Also see Pregnancy, Pregnancy Pages, Baby Memorial Albums and the Baby section.

Page Toppers

Quotes

• The angels light another star each time there is a birth,
  to celebrate each precious child, the good Lord sends to Earth.
• A child fills a place in your heart you never knew was empty.
• A child is nature's way of giving the world another chance
• I never knew all my hope and dreams would come in such a small package
• It's the little blessings that help us to see just how lovely life can be
• The most wonderful sound our hearts can hear is the sound of a newborn baby
• Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to conceive (Don Herold)
• Our new baby is special and so are you. Thank you for sharing our excitement.
• A precious new baby
  has come from above
  to live in your hearts...
  to fill you with love.
• Should a father be present at the birth of his child? It's all any reasonable child can expect if Dad is present at the conception. (Joe Orton)
• Sign on Labor Room Door: Push, Push, Push.
• A sweet little treasure sent from above,
  a coo and a smile, wrapped up in love.
• A wee bit of Heaven drifted down from above,
  a handful of happiness, a heartful of love. (Helen Steiner Rice)
• We've been blessed. A new baby and dear friends like you to share our joy. Thank You.
• We've waited so long for this special day,
  for a child of our own to be sent our way
• When a child is born so is a mother/father
• With every little baby's birth, a bit of stardust falls to earth
• The world shines bright with endless possibilities each time a child is born

Birth Announcement

Two organic gardening specialists, Mike and Roberta Lybarger, have perfected a very special hardy American perennial named Jesse Michael Lybarger. Guaranteed to bloom this year. Grown absolutely without harmful chemicals. Unless growers' supply becomes exhausted, more fine varieties expected annually.

Birth Announcement

My parents named me _______
Without asking my advice
I think they're going to keep me
For they think I'm pretty nice.
I was born ___________
And I don't do much but doze
I weighed just _________
That's without my clothes.

The Love You Save

(This poem was written to accompany a Memory box given as a baby gift. However it could be altered to accompany a scrapbook. You would change the word "Box" to "Book" and changing the references in the second and third verses from large items you would put in a box to things you could put in a scrapbook. )

An Empty Box, what can it be?
I thought it was a gift for me.

Although this box is not what it seems,
It's empty now - but oh the dreams.
You Child has arrived to begin their life
With wonder and strife.

They'll strive to walk, heel to toe,
Baby shoes they'll soon outgrow.
Baby teeth so white and new
You must save them Mommy, for me and you.

And as they grow, things they'll leave behind
Cherished things that you will find.
A Lock of Hair, a Teddy Bear
These precious items you cannot spare.

So here's an Empty Box for you;
To keep these things their whole life through
And when he/she is all grown up and gone,
You Memory Box will carry on.

The Love you saved at last complete
All the memories, some sad, some sweet
Will stay close to a Mother's heart
As your little one was right from the start.

Baby Shower Favor

(Kathy Gordon)

I'm really glad that you could come
To help surprise my mother.
Sit down, relax, enjoy yourself
And chat with one another.
Sorry I can't be with you
To share my mommy's shower
But, you see I'm very busy
'Cause I am growing more each hour.
Though I'm not here to thank you
For the special gift you brought,
My family and I are grateful....
We appreciate the thought.
I'll be arriving shortly
I'm as happy as can be....
So after I've been home awhile
Please come and visit me!

Love,
Baby (first or last name)

(print on paper, roll up and tie with ribbon)

Basic Arithmetic

1 plus 1 equals 2, but
2 is 1 when they marry,
12 months later this becomes
2 and a little 1 to carry.

One Times Two

(Elizabeth Brady)

 Two hearts imbedded in one as time
        lingers on
 As time lingers on the heartbeat
 becomes more and more intense
                walking for two
                sleeping for two
                thinking for two
 Pleasant feelings entertain sad ones
 Which may sometimes set a queer mood
                        Time still lingers on
 
 Old cravings ...
          New desires ...
                  Strange tastes ...
                             Burning fires ...
 
 As time lingers on feet anxiously brush
 against ones breast
                 No rest ...
 As time lingers on hours greet minutes
 and minutes greet seconds
 Eagerness and anticipation battle in her mind
 As fingers grip tight to objects that give
 Little or no comfort
                 Thrusting pains heat the body
                 The moment presents itself
                                 Pain is measured
                                 Clockwise
  
                 Agony!!!
 Flesh is torn. Happy tears and sweat
 Cool the warm flowing blood
 Then against the morn
         Come forth a love
         
         A child is born!!!
  

Investment

(Carol Lyn Pearson)

Notes from the Delivery Room

(Linda Pastan - from A Perfect Circle of Sun)

Strapped down
victim in an old comic book,
I have been here before,
this place where pain winces
off the walls
like too bright light.
Bear down a doctor says,
foreman to sweating laborer,
but this work, this forcing
or one life from another
is something that I signed for
at a moment when I would have signed anything.
Babies should grow in fields;
Common as beets or turnips
they should be picked and held
root end up, soil spilling
from between their toes -
and how much easier it would be later,
returning them to earth.
Bear up...bear down...the audience
grows restive, and I'm a new magician
Who can't produce the rabbit
from my swollen hat.
She's crowning, someone says,
but there is no one royal here,
just me, quite barefoot,
greeting my barefoot child.

Mom's Second as Ill-Timed as Her First

(Omaha - AP)

An expectant mother didn't quite make it to the delivery room in an Omaha hospital recently, so the birth took place in the hospital elevator.
There were no complications, according to a newspaper account, which did not give the mother's name. Mother and baby were in fine condition, but the mother was upset nevertheless.
The mother kept telling a nurse: "How embarrassing! How embarrassing!"
The nurse soothed: "Nonsense! Don't be embarrassed. This sort of thing happens all the time. If you think this is something to be embarrassed about, you should have been here 18 months ago. A woman had a baby right out there on the hospital lawn."
The mother was not consoled. "I know!" she wailed. " That was me, too!"

Pro-life

Previously I had a couple of pro-life poems in this file. They were at the end of the file with an explanation of what followed in bold type. The explanation made it clear that they were somewhat graphic and that anyone who was pro-choice would not like them. However  a couple of people didn't notice the disclaimer and were upset by the poems (one of them agreed with the poems but didn't feel this file was the appropriate place for them).
I know this website is used by people with different viewpoints. In most cases where there is difference of opinion I include things from both sides - for example I have a Military file and a Peace file. And I have a Hunting file has ideas for hunting pages along with some anti-hunting poems. Some things I don't have a firm opinion about, or have had changing views over the years, so it is easy for me to see both sides. In other areas I do have a long-standing belief but I have lived long enough to know that very few issues are black and white. For almost everything I feel strongly about I have at least one friend who feels just as strongly the other way.
In deciding what to do about the pro-life poems I had to balance my desire not to upset anyone with my feelings about an issue that is very dear to my heart. Eventually I decided to put the poems in a separate Pro-Life file that only links from here. That way no one will read them by mistake.