Rockin' Babies

"She sure does love rocking' those babies!" one of my friends had commented about our mutual friend, Lee.

You see, Lee is a NICU nurse. For decades, she has cared for premature babies in the hospital. In fact, it was in the NICU that Lee and I truly became friends. I had known her from church, but almost 14 years ago, my cousin had her daughter prematurely and Lee was her nurse. It was during that time that Lee and I truly became friends. And during that time of frequent visits to the NICU, I learned a thing or two about NICU nurses and discovered that my friend Lee was legendary.

There are basically four things that a premature baby needs: a calming environment because they are easily over-stimulated, outside heat to keep them warm because they don't do a good job keeping their own body temperature, oxygen because their lungs aren't developed enough to provide it for themselves, and tube feedings because they are too little and weak to bottle feed (or nurse).

Two of these needs--calming environment and tube feedings are what make Lee legendary. Premature babies have very subtle signs of anxiety, but Lee could always read them quickly. Many times I saw her calmly stop what she was doing and turn to a bassinet across the room behind her back just in time to see a slight shift in a baby's heart rate. And before you could say "how did you know that they were getting upset?" Lee would be calming them down with soft words and a gentle hand.

Then there were tube feedings. Premature babies are tricky to take off tube feedings in which the milk is placed into the stomach directly through a tube that they put down the baby's throat. It's tricky because you have to teach them to suck and the action of suckling wears them out which causes their heart rate to drop. Lee of course, gets all of the hard cases. Because shoot. Even a premature baby knows its easier to be tube fed than work for your food by suckling.

Maybe it's her tone. Her attitude? I don't know. All I know is that all of the hard cases go to Lee who gets them bottle feeding as if they've been doing it for weeks. WITHOUT the heart rate drops that can be so scary and hard on baby's tiny heart.

"Do you want to hold her?" Lee asked me one day when I was there to visit. My little premature cousin was still hooked up to tubes, but could keep her own body heat for a time.

"Don't worry, Nancy. See? Look at her heart rate. She stays calm when she hears your voice. She will love being held by you."

Oh gosh.

So I sat in the rocking chair and Lee handed me that tiny baby girl. So fragile. So in need. And I was flooded with compassion and love for this tiny being in my arms.

And I realized right then that God sees us just like that. Holding us gently because we are so fragile and vulnerable. Wanting to keep us calm, breathing, warm, and full in a way that only He can provide.

But so often we don't let Him do what His heart longs to do for us. We refuse to let go of the tube feeding because we enjoy the easy road. We refuse to take comfort in the gentle voice of The Father and instead try to find comfort from others. We refuse to breathe fresh air and instead suck the stale air that is there in the pit we made for ourselves.  We refuse His offer of warm shelter and choose the cold world.

Do we not remember that Our Maker sings over us while we sleep? It is a sign of the joy He feels when we allow Him to love us.

"I don't think she understands all that science stuff you're saying quite yet, Nancy." Lee gently teased me as she checked on the wee human package I was holding.

"No," I said, smiling back at Lee, "but she understands the tone of my voice. She knows she is loved. That's all that matters."

Indeed, Beloved. Know that you are loved by The One True God. And that He takes joy in loving you.