of farewell and babies

today i went to the airport to send a dear colleague off.

it was quite a teary affair for the bunch of us.. she's one of the nicest around here and it's sad to see her go. at the same time, we were happy for her that she's with her beloved husband, off to somewhere better to pursue happier lives.

she's been thru quite a bit this year, including the death of her dad, and difficulty to conceive, resulting in several procedures to no avail still... really wish the best for her. she's somewhere in the air up there now.. sigh life is so unpredictable. she was my mentor last yr when i first entered service, and one of the first we met. her presence and cheeriness is always felt in the office. it's surreal that she's gone.

one of the colleagues brought her baby son. he's oh-so-cute! just a few mths old. we've seen her through that pregnancy.. and it was a tough one. could still rem that she was spotting and almost couldn't keep the baby, had to be hospitalised a few times. we were rather worried for her and the baby. but to think, now he's so healthy, bouncy and cute. gosh.

life's so fragile isn't it. if at that moment her body failed her, she wouldn't be able to keep this baby. it was such a fine line between life and death. but he crossed that line and made it here. :)

so many of my colleagues have given birth or are pregnant still throughout this year.. think we counted something like ten new babies. i suppose in the ministry, everyone's really procreative and productive. everyone's very family oriented (except old singles like my boss), and i like this culture. they're always spending time with the family, talking about their children, or making time to be alone with their spouses. i like it that they make it a point to go home each day after work to be with their spouses and children. can really feel how much they love the family. and it helps that as psychologists, they really know how to educate their children. they're all such cute and lovely kids.

anw talking about pregnancy and childbirth.. i've really first-hand witnessed/heard how terrible the process is! u really gotta salute mothers for their courage and love. i've seen how my colleagues battled thru all the nausea, dizziness and aches during pregnancy, culminating in the horror process of giving birth to the baby... right up to even after birth, when u breastfeed the baby, take care of the baby fulltime etc...

get this, my colleague bled from breastfeeding! she noticed her baby's mouth was full of blood and realised that her boobs have been bleeding from being sucked too hard... she tried squeezing milk too and the milk was pink. arghhhhh

okok i'm still young.. i'm trying to think of that. and as my mum keeps saying, when the time comes, ur love for ur baby would be so overwhelming that u can take any pain that comes ur way. whoa.. sounds like a feat. something only supermums can do. and i think, my office is full of them. all supermums, some with three children, and are brilliant at work as well. i wonder how they do it... gosh.