The Slow-Cooked Sentence

The newest currency

Rachael Conlin Levy

Ivan Joseph Levy was born Nov. 14, 2007. Labor sputtered and stalled for 3 days, but kicked into high gear about 11:30 p.m. Contractions came quick and strong as Marcel called the midwife and I tried to blow, not push. Ivan’s head crowned just after the midwife arrived, and at 12:55 a.m. he slipped into the world. His big sister, Chaja, cut his cord. We blew out our birth candle, and went to bed happy that our third son had finally decided to join us!

Learning who Ivan is and what he is all about has consumed the better part of my life since his arrival. This is what I’ve discovered so far:

A fourth baby is just as much work as the first. I had convinced myself that after three children, Ivan would be a cakewalk. Ha! The amount of jiggling, shushing and walking he required during the first month and a half was exhausting. The majority of each evening was spent in the bathroom because only the sound of the fan calmed him. Our thanks to “Happiest Baby on the Block” author Dr. Harvey Karp for giving us the tools to help us over this first hump.

My tolerance for vomit and excrement has increased. I can spend the whole day in a shirt that Ivan has spit up on, even going out in public with stains on my shoulder and chest. I can sleep in a bed that smells of sour milk. And I’m embarrassed to admit it, but the other night I climbed into bed stained with baby poop. Too tired to change the sheets, I laid a towel on top and fell asleep.

A dairy-free diet sucks. I’ve cut out milk and cheese in hopes of reducing Ivan’s flaky skin and stuffed nose, and it appears to help. But giving up my hot chocolate and slices of sharp cheddar with apple fills me with self pity. So, what do I do but comfort myself by eating more sweets, and while rolls of fat look adorable on Ivan’s thighs, they don’t look so great on my own!

But his smiles are worth a million, or at least all the colic, filth and self-deprivation of the past two months.



One response to “The newest currency”

  1. chelsey says:

    It does not seem fair that one should have to give up sleep and cheese at the same time. And alcohol. I would resort to chocolate.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe: rss | email | twitter