Jean Hopkinson
March 29, 2009
8am
8lb 2oz, 19.5inches
More baby pictures than you ever wanted to see:
There's not much to report by way of 'birth story.' Mine are pretty run of the mill, which I'm grateful for. I go into labor at night and a week early: check. Water breaks, debate with Aaron about seriousness of going to the hospital, drug me up, push her out, no complications. Amazing. A miracle. A blessing.
I thought having a 4th baby was great though; I got hand-waved through so many things. The nurse came to triage me and when I told her this was my 4th she lowered her clipboard, took off her gloves and sighed, "oh, well you know you're in labor. Let's skip this and go straight to a room." When the next nurse checked my progress and I was complete she really hustled to call the dr. when I told her to be ready to deliver the baby because I won't wait to push just because she asked me to (she tried to tell me I would wait and I humored her by negotiating for 10 minutes). When the recovery nurse was giving me the shpeel about all the paperwork on my clipboard she kept pulling sheets out and throwing them in the garbage muttering, "you can skip that, and that, and you don't have to watch this movie...." When another nurse checked in the second morning she entered by saying, "I don't need to tell you anything, you could probably tell me a thing or two, you have more kids than me." And to top it all off, a dr. never even checked me after the delivery. They ended up calling and getting my release permission over the phone! All of this kept me chuckling through the whole experience, I mean, 4 kids isn't really that many! but I guess it is in the context of popular society.
Which reminds me of a funny little observation Aaron made over the last 9 months. He likes to relate the various reactions and comments he gets in reaction to each successive pregnancy:
1st child: "Oh! how exciting. Good for you. You'll love being parents."
2nd child: "Oh! that's great you want to have kids. How fun."
3rd child: "Oh! that will make a nice little family. You'll be busy!"
4th child: "How many kids are you going to have?!?!?!?!"
This is clearly the line where we crossed all social acceptability and the doting sugary coated encouragement completely dissolves into incredulity.
Special Edition: Baby Jean
March Chronicles
In a desperate and, arguably, insane attempt at staying busy during these last few weeks of pregnancy, I signed Quinn up for swimming lessons.
But the class was full, so I looked into a Parent-Tot class at the same time and thought I might as well put Enoch in as well. I even checked in with the head life-guard to get some kind of official clearance for having 2 kids to one parent. (Although, one look at me made it clear I was practically at the 3:1 ratio in all reality.)
My simple $25 swim lesson idea turned into a $100 lesson by the time I got both enrolled and had to buy a swimming suit I could fit in!
It turned out to be a lifesaving activity to get us through some long weeks and the kids made some great progress. Enoch is fearless. I wish I could somehow depict it in words. Jumping in, face under the water, careening back for more as soon as he comes up, kind of crazy.
The other lifesaver this month was a visit from Todd, Tana and Aunt Nicole. I wasn't feeling brave enough to face Spring Break alone with all the kids and 39weeks pregnant. This team was kind enough to come the week before the baby, which I think is really selfless. The kids loved spending special time with Aunt 'Nini' They spent a whole afternoon getting pedicures and playing card games on the tramp. They also loved riding bikes and flying kites at the park. Aaron and Todd tiled the backsplash in our kitchen! (picture in next month's slideshow).
I have to publish a tribute to my amazing friends who really saw me through the last few weeks before my baby came. They brought me meals the week before as well as the week after, which did wonders. They kept up my spirits and kept my mind off the endless wait the last few days. And they completely carried our family through the first week after Jean arrived. When I say completely, I mean completely. I'm a different person because of their love and this experience.
