Thank You, All

I saw photos of Baby Alice today and started crying.  She is such a peanut although she is bigger than I thought she’d be.  And, biologically, she may not be a “Mears Girl,” she is already showing the same sort of spunk that people claim make my sisters and me different than most families of sisters. My sister is a dancer and one of the photos of Alice shows her doing a major arm flourish.  She’s already her mother’s daughter!

Needless to say, the family is filled with extreme joy while being overwhelmed at the same time.  We thought we’d have plenty of time to prepare for the arrival of a baby….you know…do the baby showers…help my sister set up the nursery…make lots and lots of adorable looking baby clothes.  But Alice and G*d had other ideas, so here we are.

I must confess that I feel a little helpless in knowing what to do to comfort my sister as she and her husband go through all of the legalities and deal with the well-meaning people who are telling her what she HAS to do (but she can’t do because of the legal and medical issues involved).  My sister is heart broken that she hasn’t even been allowed to visit with Alice because she is recovering from the flu and not allowed into NICU (and she understands the danger she poses to all of those medically fragile babies…but that doesn’t make the hurting go away).  As I write this, I am waiting for news that the court has granted them guardianship today–the first step in the adoption process.

And so I turn to the one activity that spans the generations for comfort–sewing with grandma’s sewing cabinet.  How I wish she were here!  She’d know just what to say and do.

But she isn’t here so I rely on the community of women (and a few men) who share the common bond of sewing with me….the women who have encouraged me and celebrated with me over the years.

I want to thank you all, so much, for your words of encouragement and the ideas and the resources you sent my way…both in the comments and via email.  By far, the most recommended website via email was this one:

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/mcshelpsite/sewingstuff/freepatterns.html/#preemie

I was grateful for this link because it helped me expand my understanding of what Alice will need.  I am now waiting for the go ahead to make a “snuggler” or “burrito wrap,” a positioning “snake,” and an isolette cover.

Thank you again, for your immediate response.  I KNEW I could count on you!

PS: Now I have an excuse to subscribe to Martha Pullen’s Sew Beautiful!