She's all grown up now

Yesterday my “baby” sister had a baby. She had a baby girl by c-section at St.Mike’s hospital at 11:30am. This is her first baby. She is a very proud mother to a very beautiful baby whom she named Elizabeth.

We all knew she was going to have a c-section because it was already pre-planned. We also all knew that it was going to be a baby girl. Her and her husband Bryan got married last May and quickly decided to start a family. It feels like 9 months just flew by and before we all knew it, their baby came into the world.

As me, my sisters and my parents were waiting in the room for Bryan to bring out the baby we were laughing and chatting like old times. It was the “original” family. No husbands or kids were there, just the 5 of us (minus the baby of the family who was about to become a mother). We joked, we poked fun, we laughed and we reminisced. We were all very excited about this new arrival to the family. This was going to be the 7th grandchild to my parents and they were just as excited as they were when their first was born.

It was a little after 11am when they took her in and the whole hour of waiting felt like 10 hours. As we were in the hallway, and then listening in at the OR door...lol..we were excited to see this new little person. Finally, Bryan came out with this little pink bundle. We all ran toward her. All I can say is that she was 1 of the most beautiful baby girls I had ever seen. She had these red lips and black hair and the cutest little cry. It was a moment of instant love.

Bryan was a doting father and he was so proud of what he and Gina had “made” together. A short time later, the nurses wheeled my sister in to recovery room. We (as annoying as we are..lol) all ran into to see how she was doing. I looked at my “baby” sister who is no longer a baby, and I felt like crying. She is 8 years younger than me so it always felt like she was so young. Although I was younger than she is when I had my first, it felt like she was too young to be a mother. That was until I saw her with baby Elizabeth. She took her in her arms and she was a “mom”. My little sister was now a mother. She had her beautiful baby girl in her arms. I could not believe how natural she looked.

Motherhood just happens. It is something that you just “become”. It happens from 1 minute to the next. One minute you are pregnant, and the next you have a baby you nourish and automatically love. My sister has now joined the realm of parenthood. She now understands all the love and pain you feel when you become a mother. She now understands our own mother’s love for us.

She had just come out of a major surgery, she was tired and sore but she knew what to do. She knew how to feel. The nurses help you out, family gives you advice, and your mother just wants to take away all your pain from surgery, but it is my sister who was able to feed her daughter. It was my sister who was able to calm her cry, and it was my sister who will take her home.

Growing up, I always looked at my sister as little. Somehow she caught up. She was no longer so far behind; she was right along beside us. I remember the days of when she was in her crib crying, and the Halloween she dressed up as a Martian. I remembered the birthday when my friend and I had to entertain her classmates into having fun in our unfinished basement. I remembered her prom and how beautiful she looked, I remembered her wedding day, and then I remembered the night she told us she was pregnant.

My sister is a beautiful new mother now. She has a brand new life ahead of her. I am very proud of the person she has become and I wish her and her new family all the love, health and happiness in the world. I don’t know when it happened, but it did. My little sister is all grown up now and she has her own family to love and to take care of and somehow it all seems so natural now. Congratulations Gina and Bryan!
That’s my peace today!

this is a perfect recipe after having a baby
Pastina Soup with garden veggies
1 pack egg noodle pastina
1 bunch fresh spinach
2 carrots chopped
1 celerly chopped
1 white onion chopped
1 bunch parsley
1 whole peeled tomatoe
salt

Fill a pot with water and put all the veggies into it. Boil for 30 minutes and salt the soup. Add pastina and boil another 10 min. Add grated cheese (optional)