Birth Announcement

And so, tonight, after nine months of waiting and wondering, my little sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

Madilyn Grace
8 lbs. 6 oz.
21 1/2 inches
8:14PM on Monday, January 21, 2008

And so, the secret of the baby's name was kept the entire time. While our family had dubbed her "Hilda", as a way to refer to the baby, while my sister and her husband kept the name close to the vest. Though not an overly long labor, there was a shift change and as the old nurse brought the new one up to speed on the case, she casually asked, "So what is the baby's name going to be?" But because we had all gotten this far, we played along and exited the room.

With everyone (Mom, Dad, Brother & Sister-In-Law) eagerly awaiting news from the LDRP room, I left them in the waiting room and went back into the unit for an update. One of the nurses ducked into the room and then quickly popped back out. Earlier when I had walked down for an update, from the doorway I could hear very fast counting "onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineten.... onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineten..." and was able to report back to the family that, "she's pushing and should be in the home stretch."

So I was very surprised to hear my sister's voice say "Oh, it's ok, he can come in." The doctor and the nurses were in the room, doing doctory and nursey things and paperwork and whatnot and then they faded into the background and I looked over and saw my brother-in-law standing next to my sister in bed, and a little bundle in her arms. How someone who had just given birth could string together a sentence, let alone one announcing her daughter, I'll never know. I guess that's why they didn't put me on the baby-delivering team.

"Uncle Brian...come over and meet your niece, Madilyn Grace."

And so, when you wonder, as we all do, and all should, "What's the point of all this?" Just remember the first time you saw a loved one's newborn baby. Someone all tiny and pink and not even an hour old. Someone whose life is just beginning and will surely be a grand adventure.

"A baby is God's opinion that life should go on."
by Carl Sandburg