My Alder tree...

It's 15 years to the day that my Alder was born.
With the prior experience of Amanda being born in 7 months, Alder wanted to do a one-up. I went into labor in 6 months and 2 weeks and my doctor advised that I have take it easy and put me onto medication to settle my 'hyperactive' uterus (ahem!).
It was a scary 2 weeks as we were very apprehensive of an early delivery but the medication seemed to work and I settled into a routine of injections and tablets. My due date was August 3rd and the goal was to somehow sustain till then.
3rd, 4th and comes 5th August. My baby seemed unwilling to take a peek at the world outside, we were told it was a girl and I was waiting for 'Amber' to appear. On the 5th when I went and met the doctor and he advised admission in hospital as the baby was getting big he said and we had to induce labor.
Medication administered at night and we prepared for a late morning or afternoon delivery. 3:05 am and my contractions begin. My mother-in-law spent the night in hospital with me and she predicted that the contractions weren't strong enough and that the torture may well continue into another 24 hours. No, I didn't kill her.
Surprisingly though, the contractions kept coming but not in an unbearably painful fashion and my baby was born at 6:10 am. I was dazed with the pain and the knowledge that it was over before I knew it and the revelation that it was a boy and not a girl who I thought was making an appearance. My first thought was, 'oh shucks, I have to dress him in pink'. I had prepared for a girl with everything in pink.
I didn't get to see him until I was shifted to my room, he was washed, wrapped and handed over to my mother-in-law who wouldn't let go of him. My baby was a 10 pounder and simply beautiful. He fit the cradle exactly because of his sheer size and we had to order a new one to fit him into.
Beginning with his birth, Alder was an easy child to grow.
The name Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants (Alnus) belonging to the birch family and is a cousin of the elk and elm trees.
As I was looking up the meaning and description of the tree, I came across this bit of information,"Alder improves the fertility of the soils where it grows, and as a pioneer species, it helps provide additional nitrogen for the successional species which follow".
I cant help smiling and thinking how apt the words are for this precious child of mine. He is a giver and he does provide nutrition to our family and I hope to everyone around him. He is a fine human being and is one of the kindest people I know.
My prayer for him on his 15th is that he grows to be as strong as a tree, for his roots to penetrate deep into the soil which he nourishes as he grows, for his trunk to be sturdy and strong to withstand the ravages of time and the vagaries of nature and for his branches to spread out into the sky and span the earth above and ground below. For him to be a habitat for birds to build nests in and for his shadow to provide shade to every weary soul.
For his timber is strong, his veneer polished and his endurance everlasting... is my faith.