Angel Baby

Real talk: I did not want a second baby. I had an awful pregnancy and delivery experience with Caia and selfishly did not want to go through that again a second time.

Chris really wanted a second baby, and he was dying for Caia to have a sibling, but I was more than happy with having only one child.

In the pre-covid world, Chris was traveling EVERY WEEK, Monday through Thursday, and I was working full time. So for me, in addition to not wanting to be pregnant again, the idea of having two children was incredibly daunting.

After a lot of deep discussions and negotiations we decided to “try” for a second. But, being the pain in the ass that I am, gave him only one weekend to make it happen. I told him that if it was meant to be, it would be.

Fast forward four weeks weeks later and to our complete and utter shock, I found out I was pregnant. It was meant to be.

Pregnancy with Laila, despite being sick at the beginning, was a breeze. And she entered the world via a scheduled c-section, easily without any drama. Which was night and day compared to my insane birth story with Caia.

From the second Laila arrived I was obsessed and felt an instant connection, I knew from her first day on earth that she was special - like a little angel. She never cried or fussed and was just so content and snuggly. I was (and am) in love with her.

Immediately, any fear or worry about having a second baby was washed away. Chris was right. We were destined to have a second and it was destined to be Laila.

In her 10 months on earth she has filled our world with endless smiles and giggles, even through all of her pain and discomfort.

Today, two days after surgery, the doctors finally have her pain in check and they were able to remove her NG tube (yay!). We look forward to continued progress from our little warrior so that we can hopefully go home at some point this weekend and start radiation next week.

It is mind boggling to me how and why these things happen to anyone - especially innocent little babies. It does not make sense.

But, what I do know is that Laila is destined for greatness. It’s clear that nothing was going to stop her from coming into this world. And now we know that nothing will stop her from changing it. I am the luckiest to be her mom.