Friday, August 15, 2008

Eleven Years Ago

Eleven years ago, I was the mom to a 5yo, a 3yo, and a 1yo. And happily pregnant with my beautiful daughter Jane. I remember taking the three kids to Boston and people asking me 'when are you due', only to take a careful step back when I said 'next week!' I remember having to find someone to jumpstart my van in the parking garage because one of the kids must have left on the lights. I remember being pulled over by the police when I went the wrong direction in one-way street because of being so frazzled trying to drive, navigate, and telling the kids to stop bothering each other, all at the same time.

Then one day, when I was back home, I had this 'hmmmm, maybe today?' feeling. I desperately ran around all day, trying to finish all those things I had not finished before (going to Boston was more fun after all), and when night rolled along it was pretty clear that the birth was imminent.



I called my midwife and told her that labor had started, but it was going to be a while. We tried to inflate the kiddie pool which was where I wanted to give birth, and found out it was a lot more work than we thought it would be. We dropped off the boys at a friend's house and hoped Tara would sleep through the commotion.

Finally the pool was set up and filled. I got in, relaxed (as much as one can in labor, that is) and it didn't take long before Jane came out in a very gentle way. About 20 minutes later, the midwives arrived. Yet another birth where they missed the baby, but at least she was in time to catch the placenta ^^

Tara woke up about an hour after her sister was born, so that was perfect timing to meet the baby, but miss the birth. She was only 13mo, and a big sister already!



Jane is eleven now, a great artist and story teller, and very athletic. Every day, she spends hours and hours drawing. She is quite a talented girl. She spends a lot of time together with Dawn, they are very close. Happy birthday, my beloved daughter!

4 comments:

Annalise said...

Happy birthday Jane!

Annelies said...

Van harte gefeliciteerd vanuit Nederland!

Groetjes ,Annelies

veganbaby said...

Happy belate birthday, Jane!

Keppy Boone said...

She is so beautiful with her short hair!!!