I Met My Granddaughter Yesterday . . .

Avery, shortly after her birth . . .

Yesterday, I got to meet my granddaughter, Avery, and she isn’t even born yet! But I digress. Let me tell you about the day I learned that she was coming to come into the world: My daughter, Sara and her boyfriend, Ryan called and asked me to go to lunch, back in September.As soon as they sat down in the booth, Sara exclaimed, “Mom, we have some news. We’re expecting! You’re going to be a Grandmother!” I clapped and clapped and smiled and went, “Oh my goodness! How exciting!” And so, the adventure began. 

Over the next few months, we saw Sara’s little belly grow and began hearing the stories about the little angel inside. The baby was very active, almost from the beginning. Then, in January, we found out that the baby is a girl! Wow! A new baby and she’s a girl! Her name will beAvery Catherine Bench! Each month, Sara and Ryan were able to see her on sonograms and see her heart beating and her little fists and toes. Last weekend, Sara called and was upset about some thumping she was feeling. Hiccups, I told her. She is just having the hiccups! She wakes Sara up really early each day. Sara has turned into a morning person, after being a Night Owl for most of her life. Sara also eats everything in site and has to eat often. She says: the baby is hungry, a lot! 

Then, yesterday, I was invited to go for a 4D sonogram. This is kind of a new technology and my sister told me: It’s like pushing the oven light and looking in the window. You can see what’s cooking without opening the door. And she was so right! The Doctor used a sonogram wand and had a screen with two images. One was the fanshaped sonogram image, which is gray and black. The other one was a square-shaped peachy-golden colored window. At first, it looked like little bundles of stuff in different shapes. Then, as the Doctor waved the wand over and around, the bundles and blobs took shape and we began to see her face, hands and feet! Her head was so beautiful! Shaped like Sara’s and I could see Sara’s nose and cheeks. Later the Doctor said that she would most likely have Sara’s eye shape. She even opened her mouth once. She pulled her little hands up to her face and Ryan counted her fingers. All there! Then, she pulled up her feet and the Doctor was able to put the wand just right and clicked and got a picture of the feet. Yes, all ten toes, too! 

The Doctor took some measurements and when he added them all up announced that she weighs about 4 pounds. He estimates she will weigh 7 or 7.5 pounds at full term. Then, it was as if she said, “OK, folks, show’s over,” because she curled up and we couldn’t see her face. The Doctor tried moving the wand and pressing on Sara’s belly, but she was finished with the show for the day! 

Through it all, I was aware of what a mystery this all still is: the mystery of life and how it begins and forms and how one day very soon, she will pop out into the world. Yes, we know how it all happens, but isn't it all so magical! It is truly magical!