Vacation!...And thoughts that come with it

We had a wonderful week-long vacation to Michigan to visit Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncle and cousins.  It was so relaxing to wake up to the lake each day and Maggie LOVED it!  We would just walk around in the fresh air and listen to the birds singing.  It was literally like a Disney movie with bunnies hopping about, butterflies fluttering by and birds "talking" in the bird bath.  I felt like I should stick my head out the window, Cinderella-style, and converse with them!  So idyllic.

Much different from Chicago and listening to horns honking, ambulance sirens, and traffic, traffic, traffic.  It definitely rejuvenated our souls.

Here I am on my 1st 4th of July!

Maggie’s cousins sure do love her!  They were so excited to see her and even practiced how to hold her.  They couldn’t wait to do it!  It was the cutest.  I can’t wait until they can all play together.

Here I am with my cousins!

Maggie survived the cousins and the handling by everyone, which is good because we still don’t know how fragile she is.  Which both gives me relief and scares me.  Of course, I want to believe that her breaks are all done.  But I know that is not realistic.  What will happen?  Will her breaks come in waves, like I’ve heard?  Will we get so used to how she is now, but then one day something will break and all of this will start all over again?  Do I have an unreal sense of her condition because she seems so strong at this point?  So many questions…

I look at her everyday and wonder when it will start, which is a really crappy way to live, especially when you have a new baby.  But, at the same time, I recognize each and every day how special she is and how grateful I am that she is doing so good, and I am grateful for what I have.  And I know that for the 1^st 6 weeks of her life I wasn’t this grateful.  That may come off sounding bad, but what I mean is that I do not take one thing for granted nowadays, and I know it is easy to take things for granted when your child is okay.  Although we only got about 5 weeks of it, knowing what it is like on both sides of the fence has put things into perspective for me.  Now, when I have to wake up at 2 to feed her I am just glad that she is here and can feed and doesn’t have underdeveloped lungs or ribs, like many other children with OI have.  I am glad she is just here.  I am grateful for a lot of things that may have escaped me before.