Happy Birthday, Baby

What is this day with two suns in the sky?
Day unlike other days,
with a great voice giving it to the planet,
Here it is, enamored beings, your day!

birth day with Papa

birth day, eyes open


Keep walking, though there's noplace to get to.
Don't try to see through the distances. That's not for human beings.
Move within, BUT DON'T MOVE THE WAY FEAR MAKES YOU MOVE.

My first visit with her-Day 2

Hands

belly distended-magnesium sulfate, day 2; I am still swollen

IV in arm bound; right hand bruised from unsuccessful IV insertion; still, she had a beautiful little face


Love comes with a knife, not with some shy question.
Love is a madman, working his wild schemes,
tearing off his clothes, running through the mountains,
drinking poison, and now quietly choosing annihilation.

You've been walking the ocean's edge,
holding up your robes to keep them dry.
You must dive under and deeper under,
a thousand times deeper! Love flows down.

Let the cords of your robe be untied.
Shiver in this new love above all, above and below.
The sun rises, but which way does night go? I have no more words.
Let the soul speak with the silent articulation of a face.

with her beautiful blanket, knitted by a volunteer, streeeetchh...


Taking ownership of our child, navigating our fear and the wires for kangaroo care-the anchoring of her tiny hands and feet in Sean's chest and tummy hair was the impetus for her first nickname, "Monkey"

Our daily ritual-5 or 6 hours of just breathing together




Silliness, and without the NG tube for the first time!


A thousand half-loves
must be forsaken to take
A whole heart home

leaving the NICU at last...after 7 weeks and 2 days; she weighed 4 lbs on the dot


At home, where she belongs, infinitely loved


The best gift, ever.


Fast Forward 1 year:





Hear blessings dropping their blossoms around you. God. -Rumi