The Year of the Baby

Much like the Chinese New Year, in our circle of friends we follow a calendar cycle. There is the year of the move, the year of training, the year of the deployment and the year of the baby. It’s not a perfect system as we unpredictably interchange between each cycle.
With the arrival of Christmas cards last December my husband and I were surprised with eight announcements of impending births among our military family. Some babies are welcomed surprises and others, babies that have been wished on for so long. As we entered 2007 we transitioned into the year of the baby.
Our own family circle is complete with the five of us. Anyone who has encountered me over the last few years would probably question my sanity if we added any more children to the mix. I love my three kids dearly but Graham and I are already outnumbered and aren’t about to press our luck.
We have however contributed to previous baby years. Our youngest, Drew, entered the world in the midst of the baby boom of 2004. He was one of seven babies born into our military family that summer.
Teddy was one of 12 children arriving over a 3-month period while we lived in Texas. The squadron commander’s wife made a point to visit each new mom and baby at the hospital. I think she lived at Abilene Regional for most of December, January and February of 2000-2001.
Paige arrived in the winter of 1997 while we were living in Minot, North Dakota. I wasn’t aware of a large number of expectant women during my pregnancy, but by the time we left the base hospital with our firstborn, the postpartum unit was filled to capacity. Curiously, Paige also shares her birthday with at least five other military children that we’ve met over the last nine years.
Our connection to each of the expectant families is unique. Because we are separated from our own families by hundreds of miles we embrace the people who champion us through our own tribulations. These are the friends who have babysat our healthy children when we’ve had to rush a sick one to the emergency room. They have made us meals when we brought our own newborns home. They’ve held us up when everything seems to be falling apart.
Now, we eagerly await news of each family’s addition. In some cases we will be able to visit and hold their newborns. Some will send emails from overseas. For others, we’ll not know the good news until next Christmas and their annual holiday letter. All are true blessings in our circle.
We’re never quite sure what each year will bring. Part of the fun and excitement of military life is the adventure that waits around the corner. In the meantime we have a few birth announcements to look forward to and many baby presents to buy.