The baby is due any day now, so my parents and I are packing an overnight hospital bag. The birth mother told us that we could be in the room for the birth but my parents said they want to respect her privacy and make sure that this is a comfortable process for her so we will be in the waiting room the entire time.
Honestly, I would not have wanted to be in the room for that anyway.
Dad seemed very nervous about the new baby. I assume that it may be because an infant is a huge undertaking and a lot of responsibility.
If I am being honest, infants kind of scare me too. It is not about them being like a monster or anything like that. I am scared about how fragile infants are. They can not support their own heads, they have the communication skills of an alarm clock, and sometimes they just spontaneously die in their sleep.
Maybe we should have adopted a toddler. Toddlers are way cuter anyway. They also tend to be a bit less fragile.
They can support their own heads and can walk, and sort of talk, you can teach them sign language too. Best of all, the chances of them passing away in their sleep is drastically reduced. Which is a huge plus.
I am sure everything will be fine. I mean, everyone over the age one one survived their infancy just fine, and there's a lot of people alive right now over the age of one.
I would say the odds are pretty much in our favor if I am being totally honest.
I am still nervous but more of an excited nervous. We are just waiting on a phone call any minute now.
When I think I am finished packing all my things I take a moment to mentally go over what it is I have in my bag.
A comfortable change of clothes, deoderant, tooth brush, snacks, wallet, card games, extra phone charger and ear buds.
Unless it ends up being a C section labor can last up to twenty-four hours. If it takes longer than twenty-four hours it becomes an emergency C section.
I really hope it does not take twenty-four hours but it is better to be prepared for anything.
I do not know what else to do other than wait. I feel like since I have so much anticipation for this new baby, I completely forget what it is I like to do to pass time. I am sure my fathers feel similarly at the moment.
Everything is ready for the baby's arrival. There is not a single thing we may have missed, we were very thorough.
I hope that I never have to change the diaper. That is so gross. Maybe if I ever want a kid I will just adopt a fully potty trained 3 year old or any age higher than three. Honestly three would be the youngest because I really do not want to have to change diapers or potty train a child.
How do you even potty train a kid? The whole idea of teaching a child not to poop in their pants is so weird to me. I do not assume that it is easy to teach such a thing.
I have been studying up on babies a lot since the new baby announcement.
Children are at risk of spontaneously dying in their sleep until they are three years old. Potty training should start at two years and one month old. One year olds should be learning how to clean up after them selves and also feed them selves with minor assistance. Two year olds should start using spoons unassisted. Two year olds should also be learning empathy and emotional regulation.
One year olds should be able to say a few words and babble, while two year olds should be able to say sentences. Two and a half year olds can easily learn very clear annunciation with enough work. And three year olds should be able to use the bathroom unassisted with only reminders to go potty for the first month.
One year olds learn through play. Play is how they improve their fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and help their social, emotional, and cognitive development.
Two year olds learn through play but should also be introduced to counting and flash cards. Two year olds should be able to count to ten, at least, and should be able to identify shapes and colors.
Ones and two year olds should be learning basic sign language in order to be able to communicate better when they do not have great articulation. This also allows for a child to much more easily become fluent in sign language. Two year olds should be learning the basics of foreign languages. Two year olds can become fluent in a second language with enough work.
I plan to make this child into a genius.
Suddenly I hear footsteps rushing up the stairs. "Stella! Stella!" Dad was frantic.
"Yeah?" I was alarmed.
"It happened! She went into labor! The baby's coming!" He was panicked.
"Grab your bag we're going to the hospital right now." Papa adds.
I quickly slip on my shoes and grab the bag I had packed for the hospital.
We all rush out the door, piling into papas car. The ride to the hospital was quiet but tense.
The waiting room was weird and quiet. there was not a whole lot of people but enough to make the silence feel weird.
The chairs were not too bad, not great though. They were more comfortable than I expected but something about them still felt weird.
The lights overhead were bright and harsh. The smell of the hospital felt very sterile yet, still grossed me out for some reason. The air was stagnate but cold.
The quiet TV at the top of the wall almost completely drowned out the quiet rhythmic thumping of a strangers leg bouncing up and down.
In order to ease my anxiety I retrieve my earbuds from my bag and pop them in my ears. I scroll through my various play lists before deciding I wanted to listen to Fall Out Boy, the Under The Cork Tree album.
Under The Cork Tree is my favorite Fall Out Boy album by far. It has such amazing lyricism in my opinion. Lyrics aside, it genuinely has such a great sound.
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me, began playing through my skull candy ear buds. Listening to this song scratched my brain in just the right spot.
I opened Instagram as a way to pass the time for now. Ever since the announcement at warped tour I have gotten a mass amount of followers. I did not even know these people. I saw that news about us adopting a new baby got out and there were people posting about that and asking to see the baby when they are born.
The song in my ear buds changed to, Our Lawyers Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued.
A part of me felt a bit jealous that the new baby was getting more attention than I was.
I miss being adored by fans, on that stage. All eyes were on me, they loved me. Me.
It seemed as if I was quickly forgotten about the moment they all heard about the baby.
I want to be loved. Adored, by fans. I felt like I was on top of the world, for only a moment.
I put my phone away, trying to rid my self of this feeling. I pull a deck of cards out of my bag and quickly shake it to get my fathers' attention.
They immediately understood what I meant. I dealt out cards for all of us, keeping one ear bud in my ear quietly playing music.
We passed the time playing card games for hours until a nurse emerged from the hospital room looking for us.
"She finally gave birth, we are cleaning up the baby right now and will bring her out to meet you ASAP, you can follow me and wait outside the room." The nurse explained.
Dad and papa both made eye contact as they worked to contain their excitement. "Her," papa repeats the nurses words.
My parents quickly got up from their seats and motioned for me to come. I quickly scooped up my cards and followed my parents while haphazardly shoving them into the box.
I took my ear buds out and put them into the bag. I was so nervous. I was about to meet my new baby sister. I have a sister.
About ten minutes later a nurse walks out holding an infant in her arms wrapped in a pink and white blanket.
"Who wants to hold her first?" She asks.
Dad looks at Papa, "I will." Papa states hesitantly.
The nurse hands papa the baby and dad immediately stepped closer to papa to see her better.
"Hi, baby girl." Papa says softly as he rocks the new baby gently.
"Can I hold her now?" Dad was impatient.
"Of course, of course." Papa hands her off.
Dad takes her from Papa's arms, "She's beautiful." Dad coos.
Dad rocks her and whispers to her as papa crowds him.
"Can I hold her?" I ask, wanting to see the baby.
"Yes," dad says excitedly, "meet your new baby sister, Jade."
I had no idea they had already picked out a name.
"Jade." I repeat the name as I hold the baby in my arms.