I’m inspired to write this blog for a dear friend of mine. It’s a bit personal but is intended to provide hope to others enduring the same struggles.

My daughter’s favorite movie, Charlotte’s Web, has a beautiful theme song – Ordinary Miracle. The song’s message holds a life mantra we all should practice:

Life is like a gift they say,
Wrapped up for you everyday.
When you wake up everday
Please don’t throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
Because we are all a part of the Ordinary Miracle today

As my husband and I anxiously await the arrival of our 2nd baby this summer, we feel blessed to be given the opportunity to become parents again and are still awe struck by the miracle of life growing inside of me. We struggled with infertility for years and turned to in-vitro 3 years ago with our daughter, Bear. As we experience another successful round of in-vitro with this pregnancy we keep the faith that miracles are happening around us everyday.

During infertility struggles you remain silent searching for success stories. Unfortunately, when you are trying to get pregnant without success, it seems to be in the water for everyone around you. It’s painful to hear baby announcement after baby announcement. At one point I thought my career at Graco would have to change – how could I surround myself with babies EVERYDAY? And the question you can’t seem to understand or answer, haunts your every thought…Why won’t it happen for us?

And there is NO WAY you are going to talk with friends or co-workers. SILENCE is your perception of the best solution. At least silence prevents the heartache and guaranteed tears that will begin to flow when you see the empathy & pain in anothers eyes. Deep down inside, you also know that other people can’t relate and there is nothing they can say that will FIX the problem…so it’s best to save them the awkwardness and yourself the anguish.

At least that is what I thought. Looking back, I wished I talked more- especially to my family (my husband would agree with that, since he was the lucky recipient of my every thought and worry).
BUT…the minute you have success with in-vitro (Clomid, IUI, etc) ) you can’t say enough. I volunteer that our Bear is a successful in-vitro baby and the same with this pregnancy. It may be awkward for some people to hear however, if I can impact ONE couple with hope that THIS TOO shall happen for them, I’m thrilled.

I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason – my husband & I struggled for a reason. We won’t know why – but I share our story as one of hope & optimism for those enduring the same heartaches of infertility. Because, it was stories like these that gave me strength to keep believing during our 5 years of failed attempts to have children.

My advice…
Have Faith, Relax, Count Your Blessings and…
Enjoy the miracles happening around you everyday.

In my daughter’s words, “Happy to Us”
In a mother’s words, don’t stop believing miracles can happen to YOU!

It’s always exciting to hear the pitter patter of little feet throughout the Graco building.  We had many little visitors during Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day last week.  Employees got to bring their children to experience the magic that happens here at Graco every day! 

Sure, we think we’re engineering and designing breakthrough products, but how would the children describe what their parents do here?  I conducted some interviews to find out:

Question: What did you learn today with your Mommy/Daddy at work?

 “Slinkies don’t go down stairs.”  and (POP!) “Plastic bubbles (from packaging) are fun to pop!”  Craig Desrosiers (Lead Engineer)’s son, age 5, learned two important lesson in physics, focusing on motion and sound. 

Question: What does your Mommy/Daddy do here at Graco?

 “Daddy chatters, spies on people, and goes to a lot of meetings”, observes Mike Halak (General Manager, North America)’s 8 year old daughter.  (Spies?  Oh, she means those focus groups- don’t worry - all of the parents involved know we are intently listening behind the glass! )

Other insights included “talks on the phone,” and “plays” on the computer.  
We managed to harness all of this creative energy around the building by transforming a conference room into a carnival of games and treats.

We also identified some future talent for the fashion and design department! (see for yourself) All in all, everyone had a great time.

And what does this day mean for those who don’t work in a corporate office setting? Beth F. from the NYC Moms Blog had an adorable idea….a trip to the zoo!  (After all, how much fun can kids really have with staplers and paper clips before some serious damage is done?)

“Honey, I swear I see two lines! Do you?”  The excitement burning inside, we are elated, giddy and the feeling comes; there is no way we can go 3 months without telling anyone. There is one upside about waiting 3 months before the big announcement…you have plenty of time to get creative.

We have 13 nieces & nephews and needless to say my brothers & sisters are extremely creative when it comes to announcing the news. My husband and I were anxious for the day it would be our turn…and how would we announce to our family?

I love this topic, especially now, since, not too long ago, we shared the news of our 2nd pregnancy with our family. (Baby #2 due in July)

This announcement was fun – we were celebrating our daughter’s 2nd birthday. Our entire family was coming into town; so we decided to do a “Year in Review” video for our daughter. It ended with her Goal List for 2008 — which included the hard task of “becoming a big sister”. Needless to say our families were thrilled, a lot of screaming, crying and hugging. (the “goal list” is another blog for another day)

Announcing to your family takes one tone and announcing to your team-members at work is an entirely differently deal. I wanted to explain the reason for my growing waistline to my marketing team at Graco. You can imagine how news spreads in an office setting – and I wanted to be sure to tell everyone on the team ‘myself’. You should never break-up via email; but nobody said anything about pregnancy announcement via email.

