It takes a Village...and then some

One of our last nights out before Charlie's arrival

It may take a village to raise a child but it took an island, a global internet community and several nights out to assure the parents that they could in fact raise this baby, and that they would have an arsenal of village elders as back up when they ran into trouble. The closer it came to Charlie's arrival the more nervous I could see my husband getting. The question "will I be a good father" was asked so many times that it became a running joke on the island.  The culmination of these fears reached their peak around month 8 when what was to be a last romantic night out before baby ended with me going home and John fumbling out of the passenger side of our car (shockingly the drivers side door stopped working) in Keith in Suzie's driveway clutching two bottles of wine and spending til the wee hours of the night being reassured that he/we could in fact do this parent thing. The next day I got a phone call "the poor buggers terrified." I thought well join the club...It seems men don't quite grasp that this baby is actually coming and their life is changing til the final stretch. In fact I am not sure they really comprehend that a baby is coming til they hold their baby in their arms for the first time.

Charlie 11 days old...we can do this

I spent 9 months worrying and stewing about where we would put a child in our tiny one room apartment. I worried about putting the baby in a two door car, also known as the unsafest car on the planet, and I worried about mosquitos and had nets sent from Malawi. During this time John acted like I was a little bit crazy and a lot a bit neurotic and told me babies come every day...Basically he implied I was being "too American."

What I realized the second Charlie came into the world was everything I had spent the last nine months worrying about and then resigning myself to the fact that we'll shove our child in a corner, we'll drive extra slowly in the unsafe car and really, Dengue fever is only bad in August, was a total waste of time. The minute Charlie entered the world John was worrying about where we would put her, he proclaimed we could not have her in the car as it had no brakes (that I did not know) and the next thing I knew he was buying the most expensive baby monitor on the market that monitors breathing and may actually raise your child for you.  

When we started the hospital discharge process and we realized that they were actually letting us take home baby Charlie without a test, an instruction manual and nothing more than a handful of diapers and some swaddling cloths we looked at each other and thought ok here comes the test can we do this??? Suprisingly we could and it was a lot more natural than either one of us thought it would be, but I don't think it would have been such a smooth transition had we not had our village as back up.

Chief elder was my mother who fed us, did loads and loads of laundry held Charlie in the wee hours of the morning and took care of her baby girl and mine. Four weeks passed way too fast and I still miss her.

Mom with her two grandbabies

John's parents sent love and encouragement from Malawi and their joy at having a granddaugther kept us going in those early days that are a bit tough.

Our siblings were so sweet and supportive skyping, visiting and my baby brother was there when Charlie was born. Making her arrival even more special.

Cousins Grady Shake and Charlie Catherine

Charlie was so fortunate to have well wishers on several continents sending messages, friends from NYC traveling to see her at just a few days old and her grandad driving from Georgia to cuddle her.

The two Katherine/Catherines

Aunt Shannon and future hubbie Baby Colin

We hit the jackpot with Charlie's pediatrician. She absolutley loves him as do we. What a rare treat to find a pediatrician who keeps in touch via e-mail and skype and had us over for dinner on our last night in the States. I don't know what could be better than having your four week old checked by a professional at his home the night before you embark on a LONG journey back to Grenada. Our village has a medicine man and we are so grateful!

Arriving back to our little island community we were met by our island family who came out on a Sunday to celebrate Charlies arrival.

Charlie's even been welcomed to Church and Highland Fling II has a new member!

Long Day at Sea

Thanks to all our family and friends who assured us along the way that we could do this and now that we've got our sweet baby are on standby in case we need you. Charlie is a lucky girl and her parents though flawed and fumbling have done one thing right. We've surrounded ourselves with a strong village to guide us along the way.