a child is born (no i'm not talking about baby jesus)

my very close long-time friend got to bring her baby boy home from the hospital yesterday. under most other circumstances (and especially if it had been a baby girl) i would have expected to have a lot of negative feelings and certainly would not want to hold the baby or outwardly celebrate the birth. however this baby is a very special one (disclaimer: i know all babies are special, but some are more special to me and it's my blog so that's what matters) born the day after christmas some might call it miraculous. since i am not a religious person, i see this as a show of my friend's extreme strength and determination. like me, she has a living daughter, but also like me after her normal first pregnancy and delivery she has suffered loss. (i don't like the term "losing your child". i feel like if you've "lost the child" it's sounds like you're somehow blaming the mother - like "well the baby was, like, right over there...and then...well...i....um...lost her" like maybe you'll "find" her again. but i also realize that your child's death at whatever stage of life is truly a huge physical and emotional loss, so i always choose my words carefully here. just my opinion.) her battle (yes i think the term is completely appropriate here) has been a source of inspiration to me. without going into detail i will say i think her road to this baby has been tougher than mine. i don't normally agree with directly comparing mom to mom and generally i don't think it's worth it to discuss the specifics of how long you tried to get pregnant, how you got pregnant, how long you stayed pregnant or how many times you went through the pain of it all. but for this amazing woman these facts make this baby an even more precious gift. he is a beautiful, perfect human being. a full-term baby who got to come home in a car-seat, at a healthy weight with only the minimal hospital stay. a baby who's mom is perhaps going to hold him just a little tighter and just a little closer than her first born. i hope my story will turn out this way, too.