Opening up a new understanding of the good times

- for the first time feeling new life in my wife's belly and seeing the ever present nausea begin to subside
- planning and buying things for the new arrival
- hearing from the doctor that everything looks to be normal and is progressing well
- having my wife back after 4 months of endless nausea and serious dehydration from being unable to keep much of anything down
- after a middle of the night trip in the backseat of my father-in-law's car, arriving at the hospital without the baby's arrival
- finally being asked to scrub and gown up so that I could join my wife in the labor room
- seeing that greasy but unbelievably beautiful little human being take his first look at the world and draw his first breath
- holding for the first time this miniature young man and upon examination, realizing that he was perfectly put together and physically able to cope with life - thank you Heavenly Father
- after numerous trips to the hospital being able to take my wife and new son home
- putting my large finger into his tiny hand and having him grasp it tightly
- noticing that my wife has her shapely form back and then some because of breast feeding
- after untold diaper changes, feedings and sleepless nights beginning to realize the awesome responsibility that now was ours
- seeing him able to sit up, roll over, respond to my voice, smile, crawl and countless other little things that he has developed the ability to do
- after ten months watching him become mobile as he finally masters the art of walking
- watching as his communication skills grew to the point that you could actually understand what he said and that he in turn, understood you
- beginning to realize that he was a unique individual with feelings, wants, abilities and challenges despite our intimate involvement in his life.
- 18 months from the first time, waking up to the realization that the whole process had begun again and that it wouldn't be just the three of us in another eight months
This process in fact repeated itself 7 times for me and my wife. Six of those resulted in strong healthy sons while only 1 resulted in a stillborn son who was only about 4 months along. Despite his untimely arrival he had a suprisingly well developed body and features. Each time it was a special thing to see this precious little individual come into the world. Each time I dreaded the early period, not for what it caused me but for the great physical discomfort and jeopardy that it put my wife in to go through it. After each experience I felt that maybe we were asking for too much to be able to have another because of the strain and misery that it caused her. But she seemed to think that there was another spirit waiting to come and was willing to go through it all to help create this new life. Perhaps there was the hope that the next one would be a girl. Unfortunately it never came to be as we wound up with six sons. I have come to believe that there is little in life which can cause you more joy or grief than your children. Fortunately the good times are what you remember most and what you wish with all your heart for those children. This brings me to the concept of free agency which I plan to spend some time reminiscing about in my next entry.