Friend #62

This has been the most precious week of my life thus far. I am a brand-new aunt. Something you must learn about me is that I love babies more than just about anything on this planet. Everyone knows this. I'm even a little concerned that a few students may have had babies, just to make Ms. Peters happy.

Being an aunt to a newborn is much, much different than being a mom. I don't have to wake up 10 times per night to feed the baby. I don't have the hormonal shifts when breastfeeding, showering, or watching baby shows on TV. I don't have to shuffle a newborn and a toddler on the same lap. I don't have to worry about returning to work.

All I have to do is snuggle with my favorite (only) niece, Kennedy. All she will ever ask of me is to hang out and I will gladly oblige. It's obvious that this 3-day-old baby already has me wrapped around her wrinkly little finger. The fact is, she had me at "I'm pregnant!" and then again at, "It's going to be a girl!" I could gush on and on about how wonderful this week has been, but then you'd never meet my 62nd friend...

As I drove to the hospital on the second night of Kennedy's stay, I wondered to my son, whether Pediatric nurses ever lose that "Babies are so precious and special" feeling. What I mean is, when you're helping deliver babies 40 hours per week, you see a TON of babies. Healthy babies, sick babies, cute babies, deformed babies, even God forbid, dead babies. At what point does one turn off their sensitivity button and just see the little critters as "clients"?

I made a point to ask my sister-in-law's nurse, Jo, about her career. I asked her if she ever becomes disenchanted with babies. "Oh gosh, no! Babies will always be special." Phew, I was at ease after that. "Now parents? Those are the ones you wanna smack upside the head once in a while!" I'm sure. I've seen parents all over town, but never in such a hectic and stressful place as a hospital. Jo told us about how families sometimes choose this time to air their grievances with each other and disregard any hospital staff who may interfere for the safety of the babies.

I admire Jo a lot. With the amount of giddiness I have toward babies, it would be heartbreaking to go into work each day with the possibility that I may have to hold a deceased child. Or an unwanted child. I compared me working in a pediatric ward to the time I volunteered at the Humane Society as a teen. I wanted to bring every animal home (I only actually brought three home over the course of a year.)

If I could do it, Jo's job would be perfect for me. But for now, I've got a little girl who has stolen my heart and that's good enough for me.