Cry baby

Before I had Ryder, if I ever heard a sad story about a baby I would feel sad and say, "oh that's horrible" but then move on and not think about it again. Now that I have Ryder and have experienced the way you love a child, I cry over every single sad story about a baby. Even stories that are neccessarily that sad. And on top of that, I can't get my mind off of the stories either.

First example, tonight I was reading my friend Camille's blog: The Style Handler. She had a cool posting of jewelry that has Braille on it that was created by a family to raise awareness of the need for more blind people to have the skill of reading braille. As I read her blog, I learned that the woman who designs the jewelry line started it after her 2 month old was discovered to be blind at his well baby 2 month check up. Yes, most people would agree that that is very sad. But I started thinking about that poor baby who was living in darkness for the first two months of his life and no one knew. I'm not sure what knowing would have done (maybe the parents could have talked to him more/describe things more, I have NO clue!!), but I just kept thinking about this poor baby who was in the dark...I sound like a crazy woman, but I can't stop crying thinking of that poor defenseless blind baby. In fact, Joe probably thinks I'm crazy when I'm sitting here updating my blog while intermittently crying!!

Other random examples lately: hearing about a TWELVE year old girl that my friend Amanda councils at a junior high who is pregnant--and keeping the baby. Did I mention her mom isn't around to help?? That baby has NO chance. It's not the baby's fault, and I think about how sad it is for that baby to not have the same love and support that Ryder does. Another one I heard from the photographer that did Ryder's newborn photos, and recently his 6 month photos. A client of hers had a baby die of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) at age 5 months. Let's just say that this past week if Ryder sleeps even five minutes longer than he normally does for a nap, I'm running up the stairs to check on him to make sure he's breathing. Again, I'm crazy. And I'm sure some of you remember the story on the news recently where I man drowned his 6 month old baby in a wash basin....

I know this is an incredibly depressing blog posting, but I just want to know if I'm the only mom out there who reacts so emotionally to hearing sad stories about babies!?? Because I'd like it to stop. I think Joe would as well. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm sitting around 24/7 sobbing and searching for sad stories on the internet to cry over, but when I do hear one it really gets me for a little while. Maybe that just shows how much I love my little Ryder and would do anything for him. Or maybe I'm an overly emotional hormonal looney. HA!