When you’re pregnant everyone always says to read to your baby, let your baby listen to music, sing to your baby and talk to it too. I never really understood why it’s suggested that you do all those things, or honestly where anyone would find the time. It seemed hard enough to find time to sleep and eat when I was pregnant and working a full-time job, but finding time to sit down and read/sing/talk to the baby seemed almost impossible.
That being said, I made the time and every morning on the way to work I would talk to Weston about my day, how much I love his daddy, the plans that God has for him, etc. And I would always sing “Amazing Grace” to him. I knew that even if he didn’t know what I was saying, the words to that song say it all. I remember my mom singing that to me every night before I went to sleep and thinking it was the most beautiful song in the world. When my Grandpa passed away just a little over a year ago, “Amazing Grace” is what we sang at his funeral. The words talk about faith of the deepest kind, knowing that God’s grace covers us regardless of what we’ve done in the past, what we’re doing now, and what we’re going to do in the future. I knew that no matter what I said to Weston, “Amazing Grace” was what I really wanted him to know and live when he entered this world.
Fast forward to his birthday. Like I said in our birth story, I ended up having to have a C-section rather than have him naturally like I wanted. I was shaking uncontrollably during the surgery and for about 4 hours after, so much so that I was terrified to hold my sweet little boy because I didn’t feel I had the body control to hold him safely. So Nate laid him next to me as he cried, and I started to sing “Amazing Grace” to him once again.
And you know what? He stopped crying. He stared up at me. He was calm.
HE KNEW MY VOICE AND HE KNEW THE SONG.
I’ll never forget the moment I realized he knew who I was, that he finally was face to face with the person who’d been singing to him for 9 months. I’ll never forget how it completely erased all of the sadness of not being able to hold him immediately.
And I will always, ALWAYS remember the look on his face as I sang all the stanzas to “Amazing Grace.”
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me….
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
T’was Grace that taught…
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear…
the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares…
we have already come.
T’was Grace that brought us safe thus far…
and Grace will lead us home.
The Lord has promised good to me…
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be…
as long as life endures.
When we’ve been here ten thousand years…
bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise…
then when we’ve first begun.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me….
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
This is a wonderful post. I cried when I read it. I remember being in the delivery room, my arms strapped to the table because I had a planned C-section to delivery my twins. They’re both crying in my husbands arms, until I started talking to them…Then they fell silent and listened to mommy. Three years later they’re anything but silent while I’m talking but the sound of them calling out my name of mommy…is music to my ears. Most of the time. 🙂
You totally made me cry with this beautiful and touching story. I passed it along to my preggo sister, who absolutely loved it. Thank you for sharing!!
I absolutely love this- so precious!
I’ll never forget Riley recognizing my husband Ryans voice. Whenever he spoke, her head would turn and just stare. Melts your heart!
Brought tears to my eyes – this is soo true. The funny thing is that our dog Cooper can bark in Ella’s ear and she doesn’t even flinch but if someone rings the door bell she jumps!!
Love this story and the song! Amazing Grace was one of the songs we sang at our wedding and I love the idea of singing it to our future children!
This is so true, and left me with goosebumps and tears in my eyes this morning. Thanks for sharing, Heather!
This is so sweet. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful story Heather. I always love to hear about the magic of music.
I too sang to my daughter Harper while she was in utero. Picking one song and singing it to them on a regular basis helps them to become familiar with a lullaby. Once they are born and you sing that same song to them to calm them, it helps remind them of the comfort and security they felt in your womb and quickly soothes them…as you saw with Weston.
I recently wrote a blog post on this subject…if you would like to read more you can visit: https://inherchucks.com/2012/04/09/musical-mondays-lullabies/.
Love following your journey as a mom. Thanks again for sharing!
Yes! I, too, did this when I was pregnant with my daughter. I would play the same song (“Say to the Lord I love You”) each morning on my way to work. Even now, my daughter (8 months), calms down as soon as she hears that song. It’s amazing!
Big tears welled up in my eyes right now! So sweet! Love the song!
Tears in my eyes! Beautiful post.
Thank you!!
This was a beautiful post. I have tears running down my cheeks. My mom passed away a little over a month ago, and we sang this song at her memorial Mass. God’s grace is amazing, and I’m glad that your son, as little as he is, has his first understandings of that.
This made me cry. Beautiful.
So sweet!
This is so touching, beautiful song and beautiful story!
this is so great to hear. im 20 weeks pregnant right now and have been meaning to start reading to our baby but havent started yet….i will now for sure!
Oh, Heather! This is one of the most beautiful stories I’ve read in a long time. Thank you for sharing it with us. Every time I hear ‘Amazing Grace’, it never fails to bring tears to my eyes and move me. Without God’s grace, we are indeed blind and lost. 🙂
Aw this brings tears to my eyes! I had a similar story-
I was born 3 1/2 weeks early and I had to be put in a incubator. I wouldn’t stop crying for hours and the Nurse put my in my dads arms and I stopped right away once he started talking to me (my dad loves to tell this story!)
So wonderful. I can’t wait to have kids of my own one day
xo
What a sweet post. I love that song; we had a couple songs we used to sing to our little guys that did the trick!
Don’t know if it’s because I’m still hormonal or not 😉 but this just made me well up!
So sweet!
Such a sweet post Heather, that must have been such an amazing feeling.
wow. that just brought me to tears. truly amazing!! and when i’m pregnant one day i’ll remember this story, so powerful..
I’m 21 weeks pregnant with my son and we’ve just recently started playing music for him before bed (we press earbuds to my belly!). I love, love, love this story and I am going to try to start singing to him regularly now. Besides– this type of song is far better than the reggae my husband has been insisting upon. haha (He read somewhere that babies like reggae because it has a solid 60 beats per minute tempo… I can only take “Buffalo Solider” so many times. haha)
How beautiful! Amazing Grace is one of my favorite songs to hear and to sing. Celtic Woman does it and they have bag pipes that start and finish the song. I always get goose-bumps listening to it…and I listen to it over and over again!
I should say that Amazing Grace is the song in my family, too. My grandma & grandpa used to make me play it all the time on the clarinet (when I was a dorky band nerd), and then at both of their funerals, the song came on, and we melted into a puddle of tears. That song still gets to me so much. We sang it in church the other day just for fun, but I had to leave. Couldn’t do it. I know I should find happiness in the song, not sadness. I’m trying! 🙂
Oh Heather! I should not have read this so early in the morning! It’s 7am and I’m full of tears. But, thanks for sharing 🙂