New Life

This has been quite a week. Actually, June has been difficult altogether. Work has been unusually challenging and I have been particularly hard on myself. I felt ready to throw my white flag and surrender my sanity to this sometimes cruel world of self-inflicting hatred that I do not deserve to put on myself. But even with the stresses of my life (which, in worldly terms is far from stressful) there were glimmers of love peering through my tired soul.

Sunday, June 27th my niece finally decided to make her grand entrance into this crazy, fantastic world. She put my twin through the ringer the night before so Theresa was walking on eggshells all day deciding whether to go to the hospital or not. You see, Theresa was sent home saturday night because she was only 4 cm. My sister never once "complained" of extreme pain, so she was hesitant to go since the nurses told her the contractions would make her labor so hard she'd not be able to talk.

Finally at around 4 (ish) she called to her husband and said, "we are going, this is it." Off they went--a family of three was soon going to be a family of four. They checked in at the hospital and the nursing staff honestly didn't have a clue how far my sister had actually progressed. The triage was full so they made a makeshift room for her thinking all the while that she'd be sent home. They thought wrong! The nurse exclaimed...oh, oh, you're 7 cm--your going straight to a room.

The rest, as they say, is history. My sister got to her room at 4:30 began pushing at 5:32 and had her baby at 5:36. Yes, you read that right. She pushed for 4 minutes (it's ok, I'm jealous too!)

Darleen Marie is a beautiful 7 lb 6 ounce miracle. Don't believe me?! see for yourself:



born with a full head of raven black hair:





Her poppa is already smitten:



I raced to the hospital, got there in time for the birth. My mom and dad waited with me as they were cleaning up the room. We aren't knew to nieces, nephews and grandchildren--Darleen makes 19! but with each new birth, we relive that same excitement as it was the very first! We crept in and just awed over the beautiful little baby--ah, Hello World, we were waiting for you!

My twin looked stunning (seriously, stunning) and I asked how she felt. Labor wise, she felt better than she did after delivering Louis she I remember seeing some worry in her face. Long story short she was concerned how raising two kids would go. She kept saying , "I love Darleen, I do, I honestly do, but I feel like I just need Louis' approval. I think anyone who has more than one child can totally empathize with my twin. The fact that she has another healthy, amazing child is such a blessing, but at the same time the entire family routine has been jumbled up and you just pray that you make it out alive.

for nine months my twin and her husband would talk to Lou about his baby sister and how tiny and precious she'd be, and he really seemed like he understood. No one, however was prepared for how truly beautiful that first meeting would be:





Family of Four:



He was so gentle, loving and concerned about his baby sister. He would not let anyone get near her and he just loved her the minute he saw her. Louis, the day you became a big brother was the day we saw heaven on earth:



Darleen's arrival was a reminder to me about how simple it is to love. It all came from my tiny little nephew who with mearly walking in the room showed us more about what love is and how strong it is than I believe I might ever witness.