I was never so conscious of the miracles we are granted every second of our lives. Now, I no longer take them for granted. I am aware that every second of every minute of every hour, adds up to days, and then to weeks.
Several months ago, my daughter, Meira, went for what was supposed to be a routine ultra-sound for pregnant women.
While she was being examined, the technician kept looking up and smiling at her. She then told Meira that she saw a sack carrying two babies. My daughter was surprised, but thought of the fact that her grandmother had been a twin. Then, the technician told her that she saw yet another sack. My daughter was, B”H, carrying triplets.
My daughter was in a state of shock. How could this be? How would she and her husband cope? How would her little girl still in diapers handle this drastic change in the make-up of the family?
As she sat there in the ultra-sound room, crying and trying to get used to her new reality, the technician did something very special, and I believe she deserves a hakarat ha’tov. She kept the office door locked, and sat with Meira until she calmed down. Then, she walked my daughter down the hall of the healthcare center, and introduced her to the unit which would now be in charge of her and the babies’ care.
My family and I have been blessed by Hashem with a special gift. These babies who were growing inside of Meira were not the product of fertility treatments, but rather a natural occurrence. This is not something seen very often.
We started counting the days until yet another week thankfully passed. Then we started counting again, praying for another week for the babies to stay safely where they were until they were past a certain point in time.
I had watched my daughter grow in more ways than one. While she was increasingly tired and towards the end, in great discomfort, she knew that Hashem had granted her something very special. She knew Hashem was providing her with the strength and health to go on.
Now that my daughter has given birth to, B”H, three healthy boys; we have started counting yet again. We count each day they are in the pagiah unit (NICU). We count the amount of weight they gain. We also hold them, learn how to feed them, and pray they will be able to come home soon to meet their almost 2-year-old sister.
Erev Yom Kippur, my husband have established the minhag of driving over to our children’s homes, in order to bless them as well as our grandchildren. This year, we sanitized our hands, donned special clothing, and entered the pagiah unit, where we blessed each of our new grandchildren. What a brachah, what a miracle, for our family.
I have learned an important lesson from this experience. I am reminded of how second by second, hour by hour, Hashem is watching over us.
May Hashem continue to watch over them all, well as well as over K’lal Yisrael.