Today I packed away the clothes that I have worn for the past 5 months. As I reached into the closet and pulled out each maternity shirt, pants, and dress, I relieved each time I had worn them and how far along I was in growing Madelyn inside me. I fought back tears and tried my best to remind myself that the prize I had dream about was lying next to me in her bassinet sleeping peacefully.
Yet still I felt like I was writing the final paragraph in a very important chapter of my autobiography. In a way I wanted to leave the clothes in my closet so that each time I opened the door I could see them and be reminded of the happy times I wore them. But my closet is too small, and it was time to put my regular clothes (those clothes that had been packed away for several months) back in.
When I was pregnant with Noah, I had just started wearing maternity clothes and then my water broke. After he passed, packing up and returning the clothes so many friends had loaned to me was heartbreaking as well. Clothes shared in love, that I never got to wear. In packing up and returning those clothes, I cried tears of what I never got to experience.
This time it was different. With Madelyn I got to experience the feeling of getting so big that I couldn't see my feet over my belly. I got to experience the reality that even maternity clothing gets tight at the end, and those shirts that at first had lots of extra room, eventually run out of space too. I got to experience it all and it was wonderful. This time packing up the clothes, I cried tears of happiness in what I had experienced, but also tears in thinking it had gone so fast and that that chapter of my life could be over.
I'm thankful we took some pictures this time, albeit not as frequently as with Noah, of Madelyn growing inside of me. And while it will be so different to open my closet and see my regular clothes in the place where the clothes that served as symbol of the life growing inside of me once were, I have to be thankful for the time I had.
So in writing that final paragraph on the chapter titled Maternity clothes... I share some pictures of my favorite maternity clothes I got to wear with our newest little angel.
December 2015
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| Starting to show but still hiding it. |
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| By Christmas it was getting more and more difficult to hide my bulging belly. Thankfully with the holiday season, there were times I blamed it on eating too many holiday cookies. |
January 2016
By January the bump was definitely visible.
After getting past 23 weeks, and experiencing the scare we had, we shared the news. I started wearing maternity clothes regularly...
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| Getting bigger |
February 2016
As the bump grew, I found I had a great ledge for holding my cups of daily milk and cookies.
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| The Easter dress my mom got for me. |
May 2016... the month we prayed we'd get to...
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| I think she was bigger than a basketball by this point... more like an extra large watermelon. |
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| The last few weeks before Madelyn was born. |
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| Mother's day |
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| My final maternity picture. |
As sad as I am to close this chapter and pack away the maternity clothes that hold great memories for me, I am so blessed that the greatest gift I could have ever wanted is lying right next to me...
Yep, its time to wipe away the tears and write the final sentence of this chapter, for there is a new chapter to begin writing...
This chapter is gonna be even better.
Until next time,
Angie
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