The population milestone set in October of this year represented a personal milestone in the lives of the women giving birth.
Today—October 17, 2006—we passed a milestone in the United States. This morning at 7:46 a.m. the population reached 300 million. For the women in labor on this momentous day, however, the magnitude of the numbers meant little. The birthing of a child is a singular experience—the culmination of a unique journey.
In my own experience, each of my four pregnancies brought a distinct set of questions. Is my morning sickness lasting too long? Or not long enough? Is the “baby” getting enough nourishment? Should I take supplements? Will the medicine I need for the flu affect the baby? Am I gaining enough weight? Too much? When will labor finally start?
The answers varied, but the vagaries of Mother Nature became most apparent when my daughters began their own families. Possible infertility, miscarriage, uncertain fetal development, a two-vessel umbilical cord, bleeding, placenta previa, chronic placental abruption. These complications presented challenges for the entire family.
The births of my five grandchildren, as well, covered a broad range of obstetrical complications: from natural deliveries to forceps delivery, C-sections, precipitous birth, preterm birth, and a strangulating umbilical cord. Fortunately, my daughters’ quality prenatal and obstetrical care enabled each tiny miracle to be born with no observable impediments.
Today, as we set the national milestone in population growth, gold and scarlet leaves of a New England autumn continue to blanket the ground. Winter looms, ready to unleash its surprises, and our family looks forward to December when an early Christmas present—my daughter’s first son—is scheduled for delivery. Brendan Connolly Jones, demographers predict, will be born 7 seconds after the last birth in the country. He will have a life expectancy of between 85 and 90 years, and, most likely, he will live in the suburbs.
We wait and wonder. Will our new family member be gifted and sensitive like his mother, handsome with dark eyes and hair? Or will he be tall, blond, and blue-eyed, with the equanimity and sociability of his father? Or will he favor some long-forgotten ancestor?
In any case, we wait impatiently. We wish Brendan a safe entry. We wish him continued health and a life full of happiness and goodness. And we pray that our personal milestone enjoys, along with his 2006 cohort of 2.8 million, a world of increasing brotherhood and peace.
2006 All Rights Reserved
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