Welcome Little Baby

We had written out all the choring instructions just in-case we needed them to give to my brothers so they could come take care of all our animals until we came home.

Waking up in the middle of the night I was glad we had prepared it. LV ran out to our phone shanty to call a driver to come right away. I looked at all the little clothes and blankets I had made over the past few months and was thrilled that I would soon be able to use them.

The thirty miles to the hospital had never seemed as long before. I was relieved to get there and be surrounded by people who knew what was going on and what to do.

A few hours later when they placed a little baby boy into my arms it felt as if my heart could burst with love and joy. It was the first time I had ever felt a love as strong as I felt for the sweet baby I cradled in my arms. He was red and wrinkly and every bit as ugly as my baby brothers used to be. I felt a little guilty for thinking he didn't look absolutely beautiful, but I didn't care how he looked.  He was so sweet, so helpless, and our very own.

LV called our driver to come pick us up in a few hours and then spent the rest of the time sitting next to my bed holding our little son. For someone who used to be terrified of little babies he looked quite comfortable holding his son.

Once our driver came a nurse accompanied us out to the minivan and made sure we had our baby in his carseat correctly and then we were free to go.

I was happy to see Mom waiting for us when we got home. She was so excited to have a grandson that I almost had to laugh. She carried him everywhere while making sure that I went to bed right away and then fixed some of my favorite foods to eat. She stayed until one of LV's cousins arrived. She would be staying with us for the next six weeks while I rested and enjoyed our new baby.

Mom left after telling me that the whole family would be coming on Sunday to see the baby. I looked forward to that and picked up the baby who had started whimpering hungrily. "Hey there little fellow," I crooned. "It's alright ...... and then I stopped. I couldn't say Mary Ann will take care of you, I was his mother. But having to call myself Mom seemed really weird.

I had known we were going to have a baby, had really looked forward to it for a long time, but somehow had failed to realize we would be a Mom and Daddy until that moment.