Worth the Weight: A Birth Story...

Jared Earl Nourse

It was a brisk, December afternoon in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Jan clutched her belly and glanced over at her two-year-old daughter, Cassie, playing on the floor. Fondly, she recalled the many conversations they had had about how excited Cassie was to have a sibling. Jan was nine months pregnant, and had been experiencing some rather painful contractions for awhile now. It was time to call her husband, Gary, at work.

As soon as the call went through, Gary packed up his things, and ran to the car. He drove home in eager anticipation of what the evening might bring. When he arrived, he gathered up his wife and daughter in his arms for a big hug. Jan humored him for about one second, and then pushed away to get in the car. She was in labor after all, and ready to get to the hospital.

They arrived at St. Luke's a few minutes later. The nurses scurried around attending to the laboring mother, while Gary brought Cassie to the children's nursery and dropped her off. This would be her home for the next few hours. After seeing Cassie settle on the floor, with toy in hand, he retraced his steps and began to fill out various admittance and insurance forms. Soon, he was able to join his wife, and support her through each painful contraction. As he looked down into her face, he thought of how lucky he was to experience this with her. Hospitals were just becoming open to the idea of fathers being in the room during labor.

After two hours of pain and pushing, Gary and Jan met their baby son, Jared Earl. He had a full head of dark brown hair, and looked like he had been in a boxing match with all the bruises covering his face. They could tell from the get-go that this child was going to be their wild child-- that he would be the polar opposite of their little angel, Cassie. And he was. ;)