I was quite impressed with the response time to my email (especially given the timing of 5pm on a Friday) – I received a phone call within 1 minute of pushing send and that phone call was quickly interrupted by 2 young ladies screaming (one pictured here) as they ran into my office. It’s fun to work here and even more fun working with the people on the marketing team!

So I had some fun pulling some of the best ways…and I have created a Top 10 List.

Top 10 Ways to Announce “We’re Pregnant”:
10. Email the ultrasound picture to your family
9. A picture says a thousand words, yes that’s the EPT test.
8. Wrap a baby shoe as a gift to your family or husband
7. If there is an older sibling – the t-shirt announcing “I’m going to be a BIG Sister/Brother” is a sure win
6. My sister-in-law gave my mom a teapot (she collects them) and inside was a note that read; “Time For Tea and Baby #3. Clever!!
5. That same family (they have 6 amazing kids) – met my parents for dinner at a quaint restaurant and my parents were quite excited when they saw the Pink & Blue balloons at the table when they arrived.
4. From a dad-to-be to the future grandpa, “It looks like we will need additional Football Tickets this season”
3. Put an ultrasound picture on your Holiday Card (our special gift is arriving in July)
2. Have a bouquet of balloons (pink & blue) delivered to work or a grandparent’s house
1. And the BEST announcement ever…Anonymous post on a Family Website “Guess Who’s Pregnant”

Any additional ideas you could share with our parents-to-be??

April 12, 2008 - Jodie Sweetin delivers baby girl Zoie, 8lbs, 7oz.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jodie Sweetin at the Boom Boom Room in LA this past January. It was pretty cool to have the chance to talk to someone that I grew up watching on TV. Yes, I was a huge fan of Full House, I still find myself watching the re-runs!! While she has been through some tough times in her life, she is more than thrilled to start the next chapter. Now Jodie is all grown up and will soon have a full house of her own (well not quite, but even with one infant crying I am sure it can seem like a full house!) Jodie is now married and had her first baby on Saturday via c-section, almost an entire week after her April 6th due date. You can find a detailed interview and amazing photos of Jodie and her husband Cody Herpin on Celebrity Baby Blog.

Here is a brief “free write” that Jodie wrote for Graco-

Wow! Being pregnant! I know everyone says it’s a life-changing experience, but until you feel that first kick or see the sonogram pictures, you have no idea what it truly means. Every day, I wake up and look at my belly and am amazed. There is a life waiting to be lived in me that I can’t possibly imagine! Only a small distance away from what I can see with my eyes is a little person who will forever change my life. How blessed are we as women to have this gift?! It is a power that I never dreamed I would feel. Of course, there are also those times I look down and think “Seven more weeks? How much bigger is this thing gonna get? And how is she getting out of here again? Ha! Impossible!” Or the moments of spontaneous hysterics over something like a sweet card from my husband or lost sock in the dryer. (I refuse to even try watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition!) But these brief moments of panic and upset are taken away when I walk into the nursery my husband and I painted pink. When I look at the crib we built and imagine the little person that’s going to fit in there. I can’t wait to wrap her up in a blanket and smell her little sweet smell. To love and protect something with all of my being as a person, as a woman, as a MOM! I just want to say to all the pregnant gals, sleepless moms and the husbands who we couldn’t live without, ROCK ON!! We are doing the most important work in the world!

And here’s Amy… (still on maternity leave!!) 

When thinking of everything I’d do as an “Experienced Mom,” there were definitely a few things that I planned on improving the second time around – especially in the early months.   

Yet, here I am at 3am watching TV and typing with a sleeping baby on my lap.  Hmmmm.  According to my plans the baby should be asleep in the bassinet and I snug in my bed.  We didn’t use a bassinet with the first baby and I didn’t sleep in my own bed for over a month.  This time is supposed to be different, but the new little one has a stuffy nose and I’m afraid to let her sleep flat on her back. 

And during the drive home from the hospital, I again made my husband stop the car so I could climb in the backseat to be next to the baby (yes.  I did the same thing with baby #1).  I couldn’t bear to have her be alone (OK with her older brother), with the sun in her eyes, and crying.  It ripped my heart out. 

OK.  And one last example of me breaking my resolution was when I decided I was going to be more laid back this time around – yet today I spent an hour creating a spreadsheet to track feedings, poopy diapers, and wet diapers.  I just want to make sure that she’s tracking OK and eating enough along the way. 

