We're very happy, but pretty tired. I'm going back to the hospital first thing in the morning, so I will keep this post short!
And I'm very sorry I don't have any photos yet, not that I post my kids on the internet. When our son was born in October 2019 (yes, 2 months before Covid struck) I wrote a post about it, and also did not show a photo of him. My wife and I are a bit alternative about some things (if you haven't noticed!)... and one of them is we think our children should get through their childhood with their privacy intact. If they want to show their faces to the internet at that point, they can go right ahead.
MediKatie went under at 4:20pm and the baby was born (by C section) within the next ten minutes. This time around I wasn't allowed to be there (thanks to Covid restrictions) for the birth, and Katie was a bit nervous going under without me there. As a child/teen she had surgeries for her spinal cancer, where she woke up afterward missing bones, or something major had gone wrong. It left her with a bit of trauma around the concept of general anesthesia. But because of her past medical history, she can't delivery naturally, so we need hospitals and doctors and general anesthetic. Luckily, nothing went awry during the surgery, and she woke up with no surprises waiting... just a healthy baby girl!
I got to be with the baby almost right after delivery, and I never left her until she was with her mom. They'll be together in the room all night and I'll be back right after breakfast. That's how we did things with Brett, too - he was always either with Katie or myself, nonstop, from the moment of his birth until just a few weeks ago.
To get him ready for today (being away from us both) we had him spend some time recently with our trusted friends from the local freedom rallies. Excellent people. We are honoured to have been adopted into their extended "family". A lot of folks lost their families due to Covid bullshit, and have had to patch together a sort of network of friends to fill the hole. That said, Katie and I are very lucky to have met the people we have over the past year. Going through this pregnancy during the height of Covid, with no family support, and both of us seriously disabled... yeah not exactly ideal. Finding this grassroots community (and being fully accepted by it) has changed our lives. (Side note: would that have been possible without Covid? Things that make you go 'hmmmmm'...)
She has chubby cheeks, pink skin, dark hair (which will likely be replaced by her real hair colour in a few months), and funny-looking squished-up ears, like a little puppy. She cried here and there, but was pretty cool and collected overall, just trying to figure things out.
There's one nasty nurse on the maternity unit, who asked me point blank "are you vaccinated?" when she saw me with the mask down so I could breathe while in our room and far away from anyone else. I said "oh, you think I have Covid, and that masks work?" and she got really pissed. I thought about not answering her, but decided to acquiesce.
"No, I'm not."
She didn't seem surprised. "Then you MUST wear the mask, at ALL times, and you can't use the phone becuase then we have to get it specially cleaned!"
I felt pretty degraded. And also sad for her, because she's THAT brainwashed. Not just that, but also willing to take her ignorance and blind submission to authority out on her patients and their family members. She's going around NOT doing anything to stop Covid, which is close to harmless anyway, and spreading hatred and discrimination as she goes. Pretty gross. They want me to be masked when my daughter opens her eyes for the first time? Come on.
I could take her to school on some Covid truth, but these people are now 100% triple vaccinated statist drones. If reality could get through to them, it would have by now. And I know she thinks more or less the same thing about me, so we're even. To be honest, she doesn't look all that health-conscious, and she doesn't come across as very informed. I didn't bother to tell her I did 10 years of nursing, and 1000+ hours of vaccine research. I just swallowed it all so that I didn't piss her off any further.
Just a reminder, you never have to tell anyone what vaccines you've taken. If they're your doctor, it may be medically relevant, and in that case you might want to answer them. But these little mini Hitlers that demand to know, without having any real right to that info, can go to hell. Get a warrant if you want to force me to provide private medical information.
So yeah, the Covid shit is still going here. Especially since we are in BC, the only province to NOT cave to the Freedom Convoy demand of dropping all mandates! In the rest of Canada, mandates (and most restrictions) are either gone, or going. In BC, despite our data matching the rest of the country, Dr Bonnie Henry has decided to clamp down even further. The insanity continues.
Even so, big respect to the truckers. They changed history and sparked a global movement! And it's not over yet. They can arrest us for peaceful protest, but more will just keep coming. Freedom will be restored in Canada, and Trudeau's days are numbered.
Grama, we did it! Remember when you asked me if there was any chance Katie and I would bring you a grandchild? And I told you she wasn't able to have children? You had a little sparkle in your eye and didn't seem to fully accept my answer. Now we've had TWO beautiful great-grandkids for you! And I know you'd be so happy. Family's everything, you taught me that. Thank you, Grama! I miss you so, so much. Your great-granddaughter was born on your birthday. You would be 98 today. Grama, we decided to name her after you.
To my sweetheart, thank you for giving so much of yourself, and risking your very life, to bring our daughter into existence. Nothing I can do would ever repay that, but please know how much I appreciate you. Our little girl is incredible. Our little family is lucky to have her, and she's lucky to have us!
-- Daddy
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