Waiting is a lovely thing

This is a picture of my sister, Kym, and one of her dogs, Odie, snuggling up with her, but being very careful not to touch her belly. I am officially on Spring Break.  I drove nine and a half hours to come be with my sister in Ohio while we await the arrival of her first child.  My sister is 47 and has been trying to have a baby for about twenty years.  It's astounding that this is finally happening for her.  It's also scary.  The baby is doing fine, but this pregnancy has been really hard on my sister.  I won't go into any details, I will only say I've never heard of anyone else who's had as many complications,  suffered as much pain and stress in any pregnancy I've known of, and she hasn't complained at all.

So we're here waiting.  We hope the baby comes soon.  I can only stay until next Friday.  Another sister is flying in from Massachusetts on Wednesday.  The doctor said she will induce next Saturday if she doesn't go before then.  That won't help me any.  I haven't waited for a baby to come in about twenty years.  We're all very happy for my sister and her husband, but also worried.  They will be 65 by the time this child turns 18, I can't even imagine.  All the first cousins to this child are in their 20s to 30s.  This child is coming into an already grown family, people who have grown up in or experienced much of the family's history.  In some ways it feels like this child is arriving late to a party.

We all plan to love and be there for this child, and we're all so happy and excited, but I feel a little off kilter, like this is new territory and not simply an addition to the family.