This past weekend I found myself frequently thinking back to what was happening last August. I attended the Women of Faith conference in DC on Friday night and Saturday. I had purchased a ticket for last year's conference before the pregnancy became complicated. Thankfully, for a fee of $2 I was able to use the ticket this year instead. As I was driving to Maryland on Thursday night with Oliver, I found my stomach getting into a knot and my blood pressure rising as I approached Harrisburg. I am sure in time I will not have such a strong physical response, but for now it reminds me of the many trips down to that hospital for ultrasounds, lengthy hospitalizations, etc. On Saturday and Sunday night Nadia and Ian were in a musical. Last year the musical was on August 11-12. I was discharged from the hospital on August 11 and was able to attend Nadia's musical. My feet and legs were so swollen that I was unable to wear shoes. I remember walking into the church building in my bare feet both nights and struggling just to walk from the car to a pew in the sanctuary.
It was so hard to make the decision to leave the hospital in Harrisburg. When Nadia and Ian were born, I did not come home at all until they were discharged from the NICU, but they were in the NICU 1-2 weeks and I knew Oliver would be in 4-6 weeks. I hadn't held Oliver yet, and I knew that coming home for the weekend might lengthen my wait to hold him for the first time, but I had missed spending time with Nadia, Ian, and Paul for so many weeks that summer. Oh how I wish I had a video recording of Nadia's performance in the musical on August 11, 2012. It was priceless. She was beaming, singing with gusto, and doing all the motions (plus a few extra that the rest of the kids didn't do, ha ha). During that performance I became 100% convinced I had made the right decision even though it felt awful to leave my three pound baby all by himself in the hospital (meaning no family to visit him) for about 48 hours.
This year we had a video camera, but neither performance was really something I wanted to save. Nadia did smile more on Sunday night than she did on Saturday night. Last night they both received several certificates. They each received one for participation and another for having memorized all ten Bible verses. Nadia also received one for having learned all the words to all the songs, and Ian received one for enthusiasm. Awards given to other children included ones for learning all the motions, showing leadership, and showing a lot of improvement compared to last summer. Paul's parents attended on Saturday night, and Cheri (from church) joined us last night. Oliver didn't make it through the entire program either night. Paul's dad took him out part way through the program on Saturday night, and Paul took him out last night.
They have a few weeks off and then will begin AWANA on September 11. Ian will be in Cubbies, and Nadia will be in Sparks. Tonight Nadia has her first soccer practice of the fall season, and next Monday they'll get back into gymnastics for the first time in 6 months. Paul is at BU today for the first time. He has new faculty orientation tomorrow and Wednesday and will start teaching next week. Summer is coming to an end.
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