Two weeks after baby Nikko our daughter had her second child, Maeve. It was a home birth with some drama when the placenta took a long time to come out. That day, Monday March 1rst, Roen came over as usual but her dad left “the bag they had packed” for when mom was in labor. She stayed all day, had bath and dinner and went to sleep. For the most part she slept well, but I did not. I had my phone in my hand until I got the text sharing SUCCESS, which only came at 11:30 at night. My sweet daughter did tell me to go to sleep and promised all the details in the morning, but I had too much adrenaline to really sleep well. Baby Maeve was a big 8lb 15oz baby, which by my family’s standards is a giant. I have smallish babies. And definitely the opposite of her cousin Nikko born 2 weeks before. But what a cutie!
Meanwhile I am being postpartum doula to our son and his wife, going over while our son leaves to teach his course. In addition to all the usual challenges of adjusting to new parenthood their baby also has a posterior tongue tie which has made nursing challenging for baby and mom. It means more frequent feeds and painful positions for mom, which is exhausting.
Every day it seems I am holding a baby. They are both wonderful and I can’t wait to see how their personalities develop. So far both Nikko and Maeve seem to have this slightly skeptical look on their faces as though they know they were born during a global pandemic that we have not gotten under control.
Art has been not happening, although I did do one drawing I like today. I guess I am just overwhelmed with the new babies and what lies ahead. Our son and his wife got a lease for a house owned by Dartmouth and it starts in May. That seems so soon. I am going to miss having them around the corner so much.
One thing I love is putting photos of the two babies side by side. After both my kids sent me pictures of them in bed with their babies I had to combine them. They are great pictures which is no surprise as they both have spouses who are talented visually. But I also love the “battle of the baby chins”. Who doesn’t love a baby with a double or triple chin?
