Generations

And these are the generations of Leo, a disciple of Elyon. And Leo begat Yehudit Chava, a daughter in his own image and likeness. And he said, brucha haba'ah (blessed is she who comes). And he thanked God with these words: Praised are You, O Lord, our God, King of the universe, Who has given us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this season.

And it came to pass on the 22nd of October in the year 2009, corresponding to the 4th of the month of Chesvan in the year 5,770 from the creation of the world by HaShem, blessed be His Name, that Yehudit Chava came into the world. And the manner of her birth was of great struggle and suffering even as HaShem said to the first Chava, "I will greatly multiply thy pains in childbirth." And lo, the contractions did cause the baby's heartrate to drop dramatically such that the doctors and nurses were all greatly concerned. And the doctor bade the mother consent to an emergency c-section and yea, the same was performed that same hour.

And at 9:09 the doctor did pronounce, "it's a girl!" and after the staff suctioned the mucus from the baby's mouth and nose and the air flowed into her little lungs that she uttered her first cry bringing tears to her parents as well.

And lo, mother and father and baby did stay at the hospital over the weekend getting some time together while mother recuperated from her surgery. And yea, there were a great many messages and cards and phone calls and gifts and visitors. And Yehudit Chava did meet her grandfather and aunts and uncles on her mother's side. And she met her great grandmother and grandparents and aunt on her father's side. And there are still many uncles and an aunt on her father's side she has yet to meet.

And great was the rejoicing when Yehudit Chava came home for the first time and the family from her mother's side was at the house, including her great aunt, that is her mother's mother's sister.

Steep and difficult has been the learning curve for Yehudit's parents as she is the firstborn child for either of them. And her mother has had no child-rearing experience, ever. Not even babysitting. And while her father has done his share of caring for his younger siblings and changing diapers, that has been many years ago. And so her parents learn about her non-verbal communication and what different cries mean. And they learn about feeding her and changing her diapers and bathing her and comforting her in the wee small hours of the night.

And for all the crying and fussing and keeping her parents up at night, so that neither gets much sleep, her parents will accept it. A smile on her face instantly banishes all dark clouds. Holding her in their arms while she sleeps, all other concerns are forgotten.

Lord, may she have the wisdom of Sarah, the kindness of Rebekah, the tenderness of Leah and the courage of Rachel. Beautiful she is already, like the moon and the stars. And may she also be blessed with good health all her days and may she have descendants as numerous as the sands of the seashore and the stars in the heavens.