That Time a Stranger Made Me Cry...

I am a worry wort.  Trent is not.  He is slowly but surely helping me to mellow out, but the worry wortness is now a little magnified due to the fact that we now have a tiny human to care for.  

I constantly check to see if Oliver's breathing, if he's too cold, if he's too hot.  I google things like newborn constipation, newborn gas, what does newborn poop look like.  I ask my mom and sisters if this and that is normal.  Does he sleep too much?  Why is he grunting?  Newborn hiccups?  Newborn sneezing?  Can I eat curry while nursing?  Umbilical hernia?

ALL OF THE THINGS.

Meanwhile, Trent's all, "He's fine.  Get some sleep."  Oh how we balance each other out.  

So, it should be no surprise that I was a tad freaked out when we decided to go out in public for the first time last week.  Trent was all for it.  And I was, too (after consulting with my mom and the google and the pediatrician.)  I even put on real clothes…pants without elastic, drawstrings or flannel fabric.  A small victory.

I'm sure we had NEW PARENTS written all over us.  From figuring out how the heck the carrier fits on the cart to stopping every 5 seconds to peek under the blanket to see if Oliver was ok.

It was a quick trip and Oliver did great, sleeping the whole time.  He started getting fussy right as we were checking out.  So there we were trying to maneuver groceries, paying, and securing the beloved pacifier.  

Oliver let out a little cry and the woman in line behind us said, "Oh!  That's a new baby cry!  I remember that sound."  I replied, "This is our first official outing with him so we're trying to get our bearings." 

She was so sweet, congratulating us several times and saying how happy she is for us.  She asked if she could take a peek at him.  I said yes (after making sure she didn't have the flu first, of course.)  She said he was so handsome  and commented on his blonde hair =)

We said goodbye and she said congratulations again and we walked out.  Since it takes forever and a day to get anywhere now, she ended up catching up to us in the parking lot and was actually parked by us.

We smiled and said "bye" and proceeded to load the car.  Then, the kind stranger came back around her car and said to us, "I just said a prayer for your sweet family.  I'm really happy for y'all!  What a big step."  I said, "thank you so much!"  

Then she got emotional and teary eyed and so I did too!  And then Trent did.  

The whole interaction was no more than 5 minutes but what an impact it had on us.  God put someone in our path at just the right time.  He knew we were nervous and overwhelmed and questioning what the heck we were doing and so he gave us a word and a boost by way of a stranger at Target.  He is creative, isn't He?

And later that night, when Oliver was crying for over an hour, I couldn't help but think, "Oh sweet Jesus, I hope she's praying for us now."