Newborn — God’s greatest gift

Priya S Tandon

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MY father always said that 1 and 1 don’t make 2; they make 11. But when 1 and 1 go to make 1, the union affords an opportunity to divinity to perform a miracle called ‘Life’! A few days ago, I had the blissful experience of holding our first grandchild in my arms. When I first set eyes on her, she just took my breath away! My eyes welled up with emotion and I just couldn’t get my eyes off her.

I looked in wonder at her beautiful hands, her tiny feet, little nose, soft skin... Isn’t it a miracle? How God makes a tiny human being in the constricted confines of a mother’s womb! Each little organ is made to perfection … And down to the minutest detail! Each eyelash, each finger nail, the lips, the belly button … and then the internal organs that we cannot even see!

Come to think of it, all of us came into the world this way. I remember that before I had my first-born, my mother realised that I was scared about labour pains and how painful they would be. She squeezed my hand and said, “Look around you. Each one of us has come into this world in the same way. No woman knows what she is in for at the time of her first child, but if it was so difficult no one would ever have a second or a third child. It’s not so bad. Just grin and bear it!” That statement gave me a lot of strength. As I look at our newborn’s artistic fingers and utter an endearment, I remember my mother telling me that when I was born, she could not sleep all night, because she kept looking at my tiny feet in awe!

Amazing isn’t it? A newborn is surely a miracle... but as the child grows, we get entangled with worldly stuff and forget that our bundle of joy is a gift from God. Truly, the day a couple decides to have a child, is when they decide to have their hearts walking outside of their bodies. And God gives mothers the fortitude to nurture the baby in their womb for nine months!

I noticed the pain on the faces of my son and daughter-in-law, as the doctor took a blood sample from the baby. Each prick that the doctor gives to the baby pierces the hearts of the parents! Because a baby is a tiny part of the parents’ hearts …

As we look forward to playing and cuddling our little angel, I realise that when we had children of our own, we were just bogged down with feeding and bathing, cleaning and cooking, washing and ironing … Sleepless nights and colicky tummies were all that our lives revolved around.

Our bundles of joy soon started to crawl and then walk. The toddlers then started going to school and then further on to college. Then profession and work took over. Then came marriage and then... Yes! Babies!

But, now it’s our turn to enjoy with our grandchild! And wish happy parenting to our children! As for me, I just realised why a grandmother is called a grandmother. A grandmother is a mother who just became grand! A friend asked me how I was feeling. I said, “I am feeling like a GRAND-Mother! And you got to go through this to know it!”