A new baby in the family

At each of the places we've been stationed, our family has grown. In Charleston, we had Nathan, in Norfolk, Conrad and here, well this time it's been a little different.

Rather than the nine month gestation that I experienced with our boys, it's been 21 months. With Nathan I was in labor for 28.5 hours (yep, I count every minute from the time my water broke) and pushed for three hours. Mercifully, with Conrad that was shortened to three hours of labor, ten minutes of pushing. This time there was no pushing but the labor lasted the entire "pregnancy."

When it came to the big day this time around, my mom actually got to be there, an experience she hasn't gotten to take part in with the boys, and Scotty almost missed it, making this a whole new "birth" experience.

So enough rambling and lame analogies, what did I do?

I completed my coursework, practicum and internship and earned my masters degree. After doing 52 hours of coursework, 150 hours of practicum and 621 hours of internship (not to mention numerous counseling sessions, 40 hours of observations and who knows what all else) I officially have master of science degree in counseling.

Walking across the stage was amazing. Scotty got there just in time (due to some last minute changes when the Grizzlies made round two of the playoffs, graduation was changed and he was supposed to fly out just as it was starting), the boys were able to see me as I walked up to the stage and I blew them tons of kisses, and it really felt as though the last two years of work had built to this moment.

The miscarriage hurt a lot. It still hurts a lot (I would be 11 weeks now, getting ready for an NT scan and possibly even getting an early guess as to who was getting ready to join our family), but refocusing my energy helps. Lately, that focus has been celebrating the baby that we, and yes I mean we because my entirely family worked and sacrificed to have me walk across that stage, successfully brought to term this spring. Now I'm working on nurturing it and shaping it into a real, grown-up job come this fall. And who knows, maybe some time in the not so distant future I'll be making an announcement about another baby joining the family next year.