Cut To the Chase

To update, Maura has been sleeping 9-11 hour stretches consistently until last night. For some reason, she had a very stuffy nose last night that woke her up every half hour. I finally woke her up all the way by suctioning the poor thing, then gave her a bottle to help her fall back asleep. She slept for nearly six hours after that. I don't know why, but the air conditioning seems to stuff her up at night. I had her humidifier running, but it just wasn't enough last night. I hope that tonight she goes back to sleeping comfortably.
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I went to a Bris yesterday. It was the first Bris that I've attended. There are a lot of things that I still don't understand, but overall it was a really neat ceremony. I couldn't watch the circumcision itself, and hearing the baby crying, no, screaming was excruciating. I really enjoyed the mother's prayer. It was really beautiful. She got up and thanked God for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. She asked God to give her guidance in raising her new son. It was exactly what has been in my heart since Maura was born, and it was really wonderful to hear it read out loud. I also really enjoyed the naming of the baby. In the Jewish faith (as I've been told) a baby is given names beginning with the initials of the last two relatives that have passed away. So during the ceremony, the grandmothers talked about the two relatives that the baby was named after. I always liked naming a child after family, but I never thought of it in the context of it continuing the "Circle of Life" as was explained during this ceremony. I liked that. I liked how this ceremony brought everyone together as a family and a community. The feeling of community was especially evident as the baby was circumcised. As you can imagine, this was a very difficult time for the mother. Almost all of the other women gathered around her to help her through.

I am not Jewish, so I really felt that I was more an observer than a participant. I'm so glad that I was invited to share this day with our friends. I can't imagine being in the shoes of that mother. First of all to have a catered event for 50 in my home just seven days after giving birth! And most of all to have to listen to my son screaming in pain during the procedure. I really couldn't have kept it together. Other than the fact that this is tradition, I really don't understand this ceremony. I'm sure that there are many out there in blog-land that can do a much better job of explaining things (and I invite you to!!). But these were my thoughts and observations.

Meanwhile, my wish is for our friends to have a nice, quiet week at home adjusting to the newest addition to their beautiful family.