A new chapter has begun on the Law Family Homestead! For those of you who are new you might be trying to sort out our family, we have six boys, ranging in age from 11 years to 26 months. After the first few boys we thought it would be nice to add a girl to the mix, but it didn't happened. According to the family historian, there is one girl per generation for a long ways back, on the Law side. While that is interesting, my original obstetrician, who delivered five of our six boys, shared with us his family story. It turned out his sister, who was the fifth child born, was the first girl in that family for 101 years. I am sure that has to be some kind of record!
Kit's brother's first child was a girl. So after several boys we were pretty convinced the girl for this generation had already arrived. This winter we had the ultrasound done and the technician announced it was a girl! While a couple of us were in a state of shock, the rest raised the roof of the clinic cheering! The family was split the last few months wondering if it was really a girl or not, since these things have been known to be wrong before.
We are humbled to be around other families who have successfully home-birthed their children, some using midwives. The home birthing experience was appealing to us when we were expecting our first child. Being 45 minutes to an hour, in good weather, from the hospital, we chose to use conventional hospital care as we had financially planned ahead for this occasion. We were thankful that we did, as at the last minute of a normal delivery, an emergency C-section became necessary with our first child.
Our first delivery set the stage for future deliveries being in hospital as the risk of complication was now higher. That said, we admire all those around us who are able to enjoy a home birth experience.
Well, on May 11 at 4:15 p.m. a baby GIRL was born to our family!
After going over the birth history of our six boys, the doctor and nurses were also eagerly waiting to see if it was a girl; another cheer went up when she was born and they got to announce that it was in fact a GIRL!
She was 20½ inches long.
She weighed 7 pounds 4ounces.
She is named after her great, great aunt Violet (on the Law side) who was born May 6, 1914 and passed January, 2008. This aunt grew up on a Nebraska homestead in a sod house and later had a dairy in Colorado before retiring and moving with her husband to a home in Clarkston, Washington, just a couple of miles away from the hospital where her namesake was born. Her second name was picked out ever since we knew we were pregnant with our first child. Up until now, we just have not had the opportunity to use it. Ian Tyson has always been one of our favorite singers. The song he wrote for his daughter (Adelita Rose) has been one of our favorites. (Here is a link to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZIERxDq6g0 ) If this link doesn’t work then just go to YouTube and type in Adelita Rose by Ian Tyson and it will come up.
Of course the boys were ecstatic when we came home from the hospital with her, they all wanted to be the first to see her.
Baby meeting granddaddy for the first time. The Law grandparents now have 10 grandchildren in 11 years and only two of them are girls. On my side of the family there are nine grandchildren and only one is a girl!
As you walk into the Lewiston hospital, all along the hall leading to labor and delivery are pictures and plaques telling the story and history of the hospital. Kit snapped a picture of the first two plaques as the picture with a milk cow in a hospital kind of makes one stop and wander.
The second plaque has a little more of the early hospital history. It is fascinating to see the hospital acknowledge its roots began with a milk cow and farm sustaining its early development.
Ever since we brought home boy number two the older ones have been totally into the new babies. They love picking outfits out and holding and changing diapers, etc. These boys will be well experienced in taking care of babies by the time they get married!
Having a little sister is no different in their eyes, yet. It was funny to see this male dominated household, fighting to choose her next outfit. We have been blessed with an abundance of clothes from all our friends and acquaintances. A small fight broke out on her first day to church about which of the cute little dresses she was going to wear for her début.
Of course I had to have a dressed up picture of everyone before we left for church. But when you are dealing with seven children, six of them boys, it's next to impossible to get a perfect picture. Invariably one is crying, one is making faces, you have some bored, and some actually smiling.
We have a tradition on the Homestead, our babies are given their first horseback ride within a few days of coming home from the hospital.
Daddy is very proud of his baby girl!
Then we had to take some fun pictures due to the obvious fact that she is a little sister with six older brothers!
We told the boys to look tough and act like they were protecting their little sister.
Some took us more seriously then others!
We were well looked after by the doctor, nurses and staff. Their care was exceptional, even to the point, that weeks later, we received a card in the mail signed by the nurses and staff with personal hand written notes of encouragement enclosed.
The financial department was more then willing to work with our cost sharing "insurance" program that we have used for about 16 years now. We can't recommend Christian Healthcare Ministries highly enough. They have helped us to pay for all seven deliveries. Between the time we spent negotiating similar discounts which an insurance company receives, the financial help that CHM members share, and our personal financial responsibility, a very equitable outcome for all parties is achieved. If you are looking for an affordable alternative to participating in Obamacare, join Christian Healthcare Ministries. www.chministries.org They are cheerful and prompt people to deal with, and are very affordable, especially for large families and couples who are looking at starting their own families.