his 50th birthday

“we’ve made it this far,” was my rally cry
through all the milestones leading to birth.

the early viability scan, the heartbeat scan, 12 week scan,
18 week scan, 24 week scan, 28 week scan.
“we’ve made it this far,” i’d keep repeating,
as we inched our way from week to week.

every biophysical profile he passed,
every NST under our belt,
even at the hospital in labor,
“we’ve made it this far,” was all i could whisper.

and after he was born alive,
we just had to get through his first night,
his first week, his first few months.

“we’ve made it this far,” i keep saying to myself.

and if we make it this far,
on his 50th birthday, i think i will still be saying it.