She's now the same age as Dominic was when he was diagnosed with leukemia.
It was exactly one month from his birthday when we drove to Calgary and got the horrible news, and we knew that leading up to her turning 11 months we'd face some extra anxiety.
We prepared as best we could. For Christmas before she was born, we got an Owlet baby heart monitor which straps on to her foot and reads not only heartbeat but how much oxygen is in her blood overnight. It would send out an alarm if there was ever an issue.
Our family doctor was OK with us doing an extra blood test for Samantha at six months, just to make sure there was nothing wrong.
She's getting all her vaccinations right on time, had the flu shot, you name it we've done it.
But Dom was healthy and happy until he got sick. So you never know. Fittingly, she got her first cold right at Christmas. Trish had some time off and it was -30 C outside so we basically huddled indoors for the holidays.
She got over it, like kids are supposed to. She took her first steps this past week, can swim wearing water wings with minimal assistance, and has a fantastic laugh. She's come into her own but I still see Dom's smile in her.
I guess now we're in uncharted territory. A child who's healthy - how about that? Soon we can expect to experience things we never did with him, like first words, going to daycare when both of us are back at work (we split parental leave, six months apiece), and a birthday party with other actual kids in the room.
This year will be a lot different for us. We're still going to fundraise for the Alberta Children's Hospital, but the goals will be lower. We actually did meet our goal for 2017, getting a few hundred dollars in the last few hours of Dec. 31. Superhero Night and mini golf and the online auction are all things we want to do again but I'm not setting any dollar figure goal per se. The truth is I won't have nearly as much time to do it all again and that's OK: if charity is how we are parents to Dominic, we now need to split the time to be parents for Samantha too.
Beautiful blog. You have so many wonderful memories to make in the coming years. I love the idea that charity is how you continue your love and parenting for Dom.
ReplyDeleteMany things in life come as a reason, season or lifetime. The big goals for the charity work has had it's season, and the lifetime goals for it will make a huge difference for other children.
I look forward to seeing the first birthday photos - I imagine it's going to be quite an event!
I'm going to wipe my tears now.