Sleeping Baby

Last week I went to visit my friend who just had her baby.  We cooed and fussed over how precious and sweet he was and marveled at the miracle of life.  I tried my hand at holding a newborn again and was glad to see I could soothe and calm him for a few minutes.  But soon he was squirming and rooting and wanted nothing but his momma.  He was not needing to eat he had just done that but I reluctantly handed the little bundle back to his mommy.  I was amazed that in about 30 seconds time he was completely relaxed and contentedly asleep with his little arms crossed in front of him in his momma's arms.  It is so amazing that at 2 days old he knew who his momma was and could immediately relax in her arms.  This picture of him so little snuggled peacefully in his mommy's arms made my heart happy.

It also made me ponder my first few hours with my oldest son.  Our oldest son who is now 3 was adopted from Taiwan.  We did not meet him for the first time until he was 5 1/2 months old.  We received the wonderful news of him when he was 2 weeks old.  Every month the orphanage would send us an updated photo of him.  We mailed clothes, books, photos of ourselves and even a recorded greeting card to him.  We also called several times to the orphanage where they would indulge us by holding the phone up to his ear so we could talk to him for a few minutes and hear his precious coos.  But that was it, our contact with him was very limited. The first ten days of his life were spent in the hospital because he was very sick.  All we know and were told was that "the life was prayed back into him".  The next 5 months he spent in a loving orphanage being taken care of by several different women.

When we traveled over there and finally got to meet him for the first time we were strangers.  Yet we weren't, it was as if by some miracle he knew we were his parents the very ones God had chosen for him.  We bonded instantly with him.  Our very meeting was surprising in itself.  Imagine being in an airport in a foreign country just having traveled for 20 some hours straight.  We were waiting for the person picking us up and we were told our baby would not be coming to the airport.  Suddenly, we hear our names called and we turn and there he is with our SON.  I was overwhelmed with joy and took him in my arms and of course cried.  I remember how we took turns holding him and he just stared at us.  We then had to rush out to the waiting vehicle.  As we drove we held him in our arms and played with him and talked to him.  In what seemed like not very long he was asleep in my arms.

As I reflected on the experience with my dear friend and her newborn it struck me at the miracle of my first meeting with my son.  A baby does not just relax and fall asleep in anyone's arms, they need to feel safe, secure and loved.  I believe that it was only through the grace of God that we bonded so quickly with the son he gave us.  We talk to our son about being adopted and tell him "his story" in words he can understand and process.  Whenever I start telling it or ask if he wants to hear about when we first met, he says "Mommy, you cried".  And I say "yes, I cried because I was so happy to finally hold you and kiss you and hug you".

Now, as I look at the above picture of baby boy asleep in my arms for the very first time I appreciate and understand the significance of it and it brings tears to my eyes.