Blessings

I met my baby from yesterday again today. This time in his mommy and daddy's arms. I have to say that that young couple was the most amazing couple I have ever met. The strength they showed. And the love for that baby. I thought of all the things that I thought that I would be feeling if I were them. Anger and hostility and frustration over my situation. A thirst for revenge. But what I saw in this young mother was simple strength. And peace. And gratefulness for the kindness of people who just want to help. This poor mom had two broken legs...casted all the way up to her hips. And her right arm was also broken and casted all the way up to the shoulder. And she was bruised and sore every where else. Yet she cradled that baby so gently and spoke to him and told him how very much she loved him and told him how beautiful he was and as she cried over him she told him how she never ever wanted to have to let him go. And that she just wanted him to know that she wished this never had happened. She kissed his little fingers and marveled over how much hair he had. She caressed his little face and adjusted his little blanket. She held him close and treasured her moments there with her son, knowing it was the last time she would ever hold him or see him or touch him. Dad just smiled over him and brushed his little cheek. He worried over his brave wife and the two of them just got lost in the beauty of this baby boy that they would never get to raise. I just stood there and took it all in. Capturing those moments for them as best I could. I cried today when I walked out of there. I don't ever do that. Never have really shed a tear yet through all of these countless babies. But as I talked with this sweet couple my heart just broke and the more I knew of them and their story the more the tears built up just crying for release. I found out today that this couple had just left their OB for a checkup when the accident occurred. Mom told me they had heard his little heartbeat and everything was just perfect. They were on their way to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for antibiotics because she had tested positive for group B strep. And they had already stopped her labor once a few weeks prior...and they were preparing for a possible early delivery. But everything was so good and baby's heartbeat had been so strong and so clear. Then her voice got quiet and she said she wished she had just delivered him then...because at least they might still have him. But then she gathered herself up and told me that that was just "what could have been" thinking and that she tried to stay away from that right now. And I marveled at her strength and my heart broke into a million pieces for her. I then asked her if she had had a c-section. One of the nurses I work with at another hospital assured me that she would have...that there was no way she would have labored and done a vaginal delivery with two broken legs and all the injuries that she had. That that would have been unbelievably barbaric. And then that mom told me that no...she had delivered him. Naturally at that. That woman...with two severely broken legs and a broken arm and even more....a heart broken beyond belief, labored into the wee hours of the morning and brought forth that little boy with no pain medication for the birth pains. Even knowing he was already gone, she went through with it and toughed it out and was wide awake and alert so that she could hold that baby to her breast in those first moments he was in this world. I was in awe of this woman and her strength today. It kind of puts my life into a whole new perspective. The things that I stress over and worry about...they seem so insignificant after meeting this family. The problems that I might or might not face tomorrow are NOTHING compared to the road ahead for these two parents. The blessings were all mine today as I was in the presence of this amazing couple. Oh Lord, Hold them so close to you. Cover them with your wings and comfort them as they walk this road. May they know your love and peace and presence in these days to come. And may you grant them a supernatural strength to face the challenges that lie ahead. Amen