Feeling Blessed: A Story of Oversharing

Let me start this by saying both my SO and I are complete oversharers.  We continually open ourselves up to anyone that will listen and neither of us is apologetic for that.  I am kind of surprised it took me this long to start a blog really :)

When Olivia was first diagnosed with SB on February 27, 2013 my SO and I were not really ready to share.  This was a first for us.  The first few weeks after we got the diagnosis we didn't tell anyone.  My SO and I had so many "We can do this, right?" conversations I lost track.  We worried around the clock if we were making the right decision and if we were being selfish, bringing a child into this world knowing she would have struggles from the second she was born.

After we got our own thoughts wrapped around the diagnosis we started telling people.  We decided that we would start with immediate family and our closest friends.  The initial response was mostly great but of course some people did not know what to say so it was inevitably awkward.  Those awkward moments made us both extremely hesitant to share outside of our close circle. 

We were so fragile that too many insensitive comments may take us both from stable to completely depressed.  Not because our baby had Spina Bifida but because of the struggles we knew she would have so early in her little life.  Because we wanted everything to be perfect for her and no parent ever wants their kids to struggle or have obstacles to face.  I felt an increasing amount of guilt as well because it was probably my body's inability to hold folic acid that contributed to her condition.

Slowly we expanded the news to those that we wanted to hear it from us directly.  I am sure we missed a few people but overall we really tried to tell our friends directly.  Their responses were amazing as well!

Then just today - it took us 8 weeks after she was born - the president and VP of oversharers anonymous (me and my SO) posted the news to all of Facebook.  The the response was OVERWHELMINGLY amazing.  I could not believe how many people I had not talked to in ages (we are talking some from high school in 2001) liked or commented on our post and gave us words of encouragement and support. 

People will consistently surprise you when you need it the most.  That is my lesson learned.  I don't want to become one of those people that posts bad stuff or "poor me"stories all the time but I am very happy we decided to post on this struggle and received the support that we did.

As parents we have to help navigate this crazy world of electronics for our kids but I am glad I posted this today.  I plan on printing out the responses and putting them in Livie's baby book so that she can see how many people loved and supported her before, during and after she was born.

Loving life and thankful for everyone in it right now!!

BE HAPPY. LAUGH. ENJOY CHAOS.