Carina was born today.
You’d think after watching my 2 boys being born I’d kinda be used to it. I guess I am, in the sense that I knew what to expect; the whole C-section deal, Maya being in a lot of pain, hospital for 3 or 4 days…
Even the emotion of having a new baby. I’d done it before. But that didn’t stop it from happening again today.
I lost control when I heard Carina cry for the first time. I was mesmerized just looking at her as she cried under the heat lamp. I couldn’t help just stroking her cheek and letting her grab my finger with her little hand. I’m in love again.
So, that’s all, really. There’s not much more to say that could accurately describe a day like to day.
Thank you, friends, for all your prayers and support. Thank you, Mom, Jill, and family, for watching the boys all day so I could be with Maya and Carina. Thank you Matt and Janey for dinner. Thank you, Carol, Claire, and Kristina, our wonderful nurses, for your AMAZING care of our little girl and your comforting words when she was breathing too quickly and her blood sugar was too low. Thank you most of all, Jesus, for LIFE.
Joshua prayed a prayer other than “Tick-Tock” for the first time tonight by himself. It went like this, verbatim: “Thank you Jesus for taking care of Momma and Carina. Amen”
Amen.
BTW…I have many really cute pictures from today, but this is my favorite.
Today one of my students was busted for trying to sell drugs at school. I sat in an office with his father who was asking me whether or not he should let his son stay in juvenile hall overnight to scare him.
Another student was talking about hurting himself because his life is too overwhelming. His mom is leaving him next week to go live in Mexico because there is no work here. He will live with his father who, over the course of fifteen years, has never spent more than a few consecutive days raising on his own.
I was told by an administrator that my job, in essence, was not to help kids learn how to love or respect each other (or themselves), but rather just to get them to mimic the right scholastic behaviors like a monkey.
Then I held Carina and things made sense. I wish I could invent a time machine specifically designed to take kids and parents back to the first hours of their life…so much love in a room ripe with hope and possibility.
Amidst the shouting and heckling of a world that is trying to keep us busy with lies, telling us that we are worthless, convincing us to make poor choices and to abandon the efforts toward becoming beautiful, God speaks clearly and quietly to remind us that through a weak and needy baby he would change humanity and ruin the plans of sin forever.
For this, I will never forget the day Carina was born, nor will I ever be able to forget what she did for me.
Welcome to the world baby Carina !What a precious miracle.
that is awesome! I cried like a baby when all 3 of my babies were born! Looks like she is gonna have a set of lungs on her!