Thursday, November 12, 2009

8 Weeks & Prayer Request

I would not have believed you if you had told me this time last year that today I would have a happy and healthy eight week old baby girl! :)

HAPPY 8 WEEKS ABBY!

Mommy, Daddy and Sean are so blessed and lucky to have you in our life (with Molly always in our hearts)!


Here is a recent picture of our daughter Abigail Grace from this past Saturday after she was baptized!



Thank you for your kind words, thoughts and prayers as we settle in to life with our new baby girl! One of these days I am going to find/make some time to sit down and share with you here some about the first two months of Abby's life with our family. In the meantime, overall things are going well and we are adjusting to our new life as a family of four (with our sweet Molly Marie watching over us from Heaven).

The prayer request is for my Godmother/paternal Aunt Denny who was in a serious car accident on Saturday afternoon while driving home from her best friend's house. The impact was on the driver's side of the car and she was transported to the Shock/Trauma unit of a Maryland hospital by Medivac. She sustained several injuries including a head laceration, multiple broken vertebrae and ribs, broken pelvis and scapula. Denny also sustained severe head trauma and is mildly responsive, but is making excellent progress by saying her name.

According to her children/my cousins, she has overcome a big hurdle in her road to recovery, as ​she is now off the ventilator (initially she was unconscious and in critical condition), but still needs assistance breathing with an oxygen mask. The initial swelling has gone down and she looks good. There is still some concern over swelling in her brain. The doctors continue to stress that she has a long road of recovery ahead of her.

Please send your thoughts and prayers for healing and strength to my Aunt Denny, her three children, their three spouses, her four grandchildren, her four siblings (including my dad), her numerous nieces and nephews and all those dear family and friends who love and care so much about her.

Denny has worked in high school campus ministry for many years and thus has made an impact on countless young people's lives, who have gone on to do great things and yet have never forgotten how she helped them through difficult times in their adolescence. I started a Facebook group on Monday afternoon, for family and friends to come together during this difficult and uncertain time, called "Prayers for Denny" and already it has over 500 members, many of whom are current or former students that she ministered to over the years!

G​rowing up in the Midwest​ I didn’t get to see and spend time with my God​mother/Aunt very often, however I have so many wonderful memories of the times we've shared together over the years. Many have commented on the "wall" of the Facebook group and in the guestbook of a Caring Bridge page, that Denny's children set up to keep us all updated on her condition, about how Denny has helped, stood by, prayed with and for and stayed strong for them during challenging times in their lives and I too can attest to that. Now it is our turn to help, stand by, pray and be strong for Denny and her children. So please send some much needed and much appreciated thoughts and prayers for healing and strength to my Aunt Denny, her children and all those whose lives have been graced through knowing her.

May God bless you and your loved ones.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween from "Four of a Kind!" :)

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Remembering ~ Gone Too Soon

Thank you so much for your comments on my last two posts announcing Abigail Grace's birth and sharing some early photos of her and our family! Your genuine enthusiasm, kind words, continued support, thoughts and prayers mean so much to me.

Abby is four weeks old today and though I am very sleep deprived, in part from nursing our daughter around the clock, it is for very good reason and overall things are going well with our family as we adjust to life with our new baby girl! :)

I didn't want to let today go by without acknowledging it's significance, being that it is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day (promoting support, education and awareness for grieving families). Bob, Abby, my mother-in-law and I participated in our local "Walk to Remember" in honor of our babies on Sunday afternoon (Sean had a birthday party at the same time, so he didn't join us this year) and found it to be very moving and healing.

For those not familiar with our "story" of losses, you are welcome to read my post, Who You'd Be Today, on this date last year that talks about our journey trying to expand our family between the births of our first child, our son Sean, and our daughter Abby (which was our sixth pregnancy, but only our second living child).

Tonight we lit a candle, as part of the world-wide "wave of light" in loving memory of our baby girl Molly, Babies Benson and all those babies who have gone too soon on this National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

To those of you mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who have lost one or more babies, please know that I hold you close in my thoughts and prayers tonight as I call to mind the lives of those precious children (no matter how long they were here with us).

I know that we will never "get over" losing our babies, however I wish for all of us grace and healing peace as we continue to learn to live without them.

Take care and may God bless you and your loved ones.

As I find lyrics to be healing at times like/on days such as this, I leave you with the lyrics to the song "Gone too Soon:"

Like a comet
Blazing 'cross the evening sky
Gone too soon

Like a rainbow
Fading in the twinkling of an eye
Gone too soon

Shiny and sparkly
And splendidly bright
Here one day
Gone one night

Like the loss of sunlight
On a cloudy afternoon
Gone too soon

Like a castle
Built upon a sandy beach
Gone too soon

Like a perfect flower
That is just beyond your reach
Gone too soon

Born to amuse, to inspire, to delight
Here one day
Gone one night

Like a sunset
Dying with the rising of the moon
Gone too soon
Gone too soon

Monday, September 21, 2009

Pictures of Abby! :)

Here are some pictures of Abby and our family taken the day after she was born by a "Bella Baby" photographer in our hospital room. We have more from this "photo shoot" and a lot of other great pictures taken with our camera and ...others' the day she was born and since, that I may share here at some point. In the meantime here are some for you to check out/enjoy. Thank you for all of your congratulatory messages, as well as your continued support, encouragement, thoughts and prayers! We are absolutely thrilled about the birth of our healthy and happy new baby girl! :)

Abigail Grace Benson


Close up of Abby's cute and chubby face

Big Brother Sean with his Little Sister Abby

Our Benson Family

Mother and Daughter


Daddy with his little girl

Thursday, September 17, 2009

She's here!

