Poppy’s Birth Story

By Olive Jenkyns, age 9 (big sister)

October 31, 2012

“Mom, can we go trick or treating now?” I begged. “Oh, oh, okay. Go see if you can get you costume on while I get Aaron.” I ran to get my costume. My mom had done a really good job on it this year and I was being Cruella DeVil from 101 Dalmatians. Since Mom was so pregnant, I asked her if she wanted Grammie to take us.

As I got ready, my mom called Vanessa, our next door neighbor so we could go with her too. “Hi, Vanessa… Are your kids almost ready to go trick or treating? Mine are about to go crazy…Oh, of course! We’ll meet you outside in five minutes…Okay. Bye.” We’d go trick or treating with her kids, Camari and Linda and my Grammie.

Boy, was my mom big. As she tied the pumpkin costume around her middle, I agreed with her as she said, “Boy, am I big.” Soon, we saw Mary Pat, our other neighbor, and her son Harrison, walking down the same block as us. So they joined us too. Suddenly, mom said, “I gotta go home. Kids, Grammie will stay with you.” Then, just like that, she was gone.

We went a few more blocks until Gramm and I got tired and went home to pass out candy. Aaron stayed to keep going with the others. We went inside to get some hot tea and I saw my mom groaning and leaning against my dad in the bedroom. Just as I was about to say something, Daddy said, “She’s alright. Go back outside.” I did and handed out candy until it ran out. Then, I saw Linda and my other friend, Hannah, going out to trick or treat again and so I went and caught up with them. This is where the drama begins…

“Sure, Linda, I can come over! Just let me go home real quick to make sure my mom is okay!” I said after we went back out. By now, trick or treating was over. Inside our house, my mother was in labor. Last time I’d checked, those contractions were sending her to the floor. This time, I opened the door and all I saw was Mom on the dining room floor, panting. My brother, Aaron was holding her hand, and the midwives Hillary and Lori Beth, were sitting at the table filling out paperwork.

“It’s happening now?!” I shrieked just as Grammie came out of the kitchen. She asked, “Are you excited?” I answered her by saying, “Of course!” At that moment, I was acting really wacky. I was running around like a crazy person and screaming. Aaron told me, “It’s alright, Olive.” Yeah, I know it’s alright, Aaron. I’m just excited, I thought. A few minutes later, my Dad filled the birth tub in the dining room with water, and my mom got in.

Hillary soon found out that my mom had a “lip.” She told the family that a lip is when a little piece of cervix is left in front of the baby’s head. For the baby to come out, that piece of cervix has to tuck behind the head. Mom tried pushing to get it out of the way. She was still trying to push when Aaron and I started to fight in whispers next to her. She screamed at us. I could tell she was really frustrated with everything. I don’t think it was very smart of Hillary to try right then, to push back the lip. But actions have consequences, and Mom yelled, “Stop! That hurts!” and slapped her!

“Nora, why don’t you and Dave go into the bedroom and just relax for a while?” asked Hillary. I later found out, while they were in there, my mom said some words she didn’t want to say in front of us. Then she pushed back her OWN lip! As soon as that happened, my dad came to the door and called everyone in because the baby was ready to be born.

“Olive, are you going to catch this baby, or what?!” Hillary asked. I had told Hillary that I wanted to catch this baby in August, but now I was frozen to the spot. Hillary pulled me up onto the bed next to her and I started sobbing with joy. “Mom, the head is out!” I cried. I caught the baby and watched as my mom pulled her up into her arms. She started to cry as well. “Well, Aaron, what is it?” asked Lori Beth. He took a look and said, “I think it’s a boy!” like we all thought it would be. But Hillary told him, “Look again!” “Wait a minute…it’s a girl!” he shouted. We all just sat on the bed crying, laughing and admiring our new baby girl.

Poppy Jane Jenkyns. I processed this after my mom told us her name. By that time, it was 8:30 p.m. Because we were so happy, time was going by quickly. TiTi Steph, my mom’s friend, made my mom a smoothie and eggs that Daddy and I fed to her. Aaron read Poppy a book. While we did this, someone took our first family picture.

The next day, it was decided I would go to school half day. I wanted to hand out little mints that said, ‘It’s a girl!’ I had lots of fun telling all of my friends that my mom had had the baby. But those first days were rough, too. It seemed all mom had time for was Poppy. One day, Aaron and I just lost it. We didn’t think she loved us anymore. We figured out, though, as the days and months flew past, Mom had enough love for all of us.

Epilogue

Poppy is now a cute and happy baby. I love her so much and feel so happy I got to be a part of her birth. Every day I come home and say, “Where’s my Angel-cakes?” The minute she sees me, she grins enormously. She is growing so much and becoming even more fun.