Yes.  I have a rationale for why I broke each resolution, but it all comes down to one simple thing. . . I love this little girl with all my heart.  While I had sound reasons why I wanted to change certain things with my second baby, I planned all of these when having an infant was a distant memory.  Now that she’s here and I’ve fallen head over heels in love with her, when it comes down to having to choose between her comfort and mine, hands down she’s going to win every time.   

I’m still hopeful that I will use the bassinet one of these days and that I can sleep in my own bed, but if that doesn’t work out then at least I’ll have lots of quality bonding time with my little girl (and the DVR!).

Maternity leave…time away from work, time to spend enjoying your new addition to the family, time to bond and focus on the most important thing in the world during those few months- your new baby. Many people ask…What is she doing while she’s away? When is she coming back? Will she be different when she returns?

An amazing thing happens on maternity leaves it seems. Every time a woman at Graco leaves to have her child (sometimes planned, sometimes suddenly) it’s a little shocking. It’s like we are missing a piece of our puzzle here and it takes a little time to adjust to her being gone. However, it’s amazing to think she is leaving temporarily to accomplish something huge. She isn’t going on vacation; she isn’t kicking back and putting her feet up. Instead, she is embarking on one of the biggest and most rewarding challenges of her life. She is bringing a new life into the world. And that changes who she’ll be when she comes back to us at Graco.

She isn’t getting a break from her everyday job…she is starting a new venture that feels like much less “work” and much more “reward“. The fresh perspectives, the new memories, and the beaming face when she returns tell stories of all the fun (and sleepless nights) she enjoyed during her time away from the office. We hope they sometimes send the “boys” out for some fun so they can can enjoy some one-on-one time with their new little bundles.

For those of us who remain behind to hold down the fort while she is gone, it’s a reunion when she returns. It’s exciting to live vicariously through the Graco moms that take leave…we get all the great stories…we get to hold the baby when they get their first office tour…and we get to feel the love and excitement they have for their new little ones.

As you know, Amy Sleep just had little Allie and although it feels like three months will be forever until she comes back, time will most certainly fly for her. We couldn’t be happier to have her gone for such a special reason but hope she hurries back to us soon too. She at least needs to swing by the office so we can squeeze on her little one some! Then it won’t be long before we get to squeeze the cheeks of a little DeLoach and a little Lefko too!

It’s time to put the “O” back in Mommy and the “O” is Optimism!! How many articles are written about sleep deprived mothers, the challenges of balancing motherhood and work, how to whittle that waistline from baby #3 and more…

There is so much to celebrate about motherhood and we would all agree that even after a ‘tough’ day with a toddler, the next morning we can’t wait to get our little bundles out of bed. I think the “O” fell out of mommy when the tone took a shift…look at these “why’s” vs “why nots”
• Why the terrible twos? Why not the tremendous twos?
• Why is it sleep deprivation? Why not sleep efficiency?
• Why is it a struggle to balance being a working mom? Why not a gift to have the choice?

So, I’m going to go there…probably the ONLY conflict that exists between mothers today. Do you work or stay-home? (Also as a point of clarification Work-for-pay vs. Stay-at-home moms…because both are jobs) How many times have you been in a similar situation; you run into a complete stranger in the aisle of a Target – and as soon as you both realize you’re mothers, a conversation can spark-up with incredible energy and excitement. The only topic most women tiptoe around is “do you work or do you stay home”.  And I truly believe there is an envy and jealousy that triggers as a result of the other woman’s answer. And why the envy AND jealousy? …because we live in a world where we WANT IT ALL.

My point of view- why have a strong opinion about one over the other because both are GREAT!

Obviously, I’m a “work-for-pay” mother  (as I’ve now heard it put) and I wanted to offer an “optimistic” point-of-view for all working mothers out there. I had an awesome conversation with a great friend of mine (Tracy), who is also a working mother. As we sat on the beach we posed the question to each other; “If everything in your life remained the same; if you had the choice would you choose to work?” Put another way, “If you could remove the worries of providing stability and opportunities for your family, would you choose to work?”

My friend so eloquently described the situation a little differently; we shouldn’t get wrapped up in making the right decision for your family – staying home or returning to work. Rather, we should find peace in the idea that we have a choice! Every day we have the choice to work is a day to celebrate, because think about the many women who came before us. They didn’t have the luxury & freedom of choosing. The choice is what all women who came before achieved for us.

So next time we read Mommy Wars (looking for the answer on ‘how to have it all’)…celebrate the idea we have a choice. Here is a favorite quote that summarizes the sentiment, “Life is a journey and we can take a turn or detour anytime we want”. This quote offers incredible solace knowing that our decisions never have to be permanent.

Enjoy the journey of motherhood! Today we celebrate YOU!!

We are happy to announce that little Allie Joy Sleep arrived at 12:44pm yesterday and weighed in at 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 22″ long- right on schedule. 

