vientre

“Tú creaste mis entrañas; me formaste en el VIENTRE de mi madre.”
Salmo 139:13

I really want a baby.

Now, don’t worry, I’m not going to come home pregnant! But can you really blame me when I just went to my 3rd “babi shawer” here, I know 2 women who have given birth in the last 2 weeks, 2 women I work with in the office are 7 months pregnant, and yesterday at church we had a baby dedication?? I am surrounded by babies!! And I feel just a little bit enchanted by the idea …

The baby shower I attended was for the wife of my coworker Francisco. She almost didn’t make it to the shower because her contractions were coming so strongly! I sat next to her and just looked at her bulging belly in awe, thinking “There’s a living baby girl in there!!” In my wonder and curiosity I asked Sonya all sorts of questions. She told me she was excited to have the baby, but so nervous about the birth as well, especially being her first one. Yes, the baby moved around within her when there was music, no, Sonya didn’t have any weird food cravings. YES the contractions hurt!

One of the most precious moments during the shower was when the “emcee” asked Francisco what he did during the pregnancy to help the baby develop. He told us that he told his baby girl stories, and he sang to her. Francisco then unashamedly placed his hand gently on his wife’s stomach and began to sing in Quechua about different animals, describing them and imitating their sounds. I got tears in my eyes, and just couldn’t stop thinking “There’s a living baby girl in there!!!”

Baby “Chaska” (means star in Quechua) was born the very next day.

That day, my coworker Vanessa came into the office. I smiled, remembering that when I first met her, she wasn’t even “showing” yet. I hadn’t seen her in about a month and so was shocked to see her belly looking a lot larger than the last time. My coworker Raul teased her “Vanessa, you’re PREGNANT?!!” I couldn’t help but laugh – the woman is 7 months pregnant and HUGE with child!! She told us funny stories about her pregnancy. She can’t even put her own socks on anymore, and her husband is quick to help her, and always really concerned if he’s planning on leaving the house before she does – “What about your socks?!” Vanessa didn’t want to know the sex of the baby before it’s born, but her husband was too excited and already spilled the beans that it’s a boy (she won’t believe it until she sees it). It was so fun to listen to Vanessa chat animatedly about how “inquieto” (restless) her baby is. She was glowing.

The miracle of human life fascinates me. But there are also sad pregnant women. I know one who is just a year older than I am. She hid her unplanned pregnancy for several months, and told me that she’s just short of terrified about the responsibility of having a child. Although she’s about as far along as Vanessa, her stomach is smaller, hidden. People here believe that when the mother is dreading the child, the body shows that fear.

There is also a 17-year-old pregnant girl (woman?) staying in my house right now. A 17-year-old pregnant girl with a 1 ½ year old daughter. A 17-year-old pregnant girl whose husband just got mugged, and his taxi was stolen. And many would consider her lucky that her husband is even still around. I have been shocked by the number of single mothers I’ve met during my time here.

I hope I can be a mother someday – but maybe not quite yet.

As I placed my hands on various “vientres” (wombs) this week, I found myself thinking about Psalm 139:13 – “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” That’s pretty intimate! It is such a joy to see soon-to-be-mothers marvel at the living beings within them. They can get to know them in little ways – like Sonya noticing that Chaska “danced” when there was music playing, or like Vanessa saying that her baby is already a night owl because s/he bounces around just when Vanessa lays down to go to sleep. But that baby is still quite mysterious until he or she finally emerges into the world, gasping for air and crying out to be back in that warm womb again. But God knows us to the core, before we are even a thought, or a bouncing bundle of cells within our mothers’ wombs! And He knows us that way throughout our entire lives – down to the number of hairs on our heads.

May we find freedom and joy in being known that way.

(I won't come back pregnant ... but I MIGHT kidnap Rodrigo and bring him back with me!)