We are keeping really busy these days with our new bundle of joy, Gia. She is full of personality, smiles and love for her momma & daddy. We can't get enough of staring at her some days! One thing taht we talked a lot about before Gia was born is how we are going to help her know her big sister, Whitney. I didn't really know what it looked like before she was born, but now that Gia is here, I've found it pretty easy to incorporate Whitney into our conversation.
In the first few weeks of Gia's life, both Sean and I missed Whitney terribly. It was almost as bad as the first few months after she died. I think we were seeing so much of what Whitney might have been, in Gia, that it just hurt so much to know we never got to experience these newborn things with Whitney. As times has gone on, it has gotten better, but we still miss Whitney tremendously. She would be almost a year and a half old right now, and I just wonder what she'd be up to, what milestones she would be reaching.
Sometimes, when Gia sleeps, she looks a lot like Whitney. In the early days with Gia (I say that like it was so long ago, but you know what I mean!), Sean and I both talked about Whitney to her a lot. There's no doubt she'll grow up hearing all about her big sister. One thing I am thankful that Sean and I did with Whitney is that we kind of "imagined" things that she would have liked... for instance, the song I played while in labor with her, "River Flows In You" by Yiruma is "her" song. We got a beautiful bouquet of white lillies from our friends Jimmy & Megan when she was born, and I think she would have loved lillies. So now, they are "her" flower. She has "her" Bible passage (Psalm 145) and "her" restaurant. Little things like that which are unique to Whitney help us keep her memory alive and pass it on to Gia. I play Yiruma for Gia sometimes and tell her about Whitney.
So though I am beyond sad that Gia won't have a big sister here on this earth, I am thankful that she has one who is in Heaven. And I am looking forward to the day when Gia is old enough to look through Whitney's scrapbook album with me.
For those of you who have had babies after a loss, how do you keep the memory of that child alive with future children?
Gia wearing her "Little Sister" onesie.
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