Sweet Baby Girl
Sunday night around 11 pm I got ready for bed... as usual, I put on my pajamas, washed my face, took out my contacts and brushed my teeth. Forty-five minutes later, I got back up out of bed, got dressed, put my contacts back in, and started the coffee. You see, my phone just rang... a sound that had been making me jump for the past 7-10 days. On the other end were my married college friends who had months ago asked me to be present with them in the delivery room for the birth of their baby. Now one day post-due date, the still unknown baby (is it a boy? is it a girl?) was officially on the way. I got ready quickly, grabbed my coffee, and drove to Lexington as fast as I could. As the rain came down in sheets and lightening lit up the sky, I heard Alanis Morrisette on the radio. In that reflective moment, it immediately took me back to our freshman year, when we all were just kids goofing off. Away from our parents for the first time, we were old enough to make our own decisions, but young and protected enough to just fiddle around with responsibility like it was a choice, not a necessity. Now we were the parents--or at least old enough to be so. Knowing that my 18 year old self could have never pictured myself in this moment, I took the 20 minute drive to reflect on those lighter times and the journey since.
Several needless details, many contractions, lots of deliberate breathing (hoo hoo, hee hee), and not that many minutes later, we were checked into the hospital. It was not quite 1 am. By 1:40, with video camera in hand, I was coaxing and consoling to the best of my ability, just trying to stay out of the doctor's way (we were all a little scared of his "bedside manner"). At 1:52, our encouragement turned to shouts of excitement, "IT'S A GIRL!" I loved her already. Julianne Elena had joined us and started her own journey, right before my very eyes. I know that someday she'll meet her own lifelong friends for the very first time and they will go on to share life's joys together. I hope I'm around to watch it all unfold.
Sunday night around 11 pm I got ready for bed... as usual, I put on my pajamas, washed my face, took out my contacts and brushed my teeth. Forty-five minutes later, I got back up out of bed, got dressed, put my contacts back in, and started the coffee. You see, my phone just rang... a sound that had been making me jump for the past 7-10 days. On the other end were my married college friends who had months ago asked me to be present with them in the delivery room for the birth of their baby. Now one day post-due date, the still unknown baby (is it a boy? is it a girl?) was officially on the way. I got ready quickly, grabbed my coffee, and drove to Lexington as fast as I could. As the rain came down in sheets and lightening lit up the sky, I heard Alanis Morrisette on the radio. In that reflective moment, it immediately took me back to our freshman year, when we all were just kids goofing off. Away from our parents for the first time, we were old enough to make our own decisions, but young and protected enough to just fiddle around with responsibility like it was a choice, not a necessity. Now we were the parents--or at least old enough to be so. Knowing that my 18 year old self could have never pictured myself in this moment, I took the 20 minute drive to reflect on those lighter times and the journey since.
Several needless details, many contractions, lots of deliberate breathing (hoo hoo, hee hee), and not that many minutes later, we were checked into the hospital. It was not quite 1 am. By 1:40, with video camera in hand, I was coaxing and consoling to the best of my ability, just trying to stay out of the doctor's way (we were all a little scared of his "bedside manner"). At 1:52, our encouragement turned to shouts of excitement, "IT'S A GIRL!" I loved her already. Julianne Elena had joined us and started her own journey, right before my very eyes. I know that someday she'll meet her own lifelong friends for the very first time and they will go on to share life's joys together. I hope I'm around to watch it all unfold.
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