Bloom
Author: Kelle Hampton
Published: April 3rd, 2012
Publisher: William Morrow
Goodreads Summary: "Love me. Love me. I'm not what you expected, but oh, please love me.
That was the most defining moment of my life. That was the beginning of my story.
From the outside looking in, Kelle Hampton had the perfect life: a beautiful two-year-old daughter, a loving husband, a thriving photography career, and great friends. When she learned she was pregnant with her second child, she and her husband, Brett, were ecstatic. Her pregnancy went smoothly and the ultrasounds showed a beautiful, healthy, high-kicking baby girl.
But when her new daughter was placed in her arms in the delivery room, Kelle knew instantly that something was wrong. Nella looked different than her two-year-old sister, Lainey, had at birth. As she watched friends and family celebrate with champagne toasts and endless photographs, a terrified Kelle was certain that Nella had Down syndrome--a fear her pediatrician soon confirmed. Yet gradually Kelle's fear and pain were vanquished by joy, as she embraced the realization that she had been chosen to experience an extraordinary and special gift.
With lyrical prose and gorgeous full-color photography, "Bloom" takes readers on a wondrous journey through Nella's first year of life--a gripping, hilarious, and intensely poignant trip of transformation in which a mother learns that perfection comes in all different shapes. It is a story about embracing life and really living it, of being fearless and accepting difference, of going beyond constricting definitions of beauty, and of the awesome power of perspective. As Kelle writes, "There is us. Our Family. We will embrace this beauty and make something of it. We will hold our precious gift and know that we are lucky."
That was the most defining moment of my life. That was the beginning of my story.
From the outside looking in, Kelle Hampton had the perfect life: a beautiful two-year-old daughter, a loving husband, a thriving photography career, and great friends. When she learned she was pregnant with her second child, she and her husband, Brett, were ecstatic. Her pregnancy went smoothly and the ultrasounds showed a beautiful, healthy, high-kicking baby girl.
But when her new daughter was placed in her arms in the delivery room, Kelle knew instantly that something was wrong. Nella looked different than her two-year-old sister, Lainey, had at birth. As she watched friends and family celebrate with champagne toasts and endless photographs, a terrified Kelle was certain that Nella had Down syndrome--a fear her pediatrician soon confirmed. Yet gradually Kelle's fear and pain were vanquished by joy, as she embraced the realization that she had been chosen to experience an extraordinary and special gift.
With lyrical prose and gorgeous full-color photography, "Bloom" takes readers on a wondrous journey through Nella's first year of life--a gripping, hilarious, and intensely poignant trip of transformation in which a mother learns that perfection comes in all different shapes. It is a story about embracing life and really living it, of being fearless and accepting difference, of going beyond constricting definitions of beauty, and of the awesome power of perspective. As Kelle writes, "There is us. Our Family. We will embrace this beauty and make something of it. We will hold our precious gift and know that we are lucky."
Writing Style 3.5/5
Overall Rating: 5/5
Okay... I'm really having a hard time rating this book. On one hand, it was amazing. It was inspirational, heartbreaking, happy, and everything wonderful and perfect about this beautiful book. But on the other hand, oh my god. Could she get any more dramatic?
I am in no way judging Kelle on her life, because of course, I am not living it. I have no idea what her life is REALLY like... But I had a few issues with this book by halfway through it. It just got to the point of it being completely ridiculous and dramatic. Kelle constantly cried over this, cried over that, pity me, poor me, cry, cry, CRY. It was really starting to piss me off how every other page she was crying over something. She wrote in such a dramatic way... It's really quite hard to explain what i'm talking about, unless you've read the book. I feel like her words were such so scripted and storybook perfect. I also felt like she made her life seem to sugar-coated and perfect as well. Of course, reading the book, you do in fact see the struggles she deals with, with Nella having DS, and her coming to terms with it. I mean obviously, a lot of it serious, and she does stress the challenges. But at the same time, she never talked about having to wake up in the middle of the night, or how hard it was being a mother physically (you know, typical mother dealings... diapers, late nights, etc...). She pretty much sugar-coated motherhood in general (aside from the DS part of course). I don't know, I just felt like she acted as if it was all about her, and not Nella for the greater part of the book.
Overall Rating: 5/5
Okay... I'm really having a hard time rating this book. On one hand, it was amazing. It was inspirational, heartbreaking, happy, and everything wonderful and perfect about this beautiful book. But on the other hand, oh my god. Could she get any more dramatic?
I am in no way judging Kelle on her life, because of course, I am not living it. I have no idea what her life is REALLY like... But I had a few issues with this book by halfway through it. It just got to the point of it being completely ridiculous and dramatic. Kelle constantly cried over this, cried over that, pity me, poor me, cry, cry, CRY. It was really starting to piss me off how every other page she was crying over something. She wrote in such a dramatic way... It's really quite hard to explain what i'm talking about, unless you've read the book. I feel like her words were such so scripted and storybook perfect. I also felt like she made her life seem to sugar-coated and perfect as well. Of course, reading the book, you do in fact see the struggles she deals with, with Nella having DS, and her coming to terms with it. I mean obviously, a lot of it serious, and she does stress the challenges. But at the same time, she never talked about having to wake up in the middle of the night, or how hard it was being a mother physically (you know, typical mother dealings... diapers, late nights, etc...). She pretty much sugar-coated motherhood in general (aside from the DS part of course). I don't know, I just felt like she acted as if it was all about her, and not Nella for the greater part of the book.
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