Maddie

Today, an ordinary everyday miracle occurred. I would not have noticed it were it not for the fact that it is too close to home. I am referring to the birth of my granddaughter Maddie, my daughter Dana’s and her husband Marco’s first child.

Yes, I said that it is a miracle. No, it is not your kind of a miracle. Maddie was not conceived nor born under extraordinary circumstances. She was a healthy, normal, seven-pounder bouncing baby girl when she came out at around 2 am early today. And contrary to expectations, Dana was in labor for only a short period of time and had a relatively easy delivery compared to Thelma’s birth-giving history. But I still consider her birth just the same as a miracle.

For me, every birth is a miracle that has always brought me down to my knees in silent prayer to thank the Creator for the gift of life.

It is a miracle because the egg has to be there at the right time while one tiny sperm among thousands has to fertilize the egg. Then the resulting embryo has to stay planted in the uterus but not anywhere else, and not flushed away during the next menstrual cycle. The right hormones have to be produced by the mother and the right cell divisions must take place in the embryo. Finally, the fetus has to stay in the womb for the correct amount of time in order to be viable.

It is a miracle because how else can you call the amazing transition within seconds of a newborn from a water creature inside a woman’s uterus to an air-breathing baby at birth? How do you describe its transformation in nine months from an undefined tiny fetus to a full-blown baby capable of giving untold happiness to everyone by just a smile?

But the miracle does not end there at birth. It continues as Maddie grows up. It goes on as Marco and Dana in their role as co-creators mold her into the person she is meant to be in accordance with God’s plan, while the rest of us participate in this beautiful unfolding of the mystery of life that is given to Maddie.