Close to Nowhere
I’d like to tell you a story this week about an early Christmas miracle. A real, wonderful miracle.
I’d planned a Thanksgiving column this week. I have so many “thanks” in my life. The fact I’m here to give thanks is my greatest thanks.
But enough about me. This is a story about a couple that I barely know. Lauren and “Pud” (I have no clue where he got that nickname) have been married a good while now. Both are in their late 20s. They have been childless despite badly wanting to start a family.
It’’s been pretty hard for them. Lauren has some health issues that precluded having a successful pregnancy. In fact, they’ve gone through four or five miscarriages. It’s been a long hard road for them and their families.
Monday afternoon I got a very excited call from oldest granddaughter Merideth. She was on her way to my house to get some baby stuff stored here – a rocking bassinet, a little fat soft infant seat and a toycovered sleeper type seat.
We’ve gotten a lot of good use out of those things. Although the soft, fat infant seat (I have no idea what any of this stuff is really called) didn’t work very well for Shepard, my oldest great-grandchild. Not only does he have very sturdy legs, he couldn’t sit still, even as an infant. The toy-covered sleeper seat was a joke for him. He’d wiggle and sit up and tilt himself all over the place. We couldn’t take our eyes off him in that seat. The rocking sleeper was great though, as long as you rocked Shepard. He even spent the night with me in that little bed.
Ruby June was another story altogether. A calm, delicate baby, she could be fed in the soft, fat seat, and she loved to lay in the toy-covered sleeper seat. It was great fun for her to play with the toys, while laying in that seat.
The stuff Mere picked up was full of memories. And I’m thrilled that it’s going to a new home with a new, unexpected baby.
Lauren wasn’t feeling well Monday morning. She and Pud went to the doctor to see if maybe she was pregnant again and miscarrying again.
Turns out, Lauren was 38 weeks pregnant. The doctor put her immediately into the hospital, thinking maybe they’d induce labor Tuesday.
Mere, after picking up the baby stuff from my house, went on to the hospital. Lauren was having an emergency C-section because of pre-clampsia. By around 9:30 last night, I got the news that Lauren and Pud were the extremely awed and excited parents of a five-pound, eight-ounce baby boy. They named him Wyatt. Monday morning they thought they were facing another miscarriage or some other form of illness. Monday night, they were parents. Welcome to the world, Wyatt. You are a true Christmas miracle.