Amy is feeling great (and looking good too, I might add) and getting some much needed sleep in the hospital before she heads home (where there will be a lot of “Sleeps” but nobody will be having any!)

Congratulations Amy and Stefan and big brother Tyler!!  Best Wishes to you and your beautiful family of four.

Wednesdays is usually reserved for a quick photo displaying the wonder of being a parent, however we thought the wonder of giving birth was certainly significant enough to alter our blog schedule.  :)

Today’s the day!  Amy Sleep (blog contributor), has scheduled to have her baby via c-section this afternoon.  (you can read all about it in her “I’d like to schedule my baby, please” post from last week.)  Yes-schedule.  She’s a busy woman, people!  In fact, on her way to the hospital, she is planning to drop off thank you notes for the office shower we held for her last week.  (This last minute errand was not on her Outlook calendar but apparently she really wants to squeeze it in).  I would have been ok with a late thank you note (actually I would be cool if she e-mailed me a mass thank you but that’s just me- my mom, on the other hand, would be waiting in the lobby of the office for that stack of thank yous).  The funny thing is, Amy thinks she’s busy now. Babies don’t care about Outlook calendars.  I have to hand it to Baby Sleep-he or she’s conscientious enough to not pop out before today. 

We’ll keep you posted- look out for another update - this one will hopefully have pictures of Baby Sleep!

There is something that has amazed me about each ultrasound I’ve had (two with Punkin’ Bear and two so far with BrotherSister). It’s not that you doubt that you’re pregnant, because you have the pitter patter of little feet and bops of little hands inside your tummy to remind you of that. It’s just an overwhelming mix of joy, excitement and to some extent relief to see those 10 little fingers and 10 little toes. It’s a fun experience as you try to determine “Who’s chin does he have” or “Oh, that’s definitely your nose” (this level of detail has been made possible with the 4D ultrasounds).It’s a glimpse into who this little person is that you’ve been nurturing and feeling for months. 

And for many, that in and of itself is all they need to know and to keep them going until they meet their baby face to face.  But, for others, there’s one additional, practical side to an ultrasound…it’s something everyone asks you when you’re pregnant: “Are you going to find out what you’re having?” Well, I’m one of those who couldn’t resist. I tried to when presented with the prospect before going into my very first ultrasound, but all of the practical, rational reasons kept piling up. Weellll…it would be nice to know what color to paint the nursery. And it couldn’t hurt to start buying some of those adorable outfits in pink or blue. And for a couple of people as indecisive as my husband and me who can’t even narrow down what we want for dinner within a reasonable timeframe, you can only imagine what we faced with selecting a name. So why not at least narrow it down between boys names and girls names? It actually wasn’t a decision that we came to easily, but once we did it seemed to work out well. During Punkin’ Bear’s ultrasound, the doctor gave us clear, concise “visual aides” that we were having a little girl. And so the planning began. 

Flash forward to BrotherSister’s ultrasound. This time the decision to find out came with much less hesitation. It seemed to work out well the first time and all. And as with Punkin’ Bear, it was absolutely amazing and awe-striking to see that beautiful little baby moving around. And after we were done counting fingers and toes and determining who’s nose the baby has, and the time came for the doctor to show us whether PB was in fact going to have a brother or a sister, our sweet little baby decided to cross her legs and make it pretty tricky to come to a conclusion. So for the rest of the procedure, we saw little hands moving, feet kicking and a head bopping, but low and behold no way were those little legs going to budge. Then, at the very end in a last ditch effort, the doctor tried to view things from a different angle which resulted in the opinion that she was 80% sure we’re having a girl.  

While 80% are admittedly good odds, there is still a 20% chance that she is a he. These are the same odds that we were given with Punkin’ Bear, but for some reason I’m just not so sure that BrotherSister is a sister. It could be an intuition of sorts, or perhaps it’s because my two pregnancies have been pretty different (though I hear from quite a few other second time parents that it doesn’t really mean anything). Or it could even be because Punkin’ Bear has recently taken to calling BrotherSister just Brother despite us telling her numerous times that she’s having a sister. And of course, there’s the “hearbeat myth”. I’ve always heard that boys heartbeats are in the 140s, which is what BrotherSister’s heartbeat has been over my past few visits, and girls heartbeats are typically in the 150-160 range.  

Despite not knowing whether we need to narrow our names down between boy or girls names, or whether we need to go buy some little boy outfits and steer clear from painting the nursery in purple and pink, I have to admit it is kind of fun not knowing. It’s added a level of excitement to an already highly anticipated event – meeting our new little baby in just a 2 ½ more months! I would love to know, though, if you’ve had any similar intuitions or incidents with your ultrasound “prediction” turning out the opposite when your baby did arrive- drop me a comment!