A Mother's Day Post

For anyone who doesn't know this yet, Bean is adopted. She's been part of our lives since she was 4 days old, when we scrambled down to Florida to pick her up in the NICU. I'll never forget the first time I saw her in her NICU bassinet. She was tiny and pink and perfect, the most beautiful baby I had ever seen in my entire life. All the pain of the infertility and adoption process vanished in an instant, the very second I picked my sweet baby up and felt her snuggle up to my chest. Whenever I have a bad day, all I need to do to cheer up is close my eyes and relive that day in my mind, the day I became a mommy.

While this was the happiest day of my life, today
on Mother's Day I want to take a moment to honor Bean's birth mother, who on the best of days for me was having one of the worst days of her life. We never got to meet her after she left the hospital in Florida. I think she was in too much pain to bear meeting us as we held that tiny being she had known in her tummy for nine months. We had our losses through infertility with a few miscarriages and failed IVFs that felt like the world was ending. But I know that's nothing compared to what Bean's birth mother must have felt when she made the decision to create an adoption plan for Bean. I honor her on Mother's Day and I send her so many thoughts and prayers to help her cope with this day now and forever. I know that Mother's Day is hard for her, and I know she thinks about Bean every single day of her life. Happy Mother's Day to the woman who gave me the greatest gift of my life, my reason to celebrate today.