Over the past few months there have been four new additions to the Saint Viator family: Isla, Emmet, Hazel, and Henry. The new parents were excited to share some information about their little ones, from the many blessings and good things that come from having a baby to the set of challenges that come with this massive transition.
“I miss my baby wildly during the day,” theology teacher Mr. Patrick McGarry explains, “and the times and moments without her present have this sort of dull, gray tone to them in comparison to the vivid joy I feel around her.”
“No, I don’t have separation anxiety from my kids when I am at school,” theology teacher Mr. Nathan Suire, a dad of two boys—now three—says, “but I do love coming home and having them run to the door and greet me!”
It seems to be a toss-up for whether teachers enjoy the peace they get from being away from the action at home in comparison with the closeness from being with the baby at all times. Bu regardless of preferences, newborns present a far more universal challenge: the exhaustion that comes from a baby’s wildly variable sleep schedule.
“Emmett is probably a bit like a teenager when it comes to sleeping. Overall, he would rather hang out even when he is clearly exhausted. Then he will want to randomly sleep for an extended period of time in the middle of the day,” English teacher Mrs. Marie McGing shared, “Emmett has never slept more than 4 hours in a row, so, for the past 4 months, I have not either. Emmett loves when we use a yoga ball to bounce him to sleep. Even at 3 am, he likes to force us to bounce away on that ball to get him back down to sleep.”
However, a great part about having a baby is picking out a name. From honoring family members to cherishing special moments, the stories behind the names usually prove fascinating.
“Hazel Elizabeth is named after her 95-year-old great-grandmother. They share a birth month and are only 95 years and 8 days apart,” campus minister Mrs. Nicole Rudolph shares, “I always knew I wanted my firstborn daughter to be named after my grandma, but we kept the gender a surprise until she was born. I was shocked to have a girl, and Grandma Hazel is just delighted.”
“My wife is also a teacher, and teachers have it the worst when picking out baby names because there’s always some previous student who spoils a name,” McGarry explains, “My wife and I could not recall ever encountering an Isla on any of our class rosters or for that matter, anywhere else in our lives. Secondly, while my wife was pregnant and we were still considering names, I started listening to the song, ‘Father and Daughter’ by Paul Simon on repeat. The way Paul Simon sings the ‘I love you’ in the last line makes the first two syllables sound just like ‘Isla,’ so my wife and I loved the idea that anytime we would say “I love you”, we would also be saying her name.”
Though most of the times, birth stories are mundane and simple, but in Suire’s case, it was anything but.
“Henry was accidentally born on February 23 at home in the driveway before we made it to the car to head to the hospital,” he explains, “He was born on our cold, dark, icy driveway at 5:31am. Thankfully my mom was there with us and she and I were able to catch him and keep him warm for a few minutes until the ambulance arrived. Henry is our biggest baby yet at 8lbs, 11oz and 22.5 inches long. The Daily Herald even published a story about it.”