Isn't it ironic (doncha think?)

I was just sitting here, blog-jumping, and came back to my own, and read back to the beginning of my pregnancy journey. And I found this entry, in which I was questioning my ability to be a Mommy. Which is not the ironic part, as I like to think I'm shaping up to be a lovely little Momma to my Noodle. But, what is ironic is the fact that just before I wrote that blog entry, I was watching "18 Kids and Counting" and marveling at Michelle Duggar's feat of bringing 18 children into this world. I never really watched that show regularly back then, in fact, I found the whole situation to be rather odd and really only watched it for curiosity's sake, not to be entertained. Little did I know, I would end up finding a kindred spirit in her, as we both were plagued with the same life-threatening condition that ultimately led to her show's title changing to "18 19 Kids and Counting" right around the same time Miss Natalie was born. Michelle announced her pregnancy in September, which they claim was unexpected so soon (please, your show was called "18 Kids AND COUNTING," there's no such thing as an unexpected pregnancy in your world) and ended up delivering baby Josie Brooklyn on December 10th or thereabouts, via an emergency c-section, at only 25 weeks gestation. I've been watching their show ever since I got home from the hospital and realized we'd been through the same thing, and when they show the NICU and tiny little Josie hooked up to all of those monitors and machines and the beeping etc etc etc, it's been hauntingly familiar and my heart completely goes out to Michelle Duggar. I know exactly what was feeling and how terrifying those first few days/weeks are. Only NICU Moms can really understand what other NICU Moms truly go through. Everyone else can try, but until you've been there, and it's been your tiny precious little one in that isolette that you can't hold close to you without medical supervision, you can't really begin to conceptualize what it's like. Though we appreciate everyone's effort :)
Unfortunately, Josie had a much much rougher NICU journey than Natalie. She was a full pound and a half smaller than Nat at birth, and suffered a perforated bowel within the first two weeks of her life, which set her recovery back tenfold. It's incredible just how important that extra 6 weeks in utero really is. In our case, the extra 5 days that they were able to keep Natalie inside me apparently were essential for lung development (in addition to the steroid shots I was given to help her along) and really gave her a better prognosis, being delivered at 31 weeks instead of 30. Amazing.
Anyway, the good news is, baby Josie Duggar is finally home with her family. She was initially released in April, but after less than 48 hours at home, she had to go back because she was having some issues and her vitals were not good. But now, at 5 1/2 months, she's once again home with her loving family, and it sounds as though she's there to say, God willing. Another part of the irony of all this is that the reason Josie had to go back into the hospital was she had some undiagnosed digestive issues. Turns out, the kid's allergic to dairy. Just like Natalie. It's so weird how similar our situations are. Though, mine was my first pregnancy and Michelle's was her 17th... but still, we have a bond even though we will likely never know one another.
Now, I don't want this blog post to turn into an ethical debate, because I have very strong feelings about the Duggars and the Quiverfull movement in which they are strong believers and active participants, however... I am so happy for them that their scary NICU nightmare is over, and they can begin to spend quality time, as a family, with their new beautiful baby girl. I know how precious and special that moment was to Dave and myself when we finally got to walk out the door of the Maternity ward at P-ville Hospital for the last time with our daughter in hand.

But I'm sure Michelle Duggar would whole-heartedly agree with me on one thing: Pre-eclampsia sucks.


(And the last thing I have to say is, hopefully the Duggars will think about what they've just been through, and use some sound judgement and wait awhile, to give Josie the extra care and TLC that she needs to catch up to her brothers and sisters, before they change the title of their show again.)  I digress...