The love in a family

OK. *grimace* The following pictures I'm about to share with you -well, I'm not really fond of them. They are me looking my absolute worst - ever. They are of me, exactly 2 hours after giving birth via the C-section - after 9 + hours of labor and the emergency C-section, and lots of tears, vomiting, pain, lots of meds, 2 epidurals, and finally, the joy of meeting my precious girl. I'm bloated beyond belief and looking like almost death - so pale, chubby, and just flat-out "out of it". But - they accompany the story I just learned of last night - when CJ, Keifer and I were at Corey and Jill's and Jill shared the story of our niece Abby with us.

Apparently, a few weeks after Keifer was born and Abby had visited us that same night in the hospital - she was given an assignment in her Kindergarten class. The children were each given a paper star and they were told, if they had one wish in the world, what would that wish be, and they were to practice their new writing skills and write it out on the star. Abby, our dear Abby, wrote:

"I wish my Auntie Carrie didn't have to get cut open".

I know. I'm imagining you are oohing and ahhing, and saying, "oh my, what a sweet child", while at the same time wondering what the dickens a 5 year old girl knows about her auntie getting CUT OPEN!
Well, CJ videotaped the C-section of Keifer coming out - and although there are no visuals of the cutting or any type of blood -only of Keifer coming out - this precocious 5 year old was alert and aware enough of understanding that Keifer came out of her Auntie's tummy, through the big incision she had seen her Auntie showing her mommy. She also saw her Auntie after the C-section, as you can see in pictures, and I remember her being uncharacteristically quiet while near me - me, with the bloated face and eyes, pale skin, and IVs going into my arms, along with the catheter peeking out from under the sheets. She had no idea what her Auntie had just gone through - but she knew her Auntie hadn't had an easy time, and she was most likely freaked out by the gear and tubes her auntie had attached to her.
I remember that night, Abby had taken the arm with my IVs in it, and told me "Auntie, you look pretty", and then kissed my arm. We all know I was not a pretty sight, but the loving gesture makes my heart swell with love for this gorgeous 5 year old who is wise beyond her years. *sigh*.