"Breathtaking"

There's an episode of Seinfeld, where all the main characters go to visit one of Jerry and Elaine's friends who recently had a baby. While there, Elaine meets a handsome, single pediatrician who calls both her and the baby (who apparently isn't that great-looking), "breathtaking." This, of course, miffs Elaine because it undermines what she thought was a deep compliment from a potential suitor.

I preface this post with this tidbit because the word "breathtaking", especially in regards to babies, now has new meaning to me too. For those of you who don't know already, I had my baby the other day. He was a little early, but considered full-term - and he's doing great. We just went to see the pediatrician for a second visit today, and he gained twice as much weight as was expected of him over the past week, and is now back in the 50th percentile - where he was for most of the pregnancy.

(Sidebar: Interestingly enough, I always thought I would want my baby to be the best and biggest and strongest, but after the dramatic start this baby had - I am over the moon at average-ness and middle-of-the-road health stats.)

Apparently, newborns like to hold their breath. Like, they LOVE to hold their breath. They do it when they're eating, pooping, sleeping... and, well, since that's pretty much all they do - that's pretty much all the time. This breath-holding is quite alarming to new parents, understandably.

My baby held his breath for four-and-a-half minutes at birth. You can imagine the "alarm" this caused me and my husband. Although I'm pretty sure I didn't hold my breath that entire time - the ordeal definitely took a lot of my breath away. Those 275 seconds are now easily the worst 275 seconds of my life thus far. You can imagine all the things that race through your mind... Or maybe you cant imagine. Either way, I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone else. Just take my word for it. If you're really curious, try sitting quietly and still for four-and-a-half minutes. As the time ticks by, imagine that the whole rest of your life is in limbo during this time. People say your life can change in a second. Actually, it takes longer - and each second seems like an eternity.

That's why when people describe my baby as "breathtaking" now, it has a different meaning to me than it probably does to them. Not that the word has a bad connotation or anything like that. Just a deeper meaning than the user may intend. Yeah, I know my baby's good looking... But did you know he's life-changing as well?