Unwrapping The Gift

Here you are baby Vance all wrapped up inside of me. This was taken the night before you were born, less than a week ago. Those are your brother's hands, each eager and excited for your arrival. It seems impossible to me now that I didn't know you then. As soon as I laid eyes on you, I felt I had known you forever. 

But, I had been waiting. I knew always that we needed you here.  How blessed I am that I get to have the gift of you! It overwhelms me.

How lovely you are my sweet baby boy. You like to be swaddled tightly like you were in my womb. But, I have to unwrap you from your blanket over and over again just to take in your newness- your feet, your hands, your legs and arms (which always seem to get away from you), your sweet smell. I want to breath you in. 

One of our nurses in the hospital told me such a sad story when we were there. She didn't mean to. It was just that our conversation meandered down one road and ended up there. She once had a son. At eight and a half, he was diagnosed with leukemia and a year later, he was gone. That was two years ago. We cried together over her loss. As she left the room, I begged the Lord to heal her broken heart. And then I looked down at you sleeping in my arms and cried out, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Again, overwhelmed at the blessing of you, unworthy of the gift. Four healthy children. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Your features are so perfect. I wonder at how your ears were knit together in my womb.
I remember this foot just a week ago kicking me from the inside. I dwell on the miracle that you went from not breathing to knowing that you must breath, to being fed through an umbilical cord to knowing that you must suckle to live. 
So as I unwrap the gift of you today, I discover a sweet newborn baby adjusting to the world. But, the blessing is that each day will bring a new gift, a new discovery of who you are. 
So again I say thank you to the Giver of good gifts for the gift of you.