Little Bobby had been living inside Mommy’s tummy for a while now. From as far back as he could remember, he had always lived here. This was a comfy place, warm in the winter, while cool in the summer. Bobby was surrounded by a gentle and loving pool of water, sucking his thumbs, kicking his feet, and enjoying the good life. He ate when he was hungry, fell to sleep easily when tired while the water lovingly rocked him. Bobby loves hearing Mommy’s soft, gentle voice. He would get excited and started dancing around every time he heard her. But Bobby had been a little frustrated lately. Something was not quite right. Why was the surrounding space getting smaller by the day? It seemed only yesterday when he could somersault easily, but now even just doing a full stretch was getting tight. What was going on? Bobby kicked Mommy for an answer. Mommy gently rubbed Bobby and talked to him. Sometime Mommy also sang to Bobby to calm him down. It had always worked.
Daddy and Mommy had been anxious these days, especially Mommy. They had been waiting for the moment. When the due date finally arrived, however, there was no sign of Bobby popping out. Dr. Vitale told Mommy not to worry. He said that this was quite normal and often seen with first-borns, as the bodies of new mommies had not learned how to react and produce the necessary hormones. If Mommy did not want to wait any more, he could use induction to get Bobby out. Mommy did not know what to do. On one hand, she really wanted Bobby to come out by now, but on the other she was worried that Bobby might not yet be ready. Another two weeks passed. Now Dr. Vitale would not allow Mommy to wait any longer and insisted on her having an induction. He pointed out that the placenta was getting less efficient in delivering the oxygen and nutrients to Bobby and this, may cause him to be starving. Mommy finally agreed.
The next morning, Mommy arrived at the hospital. The nurse wheeled Mommy into an observation room and hooked her up with monitors. Soon Dr. Vitale came in. After greeting Mommy and checking her over, he inserted in a capsule. Bobby immediately felt it. He hated the smell of the capsule, and tried to get away from it as far as he could. Mommy stayed in the room for the most of the day but still, nothing happened. Dr. Vitale finally sent her home. Happily, Mommy and Bobby took a nap together.
After dinner, Mommy’s tummy started tingling. Daddy jumped over to grab the phone and called Dr. Vitale. “Pack her up, and bring her over immediately,” Dr. Vitale advised. Daddy grabbed the bag that Mommy had prepared and rushed into the car. “Wait, darling, I am not yet in the car!” Mommy called out. But Daddy already drove away. A few minutes later, he came back. “Sorry,” he said. Mommy sighed. Then she sat into the car and said, “Take it easy, would you? And please drive safely. ” All the commotions had been felt by Bobby. What was going on today? Was something important going to happen? Was it all because of that “capsule”? Bobby thought about it for a few minutes; then fell asleep.
At the hospital, Mommy was wheeled immediately into the observation ward and Dr. Vitale soon arrived to check her. “Well,” he said, “Looks like, we shall have a long way to go.” So Mommy and Daddy waited in the room. That was a very long night. Mommy’s pain was getting worse by the minute, but the doctor said she was still not ready, and had to wait some more. Meanwhile, Bobby was distressing inside as well. He was screaming but Mommy was too preoccupied with her own pain and could not take care of Bobby. Finally, Bobby cried himself to sleep.
When he woke up again, Bobby was in agony. He was suffocating. “I cannot breathe!” He tried to call out but could not make a sound. Gradually, he lost consciousness …
Time passed; not sure how long it had been …
Suddenly a strong shine of light was all around. Instinctively Bobby closed his eyes. A fresh breeze caressed him. Ah, such comfort! He took a deep breath. But there was something he strongly missed. Where did Mommy’s comforting warmth go? And how come he could not hear Mommy’s heartbeat anymore?
A woman in white gown wiped him clean, wrapped him up in a soft blanket, and handed him over to Daddy. “Congratulations, Mr. Chang,” she said, “You have a brand new baby boy.” “Why isn’t he crying?” Just when Daddy asked, Bobby started belting out his first cries. “Where is Mommy?”, he screamed angrily. “I want my Mommy!” He had been expecting to hear Mommy’s voice and finally exploded. But no one understood him! Everyone was talking and laughing.
Bobby did not know that Mommy, in fact, was in the room lying on an operation trolley. She was totally exhausted but extremely happy. Last night, she endured a twenty-hour pre birth struggle without success, and eventually had to have an emergency c-section to get Bobby out. Bobby was in full distress for a while, but he looked fine now, free from any signs of brain or other damage. Daddy and Mommy finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Bobby decided that he would not open his eyes when Mommy wasn’t around. The light was too bright anyway.
At night, Bobby finally got back with Mommy. He knew that he was in Mommy’s arms as soon as he heard the familiar heartbeat and got really excited when Mommy’s started talking to him. Bobby opened his eyes for the first time and started looking around. He first saw Mommy, full of smiles. Bobby thought she was very beautiful. Mommy gave him a lot of kisses. When her arms were around him, Bobby felt sure this world was going to be safe and warm, just like before …
A lean and tall man was standing by Mommy’s side and talking to her. Bobby was sure he recognized his voice immediately as his Daddy’s. When Daddy took Bobby gently from Mommy, Bobby was not, at first happy. He was just about to scream in protest when all the sudden, he caught two round and sparkling things on Daddy’s face. What were these? He stared at them and studied Daddy’s face carefully. Later, Daddy told Mommy that right there, that stare, melted his heart completely …
So, just like that, little Bobby came in to the world and met his parents for the first time.
<END>
| 海云 (2012-07-08 22:56:29) |
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女儿若喜欢画画，画些插图，做成画加文字，就可以给孩子们看。 文轩的人，英文都是第二语言，最好的方法是让一个英文是母语的人读一遍，看那里拗口再修改。 |
| panda13 (2012-09-29 01:13:30) |
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第一次尝试着把我的中文小品翻译成英文。希望等到那一天，我的孩子们有自己的孩子时，能给他们看看，跟他们一块分享小生命诞生时给我们带来的惊喜。 |