She arrived a month ago with little fanfare or fuss – our 14th granddaughter Katie Charlotte. As the fourth child she fought for attention even on the day of her debut.
My daughter called us from the labor room to say, “Caroline has cut her fingers at school. The nurse thinks she needs stitches.”
We rushed to the school to rescue the 6-year-old. The nurse showed me that even after 15 minutes of pressure the wounded fingertips bled. We took pictures and sent them to the labor room before we headed to the ER. One pragmatic, soon to be a new mother looked at the pictures and declared, “Band-aids and send her back to school.”
A bottle of liquid band-aid sealed the wound shut. Regular band-aids covered the fingers to protect them. Hand drawn smiley and sad faces decorated the band-aids.
As she walked back into school, Caroline said, “I did it so I would not have to be in school. I guess that didn’t work.”
Shortly after school ended for the day, the soon-to-be new mother called to say, “If you want to be here when the baby is born, you better hurry.”
I dashed into the room 10 minutes before the doctor wandered in, chatted as he performed the rituals of birth and left within 20 minutes.
Katie cried at the shock of entering her new world, opened her eyes, stopped crying, lifted her little head and looked around at her new world. A strong, healthy baby, she came ready for her second hour of life when her excited brother and sisters bounded into the delivery room.
It will be years before Katie knows that initially Eli, once he knew he absolutely had no choice of brother or sister, told his dad, “We are going to have to stick together now, Buddy. It’s just you and me.”
He told his mother, “I guess God thinks I take good care of my sisters so He is giving me another one.”
All that was forgotten on Katie’s birthday. Eli held out his arms for her, a grin wrapped from ear to ear. He leaned over her and looked deeply, lovingly into her eyes.
A week later a Facebook posting showed one 9-year-old brother laying on the ground in front of the baby’s infant seat, holding her hand as he adored her. The post included a second photo of a detailed, lovingly drawn sketch he had made of the infant sleeping in her chair.
Four-year-old Daisy went with Katie to her first pediatric visit.
“Your baby sister is so pretty. Do you think she will grow up to be as beautiful as you?” the doctor asked.
“No,” Daisy shook her head without a hint of humility – nor jealousy. She is the first to ask to hold her little sister and properly holds the baby’s head and back carefully.
At one week, Katie had her first play date with another newborn. Mom reported, “They turned toward one another immediately; the need for companionship is innate.”
At 10 days old, Mom posted a picture of Eli holding Katie. “All three of the kids are over the moon for Katie. Pretty much the first thing they ask in the mornings is to hold baby Kate. I thought it would bother me for them to hold her all the time, but it’s actually pretty sweet.”
The newness of the baby does fade. Eli agreed to hold her recently and did so for a few minutes, then laid her on her back.
“I am giving her tummy time,” he announced as he turned to play with his sisters.
The “Buddies” are sticking together in a house where girls now outnumber boys two to one. Last week a Facebook posting showed a picture of one-armed Dad and Eli. They dressed alike in plaid shirts, blue jeans and sneakers. Eli even has one arm tucked in his shirt and the long sleeve folded back so he looks just like his Buddy, his dad. One- or two- handed, both Buddies care for this little bundle of joy.
New babies in full households have to fit in where they can. So when laundry needed to go upstairs and the baby was fussing, Mom placed the infant on top of the clothes and carried both upstairs.
Such is the life of Katie. Greatly adored, but still laundry must be done, children must be taken to school and wounds bandaged. In the midst of the rush of life she arrived, bringing a promise of new hope, new experiences and new challenges.
Joan Hershberger is a staff writer for the El Dorado News Times. She can be reached at joanh@everybody.org.