Harper’s Baby Blessing
This weekend, we were supported by so much love from family and friends as we congregated to give Harper a name and a blessing. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, baptism comes when a person is at least 8 years old and can choose for themselves to become a disciple of Christ. However, often babies born into the Church are given a special blessing.
So on Sunday, Andrew held our sweet little babe and offered a beautiful blessing through the Power of the Priesthood (God’s power given to man to do His work on the earth). In the blessing, he was prompted to say a few special things to Harper:
In her life, she will be filled with desires to serve others and to learn
She will be able to develop a sense of identity as a daughter of God, and this identity with give her purpose
While she may experience trials, her health will generally be good.
She will feel calm and peace in her life, and she will be a light to others around her.
The day before the blessing was a day I can only describe as “a series of unfortunate events”. On our drive to my parents’ home, Madelyn complained that her tummy hurt, and then when we were around the corner from our destination, she threw up. Luckily my mommy-spidey sense went off and I was able to pull over and get her a blanket to throw up in. It was mostly water and she felt completely fine afterwards, but it was still a terrible way to start the day.
Then, while changing Harper’s diaper, I noticed that her belly button was looking strange. We took a picture of it and my sister in law was able to send it to her nephew who is studying to become a doctor. Through a few questions, he guessed it was an umbilical granuloma. Unfortunately, I still felt unsure about if my baby was ok or not, so we ended up visiting the Emergency Room at Kaiser Hospital. We were sure we would have to wait around for hours, but because Harper is only 1 month old, they immediately sent us back and gave us a private room so that we wouldn’t be near any sick patients. Then a nurse and doctor came in pretty quickly after that. It was confirmed that Harper has an umbilical granuloma, but it’s not infected and causes her no pain. So we went back to my parents’ house to salvage the rest of our day.
Through this all, my body (ok, to be exact, my boobs) were aching. I had taken an herbal supplement because I feared I wasn’t producing enough milk to feed my baby. Well, let me tell you, that supplement did its job and milk definitely came in, but it made me feel engorged and tender.
Anyway, the day was just all around unpleasant, but surprisingly I didn’t feel angry or bothered by it all. In fact, I felt an immense amount of joy and peace. I have to attribute it to the support and companionship I felt from my family. Heidi and April, two of my sister-in-laws from Utah, as well as my mother-in-law, Debbie, were there with me every moment that day. My own mom gave me great advice over the phone (she was busy with a church activity). And Andrew also was very loving over the phone. I knew that I wasn’t alone, and I am so grateful for that.
