early bird

My friend hospitalized a month ago with bacterial meningitis had her baby boy today at 28 weeks of gestation.  They are both reportedly doing well, though the baby is obviously quite premature and will need extraordinary care for a long time to come.  Thinking of the road that lies before him now that he's outside his mother's body this early is deeply humbling for me as I consider the three full-term (and then some) bambini I've delivered already and the one that is gestating now (I'm nearly 19 weeks along).

If he's anything like his mother, the little guy born today (all two pounds, seven ounces of him) will have an admirable tenacity of will to aid in what could likely be a struggle for survival.  As his mother regains her health in small but encouraging ways (with a long way still to go, as she has yet to regain feeling below her chest), I pray he too will grow in health of body, mind, and soul, and that one day very soon she may snuggle him in her arms. 

I can say with some confidence that his birth today did not happen how she would have wanted it, but what matters most is his growth and health as well as hers.  May God bless them each with strength, and their angels guard them.  Likewise may their family and caretakers be blessed with wisdom, strength, and hope.