Welcome to the Family!

Paging through the photo albums that my mom carefully assembled over the course of her ninety-two years, the Principle of the Firstborn Child rang true in our family – the number one child gets the most pictures. Apparently that rule holds true if your grandmother is a newspaper columnist as well, for even before her birth, I devoted a number of columns to the impending arrival of the lovely Madelyn Simone.

Not so her sister, Elizabeth Holiday Shade, whose initial claim to fame is being Madelyn’s little sister. If memory serves me well, I may have mentioned her anticipated birth a few weeks ago, but hadn’t quite gotten around to spinning a tale about being the grandmother of two beautiful little girls.

This lapse in grandmother protocol was not intentional, nor was it really my fault, because I planned to write about her in a week or two. After all, I had plenty of time, or so I thought. But Little Liza had another idea, entering the world at dawn on Monday morning, five weeks early. Having heard her dad’s vain attempts to urge the Cavs on to victory on Sunday evening, perhaps she wanted to add her own voice to their valiant effort to force a game seven, but alas, it just wasn’t enough. But just wait ‘til next year!

I didn’t hear the ‘ding’ of the text message as her father announced they were on their way to the hospital in the middle of the night. We were nine hundred miles away, visiting my husband’s sister in Kansas, with the lovely Madelyn Simone in tow (or was she towing us?) Madelyn’s a much better traveler than I am, but that two-day car ride home to meet her new sister was tinged with both anticipation and anxiety.

Greg sent us two video clips as Elizabeth gulped in her first breath and proceeded to wail her irritation at being brutally thrust into the chill and bright lights of the delivery room. Madelyn watched those videos across Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, cooing and sometimes laughing out loud, and finally tucked my phone under her shirt, either to muffle the crying or to cradle her new sister close to her heart.

Once we finally made it to Canton, we were able to visit at the NICU, and Madelyn got to see her sister for the first time. Nestled in a high-tech incubator, our wee granddaughter had ditched the oxygen mask by our arrival, but still had an IV in her scalp, a feeding tube in her nose, and monitors galore attached to her tiny body. We’re grateful for the technology that is supporting her in these days, but we long for the day when she is untethered from its chains.

As her mother uses a breast pump to express milk for her newborn, Madelyn is fascinated with the mechanics of feeding a preemie. She’s unconvinced that she actually nursed at her mother’s breast, and insists that her mother is ‘milking the baby.’ Makes sense to a five-year-old.

Beyond the medical concerns and the separation anxiety felt by the whole family, Elizabeth has already caused me some literary angst. Obviously, I will still be called Nana, but what will I call this new little gift to our family? Miss Elizabeth, like the famous wrestling manager? Queen Elizabeth, Princess Elizabeth – already taken. Little Liza, as Madelyn suggests? Libby, Liz, Beth, Betsy, Eliza, Lizzy, or even Ibby ( a beloved name in her mother’s family tree)? Time will tell.

Welcome to our family, Elizabeth Holiday Shade. Even before I am allowed to hold you in my arms, I am holding you close to my heart. Breathe deeply, nurse greedily, grow strong, and before you know it, you’ll help us write the next chapter in The Adventures of Nana and the Lovely Madelyn Simone. Together we’ll introduce you to playgrounds, RJ’s spraypark, and Harry London’s Chocolate Factory. We’ll gaze at the stars, jump in puddles, and search the sky for rainbows. Madelyn and I promise we will love you forever, love you to the moon and back, and love with all our hearts. We’re glad you have come to share your life with us!