So, what happened? Well I spent a lot of time sick. I spent some time traveling--we went to Florida for a family reunion and a side trip to Disney thanks to my parents and to Oak Island, NC for my brother-in-law's wedding. I also had a baby somewhere in that mix.
Now, this post is titled "WIP: Special Edition" so this post isn't really about where I disappeared to for the last 4 weeks... at least not directly. The weekend before the baby was born I posted on Facebook that we had decided to cancel our trip to Animazement because baby #4 hadn't arrived yet--I didn't want to have the baby at the convention (if it still hadn't come by that the following weekend) or have a less than 1 week old baby at an anime convention--I think that'd be a bit much for a baby just a couple of days old. That post prompted a response from a long-time convention friend of mine who didn't even know we were expecting another baby. I posted I think once on Facebook sometime back in the Fall shortly after we found out it was on its way. Why didn't I say more? Well, my Facebook page, this blog, and most other places I lurk in the social networking world are devoted to my art and craft projects. I usually try and keep most personal and family stuff separate. I include a little, but I see this more as my art blog as opposed to a blog about my kids. Anyways, my friend's post made me think that maybe I should say a little bit more on that subject. =P So, this blog is a special edition work in progress post devoted to our newest addition to our family.
Shortly after my Facebook post announcing the cancellation of our Animazement trip, on Tuesday, May 22 at 2:47 in the morning, baby #4 was born. I won't go into too much detail on that process--if you really want to know, message me, and I'll be happy to share. The biggest surprise for almost everyone there was that, baby #4 was a girl. In 3 generations of Cashmans, Sophie is only the 3rd girl--my husband's aunt, his little sister, and now Sophie. She is the 6th kid in her generation and the 1st girl. Another thing that also surprised me was how tiny she was. Sophie was born 2 weeks past her due date. My boys were 1-2 weeks early. My boys ranged from 7.5 to 8.5 pounds at birth; Sophie was only 6.5 pounds. I have to say, especially considering how late she was, I had really expected a much larger baby.
This subject does lead into one of the few subjects that can really get me riled up--I know a lot of women's health and women's rights topic category focus on the right to choose whether or not to have a child (i.e., abortion issue), but I think a sorely neglected topic that falls under that category is a woman's right to choose how to have her children. Sophie was born at home with a midwife in attendance. Right now, in my state, that is illegal. Technically, it is not illegal for me--I can have my baby anywhere--but it is illegal for midwives to attend homebirths, which indirectly makes it illegal for me because it would be irresponsible of me to intentionally have my baby at home with no health care professional in attendance. There are several certified midwives who still choose to practice in my state, but they risk jail time if, for instance, an emergency situation arose and I needed to be transferred to a hospital--hospital workers are required to call the police for the midwife to be arrested. Rights have also been restricted for midwives to practice within the hospital system. A lot of this is because of money. Midwives encourage more natural remedies, will support a mother's right to a natural unmedicated birth, and typically only recommend medical intervention when absolutely necessary--mother or baby is in danger. This means hospitals don't make as much money off of births attended by midwives, and of course they don't make anything off of homebirths. I recognize that a homebirth is not for everyone; some people have higher risk pregnancies or are disinclined to attempt a natural birth. I have my personal reasons for why I chose that way. In any case, I think it should be a valid (and legal) option for women; we should not be forced to go to a hospital or have unnecessary interventions pushed on us if we do not want them. Anyways, that's one of my soapbox subjects. XD I promise I'll keep my blog generally less political than this post.
Anyways, I am incredibly excited to have a littler girl. We really expected a boy, so much so that we hadn't even bothered to pick out a girl middle name--we chose not to find out what we were having when we had an ultrasound done back in the spring. We only had the girl's first name picked out because we had chosen it several years ago--the kind of thing where we liked the name and decided if we ever did have a girl, we'd like to name her that. We did eventually pick out a middle name--it's Arianna by the way. I have a billion cosplays planned for her. =D As cute as the boys' cosplays are, I am going to have so much fun making little girl cosplays. Her first costume, which will debut at Anime Weekend Atlanta this year, will be a little panda (technically not a girl costume) to match my panda lolita costume. When she gets a little older, I'll probably make a lolita-style costume for her to wear. Next, she'll be cosplaying as Blair (in cat form) for our family Soul Eater costume set. I'm sure there will be at least one Sailor Scout in there somewhere. =P I'm going to stop here before I start giggling maniacally and wake her up--she sleeping next to me right now. =) I'm going to conclude with the first picture I got of her--later on the morning of the 22nd after I'd gotten a short nap.
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