"Edited to Add"....

This started as a pregnancy blog when I fell pregnant in May 2009 after four years of finding a donor, doing all the counselling / paperwork / tests and trying.

And now, thanks to a 4WD which skidded onto our side of the road, killing our baby daughter at 34w and injuring me, my partner and two of my stepdaughters on 27 December 2009, it has turned into something else. We didn't want this something else, but apparently it is all we've got to go on with.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Archaelogy

There is a back corner of our garage where baby things accumulate.  It's where we hid away the little red suitcase of things we'd bought or been given for Zainab when it became clear she wasn't ever going to use them, along with the pram and carseat.  Over the last six months or so of this pregnancy it is where pre-loved baby things have washed up as dear friends have pressed them upon us.  Yesterday was a clear sunny day, impossibly warm for Autumn but a good washing day, so El Prima and I started our excavations.

We worked through boxes of baby clothes - washing and sorting them by size.  Tiny jumpsuits hung from our washing line like a cloud of white fluffy bats.  And we tried to imagine Adzuki's little feet - those little heels sliding regularly across the inside of my belly and giving El Prima well-timed kicks in the back - wearing some of these clothes.  It all feels quite unreal at this stage, but now that we've gotten past the same stage as our accident last time, some of the fear has lifted.  We're doing that crazy unbelievable thing - preparing for this baby to come home with us, and getting ready all the things we'll need to care for him as a living, breathing baby.  The part of my brain which tells me that I'm tempting fate, I'm hearing but not heeding.  Who knows what will happen, but I want to enjoy this bit of anticipation while we can.  

We started with the most recently stashed away things from friends, and then gradually dug deeper into the pile, finding the pram we'd bought second-hand for Zainab and pumping up the tyres, along with all the bits and pieces for it.  And finally we took a deep breath and turned to the little red suitcase.  I had imagined this as a little time capsule of all our hopes for Zainab - that we could open it, and while it might be sad, there might also be something bittersweet about her little brother wearing her hand-me-downs - a connection between the two.  I should have known from the weight of it that something was up, but the moment I unzipped it, we could smell what had happened - somehow water had got in and everything inside was mouldy and mildewy.  At first I just took a deep breath and started separating out the irretrievable things from the ones that might come good with a good soak, but as the extent of the damage became clear, we stopped and I wept.  That time, when we had felt Z kicking, and had bought these small things in anticipation - was well and truly gone - the new clothes we had bought then are no longer new but decaying.  The little gold sequined mardi gras shoes were still wrapped in plastic, so they smelt musty, but were mostly okay - the blue and orange overalls were so badly mildewed that the fabric fell apart as I pulled them out. The irretrievable things I packed back into the little red suitcase - it will have to go in the bin soon, but for now I needed some means of disposal that reflects the love and sadness we have for these mouldy little scraps and the baby who was supposed to wear them.

The other things, I soaked and washed and pegged out on the line - hoping that sunshine will help get rid of the smell, and that Adzuki won't mind if some of his clothes look slightly the worse for wear because they come from his sister.  Wednesday will be 36 weeks, so chances are, we'll be meeting him in the next month or so.  As scary as it is, we're putting faith in that thought. 

26 comments:

  1. Oh no. How truly sad. I too invest so much emotion into stuff, no matter how much I might idealize a Buddhist non-attachment to material things. If it helps, Huey spotted Zainab's star tonight, so she is still making herself known and being part of our lives, even though adzuki won't get to wear some of her precious clothes.

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    1. It is a nice ideal, that non-attachment thing, but I'm not very good at it either! Lovely that Huey saw Z's star - I've been taking comfort from that too. I'm lucky that the couple of small things I had made for Z seem to have survived okay - slightly smelly, but not too spotty or destroyed.

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  2. I'm pretty sure I would've had a full-on meltdown upon discovering that. I'm sorry. :( But I am certain that Adzuki won't mind, and hope it'll bring some happiness to your hearts to see him wearing the things bought with so much love for his sister. ♥

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    1. Oh yes, it was all quite melty for a little while here. Glad to know I'm not the only one. Thanks xxxh

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  3. Oh, no. What a kick in the teeth.

