Nati

It had been nine months and a little over a week. My sister Esther was over due, which was fine, but my sixteenth birthday party was the next day. Of course I was excited for the baby boy to come; the only thing was I didn’t want him to come on October 10. Nature had a different plan though; Esther started having contractions on the exact date of my birthday party.

Everyone was there, my friends, my family, even Esther came. Although my family knew Esther could possibly be in labor, no one let it show. Well maybe not only my family knew, I couldn’t help myself from telling some of my friends. I knew I was supposed to be happy, the baby wasn’t going to come during my birthday party, but I couldn’t help the jealousy that seeped inside of me. It was a strange feeling the happiness because the baby was finally going to be here and the jealousy of not being the baby of the family any more. The only thing I could do was forget about the baby and enjoy the party. It was easier said than done, but eventually I enjoyed the party and put the jealousy behind me.

The day of the party was Saturday, but the baby didn’t come, then on Sunday my entire family skipped church, waiting for the baby. We played a couple games, watched Esther go a little further into labor, and played more games. The phrase, “A watched pot never boils,” was especially true that day. The next day was the same, thankfully I didn’t have school. My other two sisters, who were up from Virginia for my birthday were still there, hoping Esther would have her baby. Esther and her husband Yohannis went to the hospital, thinking they might get admitted. Meanwhile my mom, sisters, and I went to Park City, which was near the hospital, where Esther was at the time. We looked around for a couple of minutes and then went back to the car where we proceeded to sit for four hours waiting to hear something from Esther. Again nothing happened. Not hearing anything and feeling a little sheepish we went home and my two sisters went back to Virginia.

Esther had been in labor for three days when she finally got admitted into the hospital at 2 a.m. Tuesday morning. My parents and I went there immediately after getting the call from Yohannis. Esther didn’t give birth until almost 11 a.m. Thankfully my parents let me skip school, so I could be there right after the baby was born. After what felt like forever, the baby was here. I remember going into the room, and seeing him for the first time. He was beautiful, instantly all of the remaining jealousy was gone. Yohannis told me his name, Natiniel Matthew Yohannis, Nati for short.

After all the events in those three days, I would say Nati was worth it. I learned many lessens during the time of his birth. Eventually the jealousy was gone, sometimes I can feel the jealousy coming back, but I just remind myself of how much I enjoy having Nati around.