Call from the Clinic

Yesterday, we got a call from our clinic in Montreal. I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up the phone. A frisson of fear ran through me as the grief of six plus years still haunts my thoughts.

Turns out I had nothing to worry about though.

The woman I spoke with from the Lab wanted to know some details about the baby and her birth for our file. They asked questions like:

Did you deliver your baby? (Answer: Yes. Thank heavens.)
Was it a boy or a girl? (A beautiful baby girl.)
When was she born? (August 27, 2009)
How many weeks gestation was she born at? (40 weeks, 2 days)
Is she healthy? (Yes.)
Was it a natural delivery or a c-section? (Natural.)
Did you have any problems afterwards? How is your own health after delivery? (No, and fine.)
What did the baby weigh? (6 lbs 15 oz)
Is she gaining weight appropriately? What does she weigh now? (Yes, and I'm not sure, but at last check she was over 8 lbs. I hope to have her weighed next week again. I suspect she's close to 10 lbs by now.)

And when she'd asked all the questions she had to ask, I wondered what they needed that information for, you know... besides for their own statistics. She replied that the information I'd given would be added to our file for future reference should we decide to go back for further treatment to add to our family.

Our family. Our FAMILY.

It's nice to say that. We're not just a couple anymore... we are a family.

I don't yet know if we'll go this route again. It's a long, hard road. That's for sure. I expect that we've depleted much of our finances to do this a second time. However, it's not yet entirely out of the question. But first things first. I'm enjoying getting to know our daughter and to get the hang of us being a FAMILY.

That's incredible to me. I don't know if I'll ever get used to it. But I'm glad I get to practise saying it.