Mysteries in my world

Yesterday there was a loss of a 21 week fetus, in a family who really wanted the baby and were grief-stricken by the loss. It is always a sad and hard thing, when these miscarriages happen, in the time before a baby is actually big enough to be helped by care in the intensive care unit. This little person, a boy, was so small, and so fragile, that we could not blow air into his lungs sufficiently to help him be able to exist outside the womb. My colleague, the perinatal specialist, had told the parents that we sometimes do not know why babies come too soon, that it may be that they get confused, their timing is off, and they are born too early. Maybe it is about the immune system, but we just don't always have a good answer to that heartbreaking question "why?"
Still, the fact that it happens, as in this family, sometimes makes a couple have a stronger love and devotion to each other, as they have lived through this suffering together, and have comforted and supported each other. So it sometimes happens that I believe I can see an outcome which is a good thing, from such a sad event. For a young couple with their whole life ahead of them, something like this is often the first truly hard thing they have ever had to bear. Still, it is a deep mystery.
Today I had a 16 year old mom, who did a magnificent job of pushing her baby out. She re-confirmed my opinion that being young is just such a big help for the muscle-tone and work of labor. Who knows how her life will go, and I am sure it will not be easy to have had this child so young. But my experience has often been that these young mothers are devoted and good moms, and get their lives "on track" precisely in order to help meet their children's needs. Again, it is a deep mystery, and sometimes very much against the beliefs and the conventional wisdom of our time.
Asking for help, being humble, and just trying to do what is required, one day at a time, are a big part of finding one's way in the world. Spilling blood is part of the work of having babies. Sometimes it seems so beyond-comprehension, and other times as easy as "falling off a log". I just keep hoping that the spilling of blood will not be in vain.