Lucie Has Arrived

I am overjoyed with the birth of my fourth grandchild, Lucie Marie, born on September 30th. Her mom, Emily, had to be hospitalized for several weeks due to high blood pressure. She was then induced in her 35th week and Lucie came into the world 5 weeks early. While she required a bit of a NICU stay, Lucie has been a very healthy baby from the start. She is home now with her mom, her dad, and her extremely excited big sister Estelle, and we are enjoying watching her grow.

Lucie’s arrival has made me reflect on the last two years as her birth is quite frankly a miracle. Last year, my daughter Emily went through almost 10 hours of surgery and chemotherapy as her appendix, parts of her colon, and her ovaries were all cancerous. She spent 9 days in the hospital intensive care unit. This was followed by 6 weeks of intense recovery. Despite this, Emily still found a way to jump back into her 2nd semester of her final year of nursing school and she graduated about 2 months later. We were extremely proud of her determination to beat such a rare cancer and join the ranks of healthcare workers who devote their lives to helping others.

In her and her husband’s desire to grow their family, Emily had worked with the Emory Reproductive Center to harvest several eggs before her surgery. She had an embryo transfer later in the year, and because she had her ovaries removed, this was essentially a one shot deal. We were all heartbroken for her when none of them took. Not long after, another family member stepped up to go through the very challenging process to donate their eggs to Emily and in the beginning of the new year, Emily got pregnant. We were beyond thrilled.

This whole process has been miraculous first and foremost because of the extraordinary care Emily received through the Winship Cancer Center at Emory University. The Emory Reproductive Center was also quite extraordinary through their journey. And, as Emily is a nurse at Piedmont Atlanta in their Family Care Center (mother/baby unit), she received the “royal” treatment from her doctors and nurse and staff colleagues, including Emily’s Nurse Mentor coming in on her day off to care for Emily after delivering Lucie. As I reflect on the birth of Lucie, I can’t help but think of all the hands, hearts and minds that were involved with her birth. The number of degrees, the tuition, the sacrifices they and their families made, and the thousands of hours of study and learning that so many who helped Emily bring Lucie into this world had committed to. I am so grateful to every single one of them.

We are now all basking in the joy and delight of a newborn baby and we love watching Emily and her family care for sweet Lucie. There is so much to be worried and discouraged by in our world today. Yet, there are thousands of great stories out there; of good people doing the right things in the right ways to make a positive difference. We need to highlight all the good; all of the miracles that are happening around us. And when you see them, celebrate and cherish them. “I hear babies cry, I watch them grow, they’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know, And I think to myself, what a wonderful world, yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world.”