This is something that one of my most favorite, most adored, most wisest people told me a long time ago. Yes, I'm well aware that "most wisest" has several grammatical issues, but it doesn't make it an untrue statement. This absurdly awesome person, in addition to being absurdly awesome, was and is an obstetrician/gynecologist. He bestowed these great words of wisdom upon me a long while back. I was a child or maybe a preteen. Parenthood wasn't a distant thought because it wasn't a thought at all. Yet, even being light years away from my current baby crazed self, I remember his exact words:
The birth of a healthy baby is a miracle.
A MIRACLE.
He said it just like that, repeating "a miracle" in a loud, serious voice. I thought that this was a silly thing to say. I found the emphasis on "miracle" to be overly dramatic, unrealistic and cliche. Or, as my youthful mind characterized it - yeah right. How miraculous could it be? I saw healthy babies everywhere everyday. I was a healthy baby only a decade earlier.
For a reason I'll never know the words stayed with me. Decades later I think of them often. Nowadays, it seems I think of them almost daily. Babies are on my brain and the subject of conversation with so many of my friends who are trying to have them or already do. With each casual chat and heartfelt discussion, these words weave through my thoughts without choice.
Each friend's pregnancy announcement has been a rush of excitement and each chubby cheeked baby face is breathtaking. The joys of this time in my life, the baby crazed time, have been immense. They have also been miraculous. What I didn't know as a young girl, is that it can be difficult to become pregnant, not every baby survives the first trimester much less the entire gestational period, babies that are carried to full term and their mothers alike can suffer medical complications along the way and not every baby is born healthy. There are an infinite number of obstacles and hurdles when it comes to pregnancy and babies. I didn't know about these worrisome, painful, devastating realities.
While I'd much rather focus on the chubby cheeks than the possible difficulties, I can now appreciate the true miraculousness of it all. I have even repeated the phrase on more than one occasion. You've read it twice just in this post.
Wise people say the most wisest things.
