This week a couple in Alberta welcomed into the world their second New Year’s baby in a row, their fourth child in total. The annual New Year’s baby story is usually a feel-good tale reflecting on the limitless possibility in the coming days, but in true Canadian journalistic fashion, this tale has been twisted into a warning for prospective parents and fertile citizens alike. These parents’ lives have been painted as living nightmares of drudgery that can only be fixed in the form of permanent birth control.
CALGARY – Look at the pile of laundry, mounds of dirty diapers and a sleep schedule where actual sleep is only a rumour — then tell Bobbi Jo Ketcheson just how lucky she is. […]
Ketcheson says she plans to get herself and her husband a gift too, in the form of more certain birth control. […]
Give the sheer volume of work raising and caring for four babies, finding the time for number five will be almost impossible.
Lightning shouldn’t strike in the same place twice, the same person shouldn’t win two lotteries and people really shouldn’t have back-to-back New Year’s babies. […]
Ketcheson said all four of her pregnancies came in spite of some form of birth control, and noted she was only hours away from signing a consent form to have her tubes tied when she found out she was pregnant with Grace.
Happily, this CTV article with video properly refers to baby Grace as a “bundle of joy” and closes,
…the family is enjoying their latest New Year’s baby, clipping out the articles about their amazing story from local newspapers and pasting them into what will be a very interesting baby book for little Grace Olivia Ketcheson.
Having back to back babies is difficult. I often refer to my first year with our newborn and 1 year old as “the toughest year of my life,” but it’s easier if you have the rest of the world in your corner telling you to stay positive.
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I have a large number of children (6 kids under 10 including an 8 month old,) and I’ve noticed that people really are disappointed that I don’t want to whine and complain about my life. I think the knee jerk reaction is that children make you miserable, so if you are stupid enough to have any — FOR GOD’S SAKE STOP AT TWO!
I was way more stressed with just one, than I am with my big brood now. Hmm — go figure!
When I announced I was pregnant with my second when holding my 7 month old girl I got some ‘aww’s’ and ‘congrats’ but that was it. And now everyone asks me first – how is it with 2? … well do they except these kids clean up after themselves, feed & bathe themselves etc? It’s like they zoned out really and I’m just another stay-at-home Mom so I don’t count as a person with thoughts etc. But I wouldn’t trade these 2 rugrats for the world! 🙂
Happy New Year!