal and I moved forward, my journaling habits were lefty behind.

A project I started the day after leaving the hospital was to make a mini-scrapbook for the family. There were many things that they had missed out on because I didn't choose them until after the birth. Silas's first day or two of being on the earth being the primary ones. I printed of a ton of pictures and gathered some mementos from my pregnancy and went to work. I chose baby boy themed paper and included things like my ultrasound DVDs and pictures. It was to serve as a mini-brag book of their newest family member. I was released from the hospital on the afternoon of Thursday the 6th of July. Our court date was set for the 16th. I wanted to have the book completed and give it to them then.

In the hospital the family had given me a stuffed monkey as a gift, along with some pretty flowers. I had one and Silas would have one. It was a tradition they had started with their first child's birth mom years before. This little monkey is another example of a tender mercy. One nickname I had given Silas while I was pregnant was "Monkey" because it felt like he was always dangling from my ribcage. The family didin't know this but it was so fitting that they had chosen this specific animal. Monkey has become a kind of a mascot for me and something that I can snuggle with. In months following placement and even now, I use Monkey in pictures to send to the family with our letters to let them know what I'm up to and what places I am going.