Sara: When I was younger, I loved the movie Home Alone. I think our family nearly wore out our VHS tape from watching it so often. There’s one line in the movie I never truly understood until this past week. As Kevin has been left home alone in Chicago, the mother is in the airport begging passengers to give up their seat so she can fly home to be with her eight year old son. The mother approaches one lady, and after much dialogue, she says, “I’m desperate. I’m begging … from a mother to a mother … please!” Then the lady gives Kevin’s mom her ticket.

I never understood how so many mothers could so easily empathize with each other, regardless of the situation. This week, though, I think I came one step closer to realizing it’s the case, even if I still don’t fully understand the universal experiences of mothers yet.

This week, I went into the kitchen to put some dishes in the dishwasher. The floor was slick, and I tripped and fell all the way to the ground. After a moment, I picked myself up and went on with my day. After a while, I started to worry how that fall had potentially impacted Baby. It’s amazing how something that would have seemed so insignificant a year or two ago worried me because of the potential impact on Baby. After pondering my options, I called the doctor’s office for her advice. The nurse told me to get into the office as soon as possible. She told me if everything looked okay, they’d send me home. So I headed into the doctor’s office. Amazingly, I felt fairly calm.

I tried to call Justin, and unfortunately, my cell phone wasn’t working properly. Neither of us could hear each other. As more time went on, I got more and more upset. What if something was wrong with Baby and I couldn’t even tell Justin? Finally, after about twenty minutes, we were able to connect. Justin had a meeting scheduled that afternoon that he offered to cancel, but in my heart, I felt that Baby was okay and it was important for him to keep the meeting.

So I headed into the doctor’s office and was hooked up to an EKG machine to monitor both Baby and me for about forty-five minutes. During that time, I prayed the rosary for the safety of Baby, and I was amazingly calm throughout the test. I was so calm, in fact, that I’ve packed a rosary and a crucifix in my hospital bag for us to reflect on during labor. Hopefully, Mary’s intercession will also keep me calm and relaxed during the long labor process.

After the doctor read my EKG results, I was sent home with instructions to be careful and to watch for any bleeding, dizziness or other unusual activity for the next several days. Thankfully, none of those happened.

When I got home, I finally started to realize just how fragile life is. So far, I’ve had a very healthy pregnancy, and I think I’ve taken that for granted. I pondered just how much I’ve come to love our Baby, and I realized his or her safety and well-being is more important than anything else in the world. Baby is ultimately in God’s hands and protection. Baby’s guardian angel must have worked extra hard to keep him or her safe during my fall!

Also, for the first time, I saw a glimmer of why mothers sacrifice so much for their children, just as Kevin’s mother sacrificed so much to get home to her son and make certain he was safe. I now realize the universal language of mothers is not just love, but also sacrifice. Throughout the rest of Baby Kraft’s life, I’m certain I’ll make numerous sacrifices. However, I now feel like I’ve seen a glimmer of exactly why these sacrifices are worth it.