While I do not think I am qualified to give anyone advice, unless it is in the areas of pediatric fine motor skills development or dialysis/kidney issues, I do have one little piece of advice that I think many people can benefit from.
Before I got sick, I literally scrap booked nearly every single day of Mad's life for the first two and a half years. Everything is well documented! Once I became ill, this hobby quickly took a back seat and I hated that. Now anyone who knows me, knows I never leave home without my camera. Too many cute moments can happen in the most mundane places. And since she is and will be our one and only, I have been determined to catch every little developmental milestone. SO once I was sick I just couldn't keep up the scrapping.
Today, I sat down to organize my pics by years and then burn them to a CD as back up. Pictures are everything to me. While organizing my computer I came across countless little hidden treasures I had forgotten about. I have about 50 videos from the time Mad was 2-5 and they are the most precious gifts I have ever given myself, forgot about, and then rediscovered them with a whole new appreciation. They brought back so many memories I thought were lost in the sea of dialysis meds over the years. Taking those videos and having them to watch back are priceless to me. I can see one and remember that was one month before my kidneys shut down, or I felt really sick while filming this video, but now you would never know it.....you never see me on camera. Just my little angel! And watching her at age two sing Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire really stirs up the baby fever. But no worries.....not gonna risk all that I have been blessed with. No more pregnancies here.
It's so amazing to me to watch her grow and change though out the videos. When I look into those eyes of her at 2 and 3 years old, I am filled with the emotions the day the resident doctor came into my hospital room in STL and told me I had about a 20% chance to live. Before I kicked him out of my room and instructed him to never step foot in my room again, I told him I would be getting better because I had a 2 year old at home who wasn't going to be raised by anyone but me. Later down the road a nephrologist told me a kidney transplant would never be successful with someone with my blood disorder. I am one of six successful transplants I know of to date.....all successes with the same blood disorder!!!! I fired that doctor too!
So my little piece of advice, if you don’t already have a camera or some device to take videos, get one and start. Without the hidden treasures I found today, I would have never remembered half of these videos. And during most of them I was sick so I wasn’t enjoying them at the time. But seeing them today I thanked God for giving me the strength to video that precious child of mine so I could sit back in my new healthy body and laugh, cry and enjoy the little things I missed out on. So whether you are sick or healthy, mommy or daddy, have one or five kids......we are all busy and have daily interruptions that take us away from the ones that matter the most. Just a few short 30 second to one minute video every now and then....and in 5 years you will be amazed at how much your child has grown and changed and will be so pleased with yourself for capturing that moment in time. Today was a real treat for me. I finally got to see glimpses of Mad over the past three years without the cloud of dialysis hovering above me. And I got to see my baby, really see her! And you know, despite all the health issues I was facing, she looks like a happy, typical and well adjusted kid in those videos.....which will help me sleep easier at night!
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