It has been great fun, following Glo on her pregnancy journey....for me. Every Wednesday, she would be one week further along, and I would check online to see the size of her baby. John on the other hand? He could do nothing but stress the entire 39 weeks.
At six weeks, she went in for an ultrasound with John. He just wanted to see that she had an actual baby. And she did!
At 12 weeks, another ultrasound, and John ordered a "Panorama" test which would tell Glo any and all genetic abnormalities as well as the gender of the baby.
Deep breath.
I sometimes think that being pregnant with less knowledge 30 years ago was less stressful than being able to know SO MUCH now.
Thankfully, there were no detected genetic problems. That's what's really important.
But let's be real. We really just wanted to know what the baby was.
Johannah, Gordon, Glo and I were sitting in Chick-fil-A having lunch. We were trying to decide how to find out what the baby was--what kind of "reveal" we wanted.
Hannie decided to be the one in charge of it all, so Glo pulled up the results on her phone and handed the phone over to Hannah. I thought for sure we would be able to tell what the gender was by Hannah's reaction, but her reaction was just smiley and non-descriptive.
She made a cake and filled the center of it with appropriate colored sprinkles. I told her that she needed to be careful to not leave a stray sprinkle anywhere that I could find, and she did just that.
To be honest, Glo was hoping for a girl for one reason: Gordon has a very specific idea of how a boy should be raised and what he should be, and she thought having a girl might loosen some of that rigidity. So when they cut into the cake and saw blue sprinkles, her reaction was a tad disappointed. But first, she accused me of already knowing what the gender was!
Glo was a champion through her entire pregnancy. She ran until she was eight months pregnant. She went to Disneyworld with only three weeks to go. The only things we really saw as side effects were her exhaustion (she slept ALL THE TIME), and she was constantly angry and on edge. But let's be real--is that so different from non-pregnant Glo? ;-)
Glo was due October 22. Because she was a big baby, and because Gordon has a ginormous head, John was VERY worried about something bad happening when she delivered, but having had a spate of bad inductions, he was hesitant to induce her as well. He sent her in for a 36 week ultrasound, and BB (boy Bridge) was already measuring large, and the MFM recommended induction.
John fasted and prayed about it all, and when Glo came in for her 38 week visit, she was favorable for induction, already dilated a bit and effaced. John was so happy and so relieved. He set her up for induction on the first day of week 39, October 15, 2025.
It didn't get past me at all that Glo's baby could have a VERY cool birth date. When I mentioned this to John, he told me that she would probably take a few days to deliver and that I shouldn't count on it (again, he was sitting in a trauma space with inductions). However, he told Glo to go into the hospital on the evening of October 14, and the residents would get her going.
I had a hair appointment in Pennsylvania that day, so I decided to stop by the hospital on my way back home. It was surreal to walk in and see my baby getting ready to have her own baby. I wanted to stay with her all night, but John told me to come home and get some rest.
The next morning, I had an order into Chick-fil-A so I could bring the nurses some lunch at 11 a.m. I figured we all might need some if this was going to be an all day thing.
Well, it wasn't.
During the night, Glo's foley bulb fell out, and she got started on an epidural. John came into do rounds, and told me that he was going to finish rounds and go running, and then he would be up to see Glo.
What a surprise when an hour later Glo was complete and ready to push. The nurses called him as did I, and he could hardly believe it.
In true Glo fashion, having a baby was just no big deal. She's never one for drama or frills--she just gets stuff done and is all business as John says. And this was the same.
For every baby delivery I've attended, I'm always helping hold up a leg so I don't actually see the baby being delivered, but just in time, Hannah showed up, and she and Gordon each took a leg. It was incredible to see that little head start to appear.
And wow, Hannah brought the fun. We cued up "K-Pop Demon Hunters" and Glo was singing along with Hannah to all of the songs. Literally, she would push, and as soon as the contraction was over, she'd pick up singing where she had left off...and in harmony with her sister.
BB was born at 10:32 a.m. and Glo wasn't tired or worn out or crying or anything. She was just so happy. John laid him on her belly, and she just held him.
A few minutes later they put him on the scale, and I won the closest guess of everyone in the room--I guessed eight pounds, and he was 8 lbs. 1 oz. But wow, his length! 21 3/4 inches! As we continue to say, he's a skinny legend!
The sweetest moment was when he was swaddled and Glo was holding him. She looked at me and said, "Isn't he so precious?" I don't think I've ever heard Glo use that word, but she continues to use it now.
He is indeed a gift from Heavenly Father.
And remember that Chick-fil-A order? The restaurant called me at 11:20 when I hadn't showed up at 11:00. I apologized and told them that my daughter had just had a baby, but I would come right now. God bless, Chick-fil-A in Taylor. Not only did they help me bring out all of the food to my car, but they gave me a gift certificate for a platter of chicky nuggies for my next visit, and a cow stuffy! All the manager asked was that I tag them in a photo.
Next was naming BB. The names that were at the top of the list were Marshall, Garrett, and Graham. Glo had wanted to name a boy Clark for many years, but it wasn't a favorite of Gordon's. But when I met up with them later, Glo had chosen Clark. It's a name on both sides of their families (George Clarke-->Helen May Clarke-->Lawrence Clarke Apgar-->Richard Apgar-->Larisa Apgar-->Glo and Clella Clark-->Gordon Jolley-->Shannon Jolley-->Gordon). I think because Glo had gone rogue on the first name, Gordon got to choose the middle name. Jan is a common name amongst his Dutch ancestors, but he didn't want people pronouncing it Jan (and not Yan), so he decided on Ian. It took all my might to not tell him that Jan translates to John (and not Ian), but I kept my mouth shut. It's not Glo's favorite, but Gordon is happy with it ;-)
The next day, the day of discharge, Glo looked like she had never had a baby. She was showered and beautiful. Breast feeding was already working well.
Looking at Glo, she was finally fulfilling the measure of her creation, and I don't say that patronizing. Her whole life, when people asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would say, "I'm going to school for music, but I want to be a mom." I don't know if I've ever seen anyone take to motherhood as effortlessly as she has.
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