Apr. 25, 2008 - More on Babies
Last fall a young mother asked if I could stay with her at the hospital after she had her baby. She is a family friend who used to babysit my children. We recently reconnected because our daughters for whom she babysat were now having babies when she was having hers.
When she heard that I stayed with my daughter at the hospital after she had her baby, she wanted me to stay with her. You see, ladies, sometimes husbands can only stay the first night; perhaps they need to stay with the other children; or maybe they are not gifted with mercy or serving. And her mother, who is lovely, also wasn't gifted that way. That's ok.
At this hospital, I was allowed to spend the night in her room. What did I do? I brought the baby to her, fanned her when she was hot, answered and handed the phone to her, went for more ice water or a drink, gave a bottle to the baby when she couldn't feed him (she had a C-section and wasn't able to the first 24 hours because of the anesthesia--not to worry, the baby is a great nurser now...) and whatever she needed for me to do to help her. Honestly, it helped the nursing staff to have someone there to do the little stuff.
She later told me that it really helped her to have that time to rest--unlike the other two times when no one stayed with her--and I had the most marvelous time.
For the next two weeks, she also arranged for two young ladies to stay with her during the day to watch her other children. It really does help to take it easy after you have a baby.
My prayer for you is that you will have support like this when you have your baby. For the "older women" and "young ladies", my prayer is that you will have opportunities to serve if you are gifted in these areas.
Blessings,
Harriet
