Most kids are excited when their mom brings home a baby but it is completely different when you get to sit in the room while he is being born. This happened to me. I remember that day perfectly.

I had always wanted another sibling. Specifically, a sister. Until my mom and dad said “Whatever the gender of the baby is, that same gender sibling will have to share their room with it.” At that moment, I changed my mind. I now wanted a brother.

My mom getting pregnant in the first place was a total surprise. She had only wanted two children but there was nothing she could do about it now. I was in the second grade when my mom got pregnant and I wasn’t really aware of what caused it. I was just happy to finally have another sibling besides my brother, Joel.

In the year of 2006, we had a miserably hot summer. I remember that because that was the year Jude was born. We would go swimming every day at a friend’s house while my mom was pregnant. My mom would exercise in the water to help make the baby come sooner, but it didn’t work.

July 26th, 2006 was the day that changed everything in my family. I stayed with my grandma for most of that day until my mom called my grandma and told us to come on over to the hospital. My grandma is a very kind and gentle lady.

They gave my mom pills that whole day to speed up the labor. When we arrived at the hospital, it was probably around 7:00 P.M. It was my first time in a hospital. It smelled very clean and fresh, like salt water. Most of the walls were white, except for the room that held the babies. It had a zoo theme. All of the babies looked so peaceful, just lying there and sleeping. I tried to imagine my baby brother laying there in a few hours.

When we got up to the front desk, the ladies looked nice. All of the nurses were very kind to me. It was a very special day and everyone made me feel special.

They asked me “Are you going to be a big sister and do you want a sucker?”

The people started to pile in the hospital room around 9:00 P.M. I ended up sitting on the couch squished between 3 other women. The room was filled with my mom’s closest friends and relatives.

My mom had told me earlier that it would be an amazing experience and that not many people get to see the birth of a baby sibling as a child. She also told me that it would be something I would never forget. So when she asked me “Do you want to stay in the room while I give birth?” I replied, “Yes.”

While my mom was giving birth, people kept asking me,” What do you think about this and isn’t that amazing?” I didn’t want to respond to them. I was sure that they could already see the answer on my face. I was grinning the whole time.

Jude came out a very clean baby. He weighed a lot, around 8 and 1/2 pounds. My mom had a smile on her face the whole time. It was a little gross to watch him be born but it was still exciting. Everyone was shedding tears of joy. It was a very beautiful moment. Joel, my other brother, was too little to be in the room. After, Jude was cleaned up and weighed; Dad went out to the waiting room to tell everyone else that the baby was born. Joel and everyone else came in to see Jude. It was a very full room and everyone had to hold him. I just wanted him all to myself.

Taking him home was amazing. He had the deepest blue eyes ever. Jude being born changed everyone in our family. He is like glue. He holds our family together. I feel like him being born gave me more responsibility. I wanted to change his diapers and help my mom around the house.

My mom told me before, “You always wanted to hold and kiss on Jude. You would always race home from school just to look at him.”

I think being present at his birth, makes me love him more. I feel like watching Jude’s birth made it more important knowing he was the last one. Now that he is here and part of our everyday life my mom says, “I can’t imagine life without him.” I agree with what she said 100%. On July 26th, 2006 4 became 5 and now our family is complete.