Almost 27 years ago, we welcomed our precious little beauty Courtney Elisabeth into the world. We loved her from the instant we saw her and she became the joy of our lives. We got to the point all parents eventually get to where we couldn't remember what our lives were like without her there and we wondered how we had survived without her before she came! I had wanted to have a baby way before my hubby was ready and I guess God felt I wasn't ready either because it took my almost 3 years of trying before He blessed us with this beautiful little bundle. She was perfect in every way - beautiful little round head, heart shaped mouth, ten little toes and ten tiny little fingers, just as laid back as can be.
We went along for almost 2 years before I got pregnant again and we were ready to welcome our second little bundle. We both enjoyed being parents and were hoping a little boy would come our way this time. David Tyler would be his name - David after King David of the Bible and Tyler after Ty Cobb of baseball fame. Close to my fourth month I started having problems. Spotting one day led to major cramping the next and then we were at the hospital. I lost this precious little one that we so wanted and never found out if it was a boy or a girl. No matter...God knew and He obviously had other plans.
Some friends had a plant sent to the house after I went home from a night in the hospital. They felt so bad for us. That plant was about 8 inches tall then and now, some 25 years later, it stands almost 6 feet tall. I remember our child every October 23 (the day our baby went to heaven) and say a prayer that someday, God will allow us to meet this little piece of my heart.
God was gracious back then and seven months after giving away a piece of my heart He gave me a piece of his in return. Sarah Ashley was born to us 3 years after her sister came to us. She was just as beautiful and was so very different from the very start. We almost lost her too, only this time I was seven months into the pregnancy. After 3 trips to the hospital for early labor, Sarah came into this world kicking and screaming and ready to take on the world. She was 4 weeks premature and was on a ventillator for the first 8 days. We found out when she was around 6 months old that they revived her 7 times in transport from Kettering Hospital to Childrens in Dayton. I didn't get to hold her until she was 8 days old and my heart ached for that.
To this day, my girls are as different as they are alike. They have grown into two beautiful women and are both married to two wonderful godly men. They are my joy and both hold pieces of my heart as well.
