Reagan

Well.  It was a very busy day today.  And perhaps it is the end of Brian's saga.  She went into labor and the baby didn't survive at 15 weeks.  And while its a sad thing to happen, having a miscarriage, I'm somewhat relieved that Brian won't have to deal with ... everything. 

Halfway through my day, Brian decided that he wanted to go see her, and the baby, at the hospital.  We arrived, and she's in a room with her husband and her daughter.  We chit-chatted a bit, then she asked the nurse to bring the baby in.  I had no idea what to expect.  She was so tiny, and so human formed, and yet you could also see that it wasn't a completed process.  They said her name is "Reagan", and decided it was a girl based on the ultrasounds.  Her features weren't complete enough to know if she looked like either of the parents.

The hospital was very kind in this matter, and made an imprint of her feet in some clay, along with ink on a paper.  They are very very tiny, but you can see each and every toe.  They brought her into the room in the smallest baby basket you've ever seen.  I'm sure they deal with this more often than most people realize, and they seemed to be sympathetic to the entire situation.  Although, it felt odd to me that this baby was "paraded around" for us to see.  Maybe that's some of my 'old fashioned' coming out.  Or maybe people with degrees know that its more important for people to have some kind of closure that we never realized in the past. 

I strongly believe in nature's way knowing best, and think that's what it was in this case.
But I'm glad I took the time to take Brian over to see her.

Maybe you're meant to meet the world in another place and time, pretty Reagan. RIP.