Rejoice Part I

The running joke in my family is that babies come in packs. Usually there's at least 3 born a year. This time there are 4 babies due in the space of 5 months. Two aunts and two cousins are pregnant. The first came today.

ANNOUNCING THE BIRTH OF:
Wyatt Nathaniel, 7 pounds 1 ounce, 20 and 1/2 inches long. Seeing as both his parents have red hair, as well as his older brother Ryan, he has it too (like his Auntie Z). Baby Wyatt isn't technically my nephew. His mother Margaret is my best friend from 6th grade who married my youngest uncle Christopher, who is only 5 years older than us. Most of the children that belong to my younger aunts and uncles just call me aunt anyway. Saves the confusion. He was delivered at 8:00 am this morning by C section in Lexington KY. Wyatt seems to be shaping up to be a better tempered baby than his 7 year old brother, who was hell on wheels literally. This is also one of the cases where ultrasounds are not a good test of gender: the two Marg had said girl. But they will happily take the boy and be perfectly content. Marg and Chris have been together for 16 years, married for 9, and have now two healthy boys: my heroes.

The second baby may be here today as well, under worse circumstances. My Cousin Tanya went into premature labor yesterday after spiking a fever with pneumonia. She's only at 27 weeks. They stopped the labor and hope to keep her stable until the baby is further along. I think I might have mentioned this in earlier postings, but birthing problems run in the maternal side of the family. My maternal grandma gave birth to 11 without so much as a hiccup. We actually tease her about being a Pez dispenser. Her daughters and granddaughters have run the gamut of problems: breach births (3 aunts, 1 cousin), placenta previa ( 1 Aunt), Gestational Diabetes (2 aunts and my sister), and finally pre and full Eclamsea ( my sister, who lost my niece Piper at 27 weeks and almost her own life). So it is no big wonder I'm kind of gun shy about approaching pregnancy myself. However, I have plenty of little ankle biters around to enjoy parenthood vicariously through family members.