    I'm glad there are some salvageable things, and of course A won't mind -- hand-me-downs ought to be a little the worse for wear, don't you think?

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    1. We're all coming to him second-hand and a bit worse for wear, so really it fits that some of his clothes will be a bit the same.

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  4. Oh my dear. I've been thinking about this post all day, it made me feel so sad to think of Z's things all damp and mildewy, wrapped up in the little red suit case.

    But I think Bionic is right, hand-me-downs are never completely immaculate. I hope that the little things you were able to salvage wash up nicely and so Adzuki will be able to inherit some clothes from his big sister. Sunshine cures a lot of ills when it comes to clothes I find.

    36 weeks. Thinking of you and El Prima and the girls and Z and Adzuki, hoping for light and peaceful weeks for you and for . . . well, oh so much. A lovely life xo

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  5. Thanks so much Catherine. It is a lovely life - and I feel lucky to be here with this warm hiccoughing bump. But yes, part of me will always be there in the little red suitcase, all spotty with mildew and the wet smell of sadness.

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  6. This post made me cry, so many of your posts do. You write so beautifully.

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  7. Oh. Oh oh oh oh. I think my heart just broke. I too get horribly attached to stuff, when I know I shouldn't because we all know stuff is just.... stuff. Not what matters.
    But I could relate to a lot of this. I clearly remember the day, a warm early spring day, where we did the same for Angus. His sister didn't make it, but we had to have faith that he would. So we washed the clothes.
    Lots of love to you guys. You're an amazing family. One that is about to get bigger and a whole lot crazier.
    xo

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    1. Thanks so much Sal. I love the thought that Angus got to wear all those clothes - and that you've been through that hopeful, tentative washing day. Oh, we can't wait for the added craziness of this little one! xxxxh

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  8. I'm so glad you're at the washing clothes bit and can't wait to hear that he's here and in your arms.

    The clothes would have sent me into meltdown as well. xx

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    1. xxx Thanks Maddie. My god the time goes slow at this end though! xxh

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  9. Keeping your family in our thoughts and prayers.

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  10. I loved the picture of all those tiny little clothes fluttering in the warm sunny air. I was so sad reading about all the things you collected for Z being mildewed and ruined. That would have been heartbreaking. I'm glad at least a few items were salvageable. Sending love... 36 weeks... So close. I think of you all the time.

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    1. Thanks Renel - I think the smell of mildew will always make me cry. Thinking of you guys too - come on babies! xxxxh

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  11. so sad. i do love that picture, though.

    wow, you're almost there now...

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    1. Thanks Pomegranate - 'nearly there' is one of our mantras now.

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  12. 36 weeks. Nearly there. Nearly there. Nathaniel's things are all in the basement, and still in his dresser drawers. The gifts from my baby shower still in the gift bag. The hand-me-downs from friends. All still there.

    It's so exciting to see and feel the little clothes to put the baby in. Washing, cleaning, nesting, preparing, as much as one can, I suppose, for a wiggly, squirmy, eating sleeping screaming machine of sweetness. I hope that someday I'll have a little to fill the stroller and the carseat and the diapers and the clothes. Sending buckets of love to you and your family xoxoxoxo

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    1. Oh, I hope so much that Nathaniel can hand his things down to a sibling sometime soon! Thanks so much Suzanne - buckets of love to you & yours too xxxx h

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  13. Oh, how very sad to lose those special things that were Z's. I'm sorry, friend.

    Ah, washing and drying baby things, so surreal, isn't it? Continued prayers and wishes for everything to end in the best possible way for you, it's getting so very close! xx

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    1. xxx thanks so much Jenn. It is completely surreal - just trying to imagine that a small person may actually wear these things. Please, please let that happen! xxxx h

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  14. I don't have a good reason for finding this just now, and reading you are at 36 weeks. But my heart is happy to read that. Wishing and hoping with you. <3

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