thankful

Last night I woke at 2:30 a.m. to cries coming from the girls' room. When I went in to investigate Aida was lying in bed (backward - that's how she likes to sleep these days), very agitated. I rubbed her head and whispered into her ear, asking what she needed. When I couldn't quite understand what she was saying, I tried repeating back to her, "You want to snuggle with Mommy?" No, clearly that was not it. After a few more moments I realized what she was saying - she wanted to snuggle with Sophie.

Well, by this time Sophie just happened to be awake, too. But Sophie wanted Mommy. So the 3 of us piled into the rocking chair. Usually this is a failproof way to illicit quiet from my children, but Aida was not placated. In a moment of 2:35-in-the-morning brilliance, I asked Sophie to hold her sister's hand. She sleepily obliged; we had immediate peace.

We rocked back and forth, sisters holding hands, and my mind raced back to our NICU days, to the night when I was finally able to hold both of my 3-week old girls at the same time. There they were, tiny bodies pressed against mine, swaddled within an inch of their lives, fuzzy caps on their heads. Within moments each had reached her hand toward the other and they were clasping fingers. My heart ached for every moment they had been separated after growing for 31 weeks literally on top of each other. And I was filled with gratitude for each little miracle in the past 3 weeks that had led to this moment, my daughters able to be together again.

So tonight, I am thankful for these girls, who have been God's gift to us over and over and over. And I am thankful for my husband, and for this little one growing in me now. Thankful for parents, brothers, sisters, friends. For daily struggles and daily mercy. And even for middle of the night snuggling sessions. But I'm thankful for sleep, too.