We all stood there on the beach after we just had our first meal out in the middle of the ocean. Yes, in the middle of the ocean. Standing there taking pictures of the baby bump and of the beautiful lit up pier someone said “let’s take a selfie”. Of course everyone is in for the idea, and I took my grandmas IPad and quickly snapped a “selfie” before anyone actually saw us doing this. But now that I look back to this picture, I see family; I see a picture where everyone loves each other and enjoys the company and conversation. There are a total of nine people in this picture, but you can only see eight. We all have smiles on our faces; we’re at the beach so who wouldn’t have a smile on their face. We traveled from the East Coast to the West Coast far away from home, far away from family, friends, and everything familiar. Family will always be with you, they will stick by your side no matter what life throws your way because family is more than people. Family is love, understanding, support, laughter, and so much more

You think riding around in Oceanside, California wouldn’t be fun, but for me it is... it was. With my family you never know where you are going or where you are going to end up when you buckle your seatbelt. It is all a mystery. Everything is a mystery, like when is her water going to break... that is the big question?! No one ever knows anything, but we will still stand high with smiles curled upon our faces. 

The baby was due August 17th of 2014, so my family flew out to California for the birth. August 18th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 24th came rolling along and still nothing. We went down to the beach to walk, people watch, look for sand dollars, take pictures and maybe, just maybe that little human being will come out! Alas, nothing happened, but we all still put smiles on our faces and faced the next day, suspenseful to say the least.

Those walks on the beach were the longest though, up and down and up and down, until my sister couldn’t walk anymore. We all just wanted this baby to come out! I thought that maybe we should go on the boardwalk and try some spicy food that’s supposed to put woman into labor... no, it doesn’t work. That girl ate spicy food, nachos, Chinese food, and burritos, all night and day. She was miserable, I was miserable; my brother-in-law was miserable, grandparents, parents, siblings. That baby just didn’t want to come out!

The night of August 25th after walking around and around the beach, news finally came from the hospital; my sister was being checked into after being one and half weeks overdue! Behind all those smiles in the pictures was worry, fear, tears, anxiety because we didn’t know if any of my family was going to be able to see their first niece, grandchild, great grandchild, no one knew anything or what was going to happen.

That night, after our beach photograph of smiling faces, we all went to see my sister, see what was going on if she was going to be induced or how the doctors were going to proceed. It was hard not to see her smiling face. I just wanted to take her back to the beach to that moment where she wasn’t scared, wasn’t worried, wasn’t nervous, and where she wasn’t filled with anxiety. Although she “put on a smile” for us it wasn’t the same smile she had in the picture on the beach. It was a smile only a sister would understand, it was that one filled with so many emotions.

Nothing happened she was still only 1cm dilated, and they were going to induce her slowly. So, we took our stuff with our smiles on our faces, still trying to make the best of this terrible situation and we left so my sister could relax and maybe something would happen. I crossed my fingers!

04:30 and everyone was wide awake at the house and ready to head to the Naval Hospital. 06:00 walking down the hallway of the hospital hearing the babies crying and the mothers comforting them back to sleep. Room 3519 ‘knock knock knock’ I walked in, my sisters was nodding off kind of awake kind of not, Jesse my brother-in-law awake, mom awake. We asked of course wanting to know if anything new happened over the night. We got good news she's dilated two to three centimeters bad news was we had to catch a flight at San Diego airport at 09:15. We all left that morning not knowing what our new little part of our family was going to look or sound like.
We got to the airport I got a text, after all the tears from having to leave something good, “She’s four centimeters getting epidural, she’s going and doing better than they thought she would”. As I read that text out loud, smiles crept over everyone’s face. Finally progress! Something was happening! Of course wanting to know the good news and keep in touch it was time to board the plane and we had to turn our phones into airplane mode. The five of us just sat there, smiles on our faces just knowing that Nicole, my sister wasn’t going to be in pain and uncomfortable for much longer and she was going to be having our new baby girl!

San Diego to Houston, it’s only been four hours and I took my phone off airplane mode. My phone is blown up with text messages from my mom I let everyone know before I read them; smiles yes smiles just like in the picture! She was nine centimeters dilated! Everyone was so ready just to see pictures of this baby, but we all know how labor works, such a long process of pushing and making sure everything is going okay. It was time to board our next plane the last text I got from my mom was “she is expected to deliver within the next couple of hours.”

After flying all the way up the East Coast we made it to Boston, missing all the thunderstorms and landing safely. Once again the phone came back off airplane mode. She was pushing, but the baby didn't come out she was facing the wrong way emergency C-section here we come. 21:25 Leah Mae was finally born.

A smile can mean so many different things. A smile can mean that the family is happy and everything is okay, but on the other hand it can mean that we are sad, but we are trying to keep everything together for the sake of everyone. Taking a selfie can lead to so much more, than just a picture, because behind that picture is a story that you wouldn't even imagine would be there.