March 24 - new births

A few hours ago, my one friend sent me a text that read "Jill is pushing." I immediately sent back a text that read "OMG!!!" to which she replied "I am so excited I can barely breathe!" Her baby is having a baby! She's also a fellow slicer and has written about this anticipated birth a few times this month. I predict more slices on this topic during our last days of this writing challenge. (To read her slice about this from yesterday, click here. My favorite line from that slice is:

Once you become a mother, there is no going back, no career change...

An hour later I got an email from a couple I am friends with. It read, "It's a boy". Their oldest delivered her third boy. Then another email arrived with a photo attached showing the wife holding the new baby, head covered with dark hair and all wrapped up in the hospital white with blue and pink striped blanket. I replied back, "Two angles!"

WOW - two new babies joined the families of two of my friends today.

In the photo attachment to the email, my friend in Virginia is holding a new bundle of joy, her fifth grandchild. When the 3rd and 4th grandbabies were born, her daughter lived in Colorado and my friend flew out each time to help her daughter with the new arrivals. Over a year ago, though, my friend changed. She started getting confused. She started talking in only short phrases, mostly mimicking words she heard. The daughter, her husband and the two grandkids moved from Colorado to Virginia to help out. Today, my friend holds her 5th grandbaby. If she could express herself, she would tell me how soft his skin feels She'd tell me how much hair is on his head. She'd tell me how she held the baby at the hospital while her daughter rested. She'd tell me how excited her other grandkids are - now big brothers. Yet, her words don't come anymore. Yet, she told me all that through the email photo today.

Thinking back to my other friend's words -

"Once you become a mother, there is no going back, no career change..."

I do agree, except when the mother is no longer capable of all the job requirements of mother. Then the child starts being the "mother" for her mother. Yet, a new baby, ALL can hold and enjoy!