Sunday's Child

On a Sunday morning in the Amazon jungle, a precious baby girl was born. She was our firstborn and no first baby was ever more anticipated. 

We'd arrived in Ecuador 2 1/2 months earlier and were barely getting settled. Everyone told me that first babies were generally late, so when I awoke in the middle of the night, 10 days before my due date, I assumed it was nothing. 

After a few minutes I lit a candle (no electricity during the nighttime) and opened my childbirth/childrearing book to find out just what might be happening. I concluded I was in labour. 

I was hungry, so on our gas stove, Tim heated up a bowl of soup for me and I ate it at 5:30 am. Then we went to the hospital, in a borrowed car, since our vehicle was stuck in customs. Jostling 30 minutes down a pot-holed riddled gravel road gave me time to practice my breathing. 

I assumed the baby would be born many hours later and no one was more surprised (and relieved) than I when Cristal made her appearance at 8:30 am. There was one phone in town and it rarely worked. I lay in the hospital all that day and the next thinking that no one in our families knew about our beautiful baby girl. On Monday night I left the hospital and before returning to our home, stopped by another ex-pat's home to make a ham radio call to let our families know the news. 

And now, 29 years later, that beautiful baby is grown into a beautiful young woman. She delights me, makes me laugh, and I love spending time with her. 

Happy Birthday, sweetheart!

For Mosaic Monday I created a collage of photos of Cristal. For more mosaics, visit Dear Little Red House - from dish collections to stunning nature scenes, there's a mosaic to enjoy.