Last Thursday I was at Sam's school for conferences. As I waited for my turn with his teacher a woman I casually know walked by. Her name is Amelia, and she is the mother of the other Samuel in Sam's class so we have spoken a few times. She was pregnant - not hugely so, but pretty big. She's one of those annoying people whose entire body shrinks as her belly grows.
Anyway, today as I picked Sam up from school I saw Amelia heading toward me. She was carrying a baby car seat, and my (incredibly stupid) first thought was, "Why is she practicing carrying the baby's car seat?" Then I realized that her belly was now as little as the rest of her and there was a perfect, tiny baby tucked into the seat.
I ooohed and aaahed at new baby Grace and congratulated Amelia. I hope I didn't look as shocked as I felt. I was absolutely blown away by this woman. Four days ago she was pregnant. Today she has a new daughter and is picking her son up at school like normal.
When it's happening to you, pregnancy and childbirth is the most important thing in the world. There is a feeling of you being the only person who has ever carried and delivered a child. It's almost too big for words. On the other hand, it's funny to think how something that amazing is simply just another event in the world. Since I started typing this, how many babies have been born? Women have been having babies since the beginning of time. It is just as routine as it is incredible. The Earth keeps spinning, just as it always has, and there's a level of peace that comes with remembering that. Each moment is just as amazing and mundane as the last - even having babies.
(Seriously, though, I'm going to find out what that woman does for exercise. She looked better a couple days after having her baby than I did at my wedding.)
2 comments:
I *must* disagree - having a baby is never mundane. It's God's constant reminder to us that life goes on, that life is precious, that we are part of something greater. That the whole of its parts are greater than the sum, kind-of-thing.
Also, scientists know "how" a woman gets pregnant, but not "why" - another eternal mystery.
But keep the musings coming, I love 'em!
Perhaps "mundane" wasn't the best word. This was more about my realization that at all times, everywhere, the best and worst and nothing is happening. I meant that each birth, when it happens, is an Earth-stopping miracle, yet the Earth doesn't stop and all life continues.
I'm having trouble putting this into words. I should have thought about it more before posting. :)
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