People often discuss the sacrificial nature of bringing children into the world. The aches of pregnancy, the pain of childbirth, the toll it can take to meet the needs of the helpless little baby God has placed in your care. These are valid realities, understandable feelings, but what we don’t talk about enough is what a “cross” it can be to have to wait.
A Seed Planted-
My husband and I have always been open to life. Not only did he take the daughter of my youth as his own, we joyfully welcomed two children in two years, with me becoming pregnant just a few short months into our marriage. We had plans to buy a home but the pandemic hit in 2020 and it caused us to re-evaluate many things. I was a stay-at-home mom after 10 years of studying and working in the medical field and eventually decided to homeschool our children.
We would have been happy to accept any children the Lord would bless us with, but it wasn’t in our plans anymore. With resources low, mental health challenges with our oldest that required our full attention and futures uncertain, we put a pin in growing our family. Our hearts still longed for another, however and we would often joke about a future child, referring to them as “Dougie”, a name I like as my father’s middle name is Douglas.
A suspected early miscarriage made the waiting and wondering if we would have more children even heavier for me. In 2022 we decided, staying open to life, to plan to conceive the next year. We had so much fun that year and made progress that positioned us well to receive our future blessing. We laid our homeschool foundations for our 3 kids, found a long-awaited diagnosis for our oldest, celebrated her confirmation, attended weddings, parties and traveled. When the time arrived, I became pregnant immediately and we were overjoyed.
Growth and Pruning-
The pregnancy was a dream come true, though difficult to physically endure. I have hyperemesis, especially with girls and this baby implanted low and stayed there, causing lots of pelvic pain that was a new and humbling experience for me. Still, I had a very healthy pregnancy, and it was exciting to experience it with the kids, especially since our two middle children were old enough to understand what was happening, too.
Even though it was later than I had originally wanted, the age gap allowed them to track the pregnancy with me and instilled in all of my children an appreciation for human life. We marked her growth on a chart which compared her to fruit and veggies, I read them milestones and facts for each week of gestation. I brought them to appointments and ultrasounds; they brought me water and helped me pick things up off of the floor! They were fascinated by my changing body, feeling kicks and wiggles, knowing what they called “our baby” was growing within and that this is how God created them, too!
A Rose in Bloom-
In April of 2024 our Rose was born during Eastertide, three days after Resurrection Sunday. My husband loved the name and the affectionate nickname of “Rosie”, it just felt right to him. Yet, her name holds meaning even deeper than it’s loveliness.
I named her for the Resurrection of Christ, as Jesus Rose from the dead. For Mary, the Mystical Rose. And after the flower which represents to me, the prayers of the Holy Rosary. The idea of offering prayers to in the form of Roses came from the teachings of St. Louis de Montfort and his work: The Secret of the Rosary, which inspired my storytelling apostolate, Motherhood Through the Mysteries.
As I mentioned in my last post, the ministry and book manuscript I had written in the years prior hit roadblock after obstacle despite a lot of effort for a long time. As disappointed as I was about the stalling of my dreams, I knew that our baby was a greater blessing. I named her Rose because I offered the gift of her life right back to the Lord as praise. The only reason my writing goals mean much to me anyway is the desire to glorify God and her life is a testimony beyond words.
A New Chapter-
I’m not sure if it was the age gap, the longing or the experience we had gained as parents, but that post-partum was the happiest time of our lives. We lived in bliss for weeks, staring at our newest family member and falling in love all over again. She was healthy and I recovered from my third cesarean without complication.
Mere weeks later our second daughter received Jesus for the first time in Holy Communion and we baptized our newborn into the Catholic Church. We had similarly spaced sacraments years ago, marriage and my daughter’s first communion, and I truly believe in the grace that flowed into and sustains our family as a result of their rapid successions.
I took a step back from writing and returned to school when the baby was just four months old. I missed sharing and creating but felt convicted to focus on my family and education and to soak in the infant season. I’m so glad that I did! I was able to relax and just be. I knew God was still writing our story, still is, and I trust Him as the Author.
“I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God.” -St. Mother Teresa
Life Lately-
My husband and I celebrated 10 years of holy matrimony this past spring and spent a beautiful weekend with our baby on Nantucket. I always think of that time as a happy bubble that quickly floated away. Days after returning was the beginning of the most harrowing experience of our lives.
We almost lost our oldest daughter, but God spared her life. Medicine and miracles brought her home to us after 25 days of hospitalization. I know that many of you were brought here from this event as I openly begged for prayers. Thank you for being here. There are so many lessons, stories and testimonies from that time which will stay with us forever. I’ll have much more to share in future posts including next week’s blog.
Donate to our family’s GoFundMe
It was unexplainably difficult but, we made it through, and life went on. She graduated out of homeschool in the Summer and our middles moved on to 2nd and 4th grade in the Fall. Our son’s birthday fell as we were all still recovering and he really wanted a hamster. The rest of the family was skeptical at first but we picked out Henry the Friendly who brought even more life and joy into our home. It’s funny how kids sometimes know just what we need (even if it’s the last thing we think we want)! Rosie is already a year and a half, is walking, talking and has been the sweetest joy.
God has been so kind to us, using our happiness as well as trials to knit our family together even more tightly and increase the faith of every one of us. It’s part of the reason I decided to start this blog again- to tell all who will listen about His faithfulness and love for us.
I hope you enjoy these little stories of my life. That they inspire you, encourage you and resonate with your soul. I pray we can accompany one another as companions in this wild and wonderful world as we are transformed and tailored to meet our Savior in the next.
I’m keeping you always in prayer!
♡ Cait
Prayers Over The Kitchen Sink 