Giving Thanks Challenge ~ {Day #2}

Thanksgiving Challenge ~ Day #2
Topic: Noelle
Title: Tiny Fingers

{If you are new to this challenge, you can catch up on the details here...}

We love things that are miniature.  People everywhere never seem to tire of stopping to ooh and ah over things or people that are tiny.  I think that is part of the attraction with babies; they are miniature versions of us, and there is something unique and special about that, different than any other type of miniature dog or toy.  We are fascinated with babies' tiny ears and mouths, and we count all their toes; we marvel at their sweet little eyes and their itty bitty noses.  But it is their fingers which you often find us touching and holding more than anything else, I think because it is one of the first things they use to respond back to us.  That sweet "grab and hold" reflex warms our hearts; and you often find people reaching out to babies' hands, knowing that those little fingers will grab tightly onto theirs in an immediate response.  Noelle's fingers are extra special to me.  I think partly because after she was born, it was really the only part of her which we touched for many days; and she responded to us.  Her fingers were the tiniest I had ever seen in my life; her entire hand was barely the size of my pinky nail.  She could not grab onto our fingers the way most babies could, but it did not mean that she did not try!  It was through this touch, between our fingers, that we physically communicated that we were with her, encouraging her to fight hard with us by her side.  But there is another distinct reason why I thank God for these darling fingers.  I am not sure we ever publicly shared this detail since it was the least of our concerns at the time; but at our first high-risk ultrasound, one of the issues they believed they saw in Noelle's development was that her fingers appeared to be deviating to one side, at least on her left hand.  At the time, they were convinced it was yet another sign {of the many they had seen} that pointed them to the Triploidy diagnosis.  As we went through many other ultrasounds through the following weeks, they were never again able to get images of that hand; and so it was yet another thing we would have to wait and see, if she even survived the pregnancy.  Still, with all the other grave concerns she was facing, it was not the first thing I remembered after she was born.  In fact, I think it was later that night or the next day before I thought of it and asked Tom, "what about her fingers?" and received the reply {with a huge grin}, "they are absolutely perfect."  It is a small thing in comparison to all of the issues she has overcome, but these perfect, petite fingers {which are now giant sized compared to when she was born!} are a constant reminder of another evidence of God's grace in our lives; and today, I thank Him for them.

***Do not forget there are only a couple of weeks left to submit your entry for the book project for Noelle's birthday.  You can read about the project and the deadline by clicking here .  We are enjoying the submissions we have already received but would love to hear from you, if you are willing to participate.  Thank you so much for helping us make Noelle's first birthday a special time of remembrance!!***