Dear friends, today my youngest child turns 3 years old. THREE! For me, three is somehow a magical milestone; toddlerhood is already over, and babyhood has long since passed. The little worm (50 cm, 3050 grams) has grown into a big nursery school child who knows exactly what he wants (preferably: gummy bears, ice cream, cuddling with Mummy, playing ball, collecting sticks, tickling, looking at books). To get in the mood for this article, I dug out the birth report from the birthing centre and travelled back to that cold February night in 2023 when our youngest came into our lives. I’d like to share a few excerpts from this wonderful report with you:
„3:20 Katharina reports via pager that she is having regular contractions.“ „4:00 Katharina arrives at the birthing centre. The journey wasn’t very pleasant and she is very happy to be here now.‘ ‚4:10 Katharina is having regular contractions every three minutes, she’s doing wonderfully.‘ ‚4:15 Katharina gets into the tub.‘ „4:29 The waters break“ „4:37 Katharina feels the baby’s head“ „4:40 Spontaneous birth, the baby cries immediately, Katharina shouts ‚I did it!’“ „4:44 Katharina gets out of the tub and goes to bed. She is given glucose and a hot water bottle“ „4:50 The baby is rosy and warm“
„I did it!“ – what a magical sentence. The whole birth was magical, it was powerful and completely self-determined, which makes me grateful and proud to this day. Grateful and proud – those are two words that generally apply to the last few years.
I am so grateful that we had this little guy. Experiencing everything consciously again, the smell of baby again, first steps again, lantern festivals again. How often have I heard from friends that they couldn’t imagine doing it all again because they had simply outgrown it all. I absorbed it all again, took it to my heart and stored it away forever.
I am so grateful for this little boy who has brought so much love, joy and life into our family, who has made us complete and whom we have all adored from the very first second.
3 years of hustle and bustle and happiness
And I am so proud that we as a family have rocked the last three years so well. To the big siblings, who have really grown up inside, taking on responsibility, taking a back seat, but also getting a lot back from the little one. To my husband and me, for coping well with all those sleepless nights and the little and big worries that come with a baby. For not losing ourselves in all the extended family chaos that sometimes reigns. Some people thought we were crazy to start all over again, and sometimes we thought we were crazy too. But the little one was simply missing. And now we are complete.
Three years as a mother of four, not always easy. I cried, cursed, struggled. Often thought I wasn’t doing a good enough job. But I also laughed a lot, cuddled a lot and was just happy to see how the little one was developing. It was a turbulent three years, but there were many more good moments than difficult ones. We wouldn’t want to miss a single second with our youngest.
Happy birthday, you big little miracle, you whirlwind child and cuddly bear. You football fan and trampoline jumper. It’s so, so, so great to have you with us. We love you very much.
(Here’s the text for his first birthday and here’s the text for his second!)
