It's not finished yet (with a little under two months to go till due date)... but it's coming along. Between them, Older Nephew & BIL have painted the room in two different/complementary shades of grey-blue (and Pregnant Niece-in-Law, who has a degree in fine arts, plans to paint a mural on one of them). BIL found, bought & installed a light fixture shaped like an airplane. The comfy rocking chair we'd bought them as a gift sat in the corner. There's an IKEA cube shelf fixture full of toys & children's books that belonged to Older Nephew & his brother (some of them gifts from dh & me).
The crib and chest of drawers they'd ordered arrived last week. BIL & dh picked it up and hauled it all upstairs, piece by piece, and BIL & Older Nephew assembled it. There's no mattress or bedding yet.
It's beautiful.
I gave dh a bit of a hug as we stood there, looking at that crib. 21 years ago, during that brief time of reprieve, when we got an all-clear on our amniocentisis results after weeks of anxiety and uncertainty, we'd gone looking at nursery furniture, but hadn't yet ordered anything when our world came crashing down around us.
I closed my eyes and felt tears sting, briefly, thinking of the baby and the nursery that never materialized.
And then I thought about the new little great-nephew who (God willing, and knock loudly on wood) will be sleeping in this very crib in another several weeks. And I opened my eyes, and smiled.
You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.
mmmmmmmmmmm... those tender bitter sweet moments. A couple of months ago my husband and bil worked on building a nursery for my niece. i painted and decorated it... it was difficult and each day we'd sink on the couch feeling the grip of grief and the release of joy for the new life coming.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, I've got tears in my eyes at the thought of you guys looking at the crib. And I am both slightly peeved at BIL that he isn't thinking this may be hard for you both, but also pleased that he is including you both so much in everything to do with this baby. And what a beautiful ending to this post. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteAhh, had to be a moment. Glad you were able to think happy thoughts to get you thru it.
ReplyDeletePassing time can give distance, but it can entirely separate the happy from the sad, can it? You're an amazing, strong lady to be able to share the happiness, while acknowledging the loss. Sending much love.
ReplyDeleteI can picture that scene of you and your husband standing there looking at the nursery...beautiful and heartbreaking all at once. Abiding with you during this time that is bringing all these emotions back in a big way.
ReplyDeleteWhat a mix of emotions. I'm a little teary imagining this scene. You, Loribeth, are a woman of grace.
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