Dear family and friends,

Today is a happy day!

It is with great joy that we share the news that our daughter/baby sister

Abigail Grace Benson

was born safely and healthy this morning

Thursday, September 17, 2009

at 7:55 a.m.

weighing 9 lbs. 5 oz.

measuring 21 inches

Kathy and Abby are both doing well.

We look forward to sharing pictures with you of our new baby girl soon.

Thank you for your support, encouragement, thoughts and prayers throughout our pregnancy and going forward with the newest addition to our family.

With love,
Bob, Kathy & big brother Sean
with big sister Molly always in our hearts

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

"The love inside..."

you take it with you."

~ Sam says to Molly in the movie "Ghost" after he dies

I was eating my breakfast this morning, after Bob and Sean left to catch their respective train and bus to work and to school, while reading and commenting on my friends' status updates on Facebook (I find it relaxing). I was noticing how many of them had to do with Patrick Swayze's death (may he rest in peace): "nobody puts baby in the corner," "she's like the wind," you get the idea... When I came across one from an old friend from high school. He shared that he is "friends" with Demi Moore on Facebook and that one of her recent status updates read:

Patrick you are loved by so many and your light will forever shine in all of our lives.

And in the words of Sam to Molly,

"It's amazing Molly. The love inside, you take it with you."

I love and will miss you Patrick.

I just started bawling, in part because I didn't remember that Demi Moore's character in the movie "Ghost" was named Molly (like our baby girl in Heaven) and because I forgot how much I love that quote. Very therapeutic on this morning, two days before our new daughter/sister is due to be born.

I cannot believe how close we are getting to meeting her! I have so many mixed emotions, as I know that some of you understand and others are very empathetic to.

CLC, at Please Give Me Back My Heart , had such a heartfelt post this week about how she wishes that her baby girl (who died in December 2007) and her baby boy's (who was born in March of this year) "existences didn't have to be mutually exclusive." I could really relate to feeling that anguish of wanting to have Molly back, while preparing to welcome our new baby girl into our world. I also really appreciated reading the validating comments on CLC's post, especially one from a woman who suggested that your children who have gone before you and those who still live with you here on earth don't have to be "mutually exclusive in our hearts." I like that concept and choose to focus on it now.

I am excited for the birth of our daughter/baby sister on Thursday, believe me! However, I am also just scared that some how this isn't real and/or that we won't get to bring her home. I am trying to be optimistic that she will be fine and know that it won't be long now. I realize this is normal for a mother who has lost a child and am doing my best to be patient with and kind to myself. I know that it is okay that I may not be approaching our new baby girl's birthday in a "normal" way. It doesn't mean that I am any less grateful for her existence or that I love her any less than my other children (both living and in Heaven).

Thank you, as always, for your kinds words, support, encouragement, thoughts and prayers. I find so much comfort and peace in the idea that our Molly-girl has taken the love she felt inside while she was here with us on this earth with her to Heaven. I wish that for Patrick Swayze, all of my family members and friends that have gone before me and for your loved ones that have gone before you.

48 hours from now, if things go as planned, I will be in the operating room prepping for our c-section to deliver our new baby girl!

September 17th is going to be a happy day!

One day at at time...

We are almost there.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Signs & Good Fortunes

As you may have noticed, I blog more often when I am anxious.

Thank you so much for your kind words, support, encouragement, thoughts and prayers. They help me so much to take this journey one day at a time and know that so many people are holding me and my family close as we approach the birth of our daughter/baby sister.

Only three more days... September 17th is going to be a happy day!

In the meantime, here are a few "signs/good fortunes" that our family has received that I like to believe show that our daughter/sister Molly in Heaven continues to be with us in spirit and that our new baby girl will likely be delivered safely and healthy later this week.

Last week we bought three jars of natural creamy peanut butter at the grocery store, as we go through it pretty quickly in our home. I noticed this morning when I went to open one that the "Best if Used by" date was APR 17 2010 (the 2nd anniversary of Molly's birth and death).



On January 1st of this year Bob and I ordered Chinese food for dinner to celebrate the new year. This is what I found in my fortune cookie that night! At the time we were already pregnant with Baby Benson, however we didn't know it yet.



Over the weekend we celebrated my mom's birthday at the same Chinese restaurant that Bob and I had ordered from earlier this year on New Year's Day. This is what Bob found in his fortune cookie! I like to believe that it was a "message" from Molly, that she is looking out for/watching over her mommy, daddy, big brother Sean and soon-to-be born baby sister.