The REAL post begins just below because  A NEW BABY totally took center stage when she arrived on Sunday, just before Passover.  I would say that her mom is the happiest member of the family, celebrating every new moment with baby on the outside!

Here’s the story:

We got the call early yesterday that Amanda was in the hospital ready to have her baby.  I was poised to work on our book chapter in the morning and then head to the city with Tuvia for a movie, but when the call came from the grandmother-to-be, everything else moved smoothly to a back burner and I was moving from shower to clothes to the car to a yen for junk food and we were off!

In two hours (including a pit stop for a quick rest stop brunch at MacDees and a car fueling we arrived at the hospital just ahead of the grandparents-to-be who came ready to camp out and stay with the necessary Sedar feast ready to merely warm up and serve  and clothes for a week or more, all painstakingly  planned carefully by grandmother-to-be, Marla.

As we waited together in Manda’s very comfortable hospital/hotel room, supporting her through her steadily increasing discomfort as the baby continued to drop, her water was broken by the doctor, the baby’s heart beat grew more powerful.  Just Manda  and her basketball belly, two sets of grandparents, Tuvia and me. Sadly, there was a key person missing through it all though. Steve, daddy-to-be, so ready to bond with his baby, was sent home when Manda arrived at the hospital,  when his hacking cough was deemed the flu but with a trusty iPad and FaceTime app, Steve was virtual.

But really the wonder came when we left Manda with her trusty nurse, Joel Seigal look-alike doctor,  her two moms and virtual Steve to support this upcoming miracle of birth.  It was impossible to take in that when we would be allowed back in,  a baby would be snuggling up with her new mom.

In the darkness of the womb for nine months, supported and growing from Manda, she would be out into the world, complete and thriving on her own.    The cheesy moment of lullaby music the hospital plays to announce each new arrival just didn’t do justice to this one of so many miracles.

As Tuvia and I rode home with a few periods Sunday’s usual bumper-to-bumper traffic, I just couldn’t feel the tired I should have been feeling.  Tuvia kept checking in and no I was fine. just sailing when the road finally opened and by the time we got to our diner I could eat a meal, setting aside my junk food cravings.

Eliana was here with us, and soon we won’t be able to remember when she wasn’t here.  And one more wonder:

30 years ago to the day, grandma Marla gave birth to her one and only son Josh, who was already designated as Eliana’s Godfather, now bonded together to celebrate their shared birthdays on April 13!

I am so ready to celebrate tonight!