Tag: Baby

It was the coldest night of the year – a record breaker, as the news reporter said. My contractions were getting unbearable (although I have low pain tolerance, so, probably pretty mild). We got into the van, in a mutual decision to head to the hospital. To our dismay, it wouldn’t start! I’m kidding. That would have made for a more interesting story, though! Very interesting, indeed. You see, I don’t see my husband as one who could solely deliver a baby (although he would say he could, as he has delivered many a farm animal in the past).
So, as it would happen, the van did indeed start. We live in a rural community, and the drive should have taken us about forty-five minutes. My husband took about fifty minutes to get there, since he was calmly admiring a pack of wolves under the midnight moonlight. How dare he! As the wolves were standing in the snow-covered fields, I wondered if they were really ice-covered fields on this particular, frosty night. Although, I didn’t think so, since if it was that cold, it would have numbed my body from the waist down, and that just wasn’t happening.
Incidentally, we arrived safely at the hospital, and six hours later (it seemed much longer), we (or, I, rather) delivered an eight pound, fourteen ounce, beautiful, baby girl.
Overnight, the temperature dropped to an all-time low. Although, one would not recognize the coldness outside of a hospital, considering the geriatric, balmy, warmth inside the doors of the health centre environment.
So, yes, we brought our newborn home in the frost-bitten cold of that brisk January day. In fact, if you googled January 17th, 2003, the headline would probably read: “Well, folks, it is the coldest day in history. As such, we warn infants and seniors to remain inside where it is warm for health and safety reasons.” We brought our newborn home anyways. But, the big question on everyone’s mind, is: “Were we prepared?” The answer would most definitely be: “Sort of.”
If we only had of known then, what we know now. So, if you are one of those parents who plan to bring a newborn baby home from the hospital in those cold winter temperatures, here are a couple of tips, as well as a list of what I would advise you to pack in your overnight bag.