Meet Doodle.. Bean.. & Bear..

I would like to introduce to you three of the most amazing characters you will ever meet in your lifetime! Before I introduce them, I’m G-Mah, at least this is my prefered name. Grandma, Memaw, GiGi, all seemed so old and rather inappropriate for someone like me. I was the chosen mommy to raise Doodle, Bean and Bear. We enjoyed every moment of life together, even the not so great ones, and I got to watch them grow into the amazing grown ups they are today. Each one of them has their own special traits, talents and magic that brings so much happiness to the people around them. I hope that one day you will get to meet them but for now I can tell you all about them.

We will begin with Doodle, of course, she was the first to arrive here on earth and she did not arrive quietly. In fact she arrived forcefully and ready to take on the world! Most of the time a mother gets to carry her baby for nine months but with Doodle, she decided to remain safe for another six weeks. But if you ask me, the doctor had her arrival date a bit off so I smiled at him and left knowing she would arrive when it was time for her to make her grand entrance. Grand entrance it was!! She arrived at almost nine pounds and two feet tall, a TODDLER already!! Doodle was ready to take on this world and anyone in her path would certainly face a force to be reckoned with. She was tall, a full head of dark hair, big bright eyes and oh so heavy to carry already. I immediately took notice of her very large head to which the doctor showed concern and sent the nurse in for a circumference check twice in one day (as if I wouldn’t catch on). I have one moment of concern because once I had her in my arms and I could look into her little brown eyes and could see this is exactly how she should be and I could see that she was destined to be magnificent and would need that head to store all of the knowledge she would be seeking. Of course she grew into it so there is really no need for panic.

She looked different than the other babies born that same day but that only made it easier to find her in the baby nursery. I remember standing in front of the window that we could watch them through (that is how it was in the 90s), and thinking to myself, “why is she stuck in here with all of these screaming babies, this is awful! And when I looked at Doodle her little face was all scrunched up with her eyelids pierced closed as if to be attempting to drown out the noise. I recognized that look of irritation, even though I paused to think to myself “how the hell is a one day old human responding like that?”, accepted it as such, and quickly turned to head to the nurses station. When I said I wanted to take her to the room with me I could not believe that they were insisting she remain there. Before I could even think of what I would say in rebuttal to that my mouth released a wrath that even I wasn’t prepared for (poor nurse who was simply doing her job). I remember looking at her with flesh piercing eyes and saying to her “I gave birth to her. She came from ME. I did all the damn work and I do not want her in there with those screaming babies!! They will show her that screaming is ok and I do not want that. Now give me my baby! Or I will go in there and get her myself.” Yes, even then, I had no tolerance for things that did not make sense. I took the Doodle back to my room only to walk in to my physician and his RN waiting for me as though I had done something so incredibly wrong they called in the big guns!

As the two of them stood there, I situated Doodle (and myself), preparing to hear the scolding that would flow from the two of them. The RN speaks up and lets me know that they room the babies in the nursery so that the mothers can rest and that I can be reassured that MY Doodle has the best possible care. All I could think to myself as she rambled on about the amazing care was “Rest? Really? How is that helping the mothers prepare for what they will encounter when they get home? That does nothing but give us false hope that WE will get to rest when we want to and I was no idiot to believe that would be the case. It made no sense then and definitely not now after raising her and her sisters” jumping back into the present moment with the two of them, I saw my doctor with a bit of giggle struggle going on. I’m guessing his wife or daughter is just as feisty as I am and interrupted his nurse long enough to say, “ it is our hospital policy but I am certain an exception can be made.'' Well, I decided to let him know how serious I was about Doodle NOT being exposed to other babies and carrying bad habits home already. I was very clear in stating that I WILL go and get her each and every time they attempted to return her to the baby screaming suite. She never did make it back into that nursery and because we had to stay at the hospital longer than usual, I witnessed the scrambling of the entire delivery ward searching for a missing baby!! Instinct will always be the correct response to everything you do in life. Thankfully Doodle and I got to go home the next day and continue to bond, grow and learn from each other.

The 90s was the decade of baby creatures for me, starting with Doodle and a couple of years later I was surprised with Bean. When I say surprised I MEAN surprised! Not unwanted. Not an oopsie. Just unplanned but that is how life unfolded for me then and seems to do so the same now but a lot less chaotic. See, we were heading to Washington with all of our belongings but made a pit stop in California to see the family when I was hit with this surprise. We were staying at my parents and my cousin Joey was getting married. Everyone was ready to party Italian style (especially ME) until my lovely mother says “you know RachelAnn, you are really glowing, are you sure you aren't pregnant?”. All I could think was WTH NO woman! I was not surprised at all when she showed up with stick to pee on, the next damn day. Now, don’t start thinking how awful of me to be upset about a baby. Keep your judgement on lock and keep reading!

I had been looking forward to being able to DRINK with my FAMILY at a big party since my wedding where Doodle was hitching a ride in my womb at the time (AKA no drinking) and now the Bean was requiring the same. Once again I sat with Bean snuggled inside me and watched the entire family have the time of their lives (which was pretty awesome in itself). I only wish that in their partytime mindset they would have stopped offering me so many yummy cocktails that I had to turn down over and over and over again. Oh the torture but oh what a great return on my sacrifice.

Bean was a silent soothing carry for her stay within me. A sort of chill little swimmer that was no bother, rarely sat on my bladder or kicked it like Doodle did. Her arrival was smooth and graceful with no complications. However, when she arrived, I was scared as hell to hold her because she was so stinkin tiny compared to Doodle. She was white as the freshest snowfall anywhere to the point that she had a bright glow around her. No kidding, this Bean burned brightly from day one. Don’t get all mushy because her story is just beginning! Before we get into details of Doodle and Bean, we have to welcome Bear into this story.

Doodle was given to me and arrived in this world in Texas, Bean was given to me in Texas and arrived in Washington, Bear was given and arrived in Washington. Bear, although also unplanned, was the last attempt for a male and a fantastic joke played on X chromosome but that is a completely different story. Bear was a bit of both Doodle and Bean where she was chillin in the comfort of Mom yet was actively working things out like Doodle did. When Bear arrived I was a pro athlete in this field because I did not leave the house until I KNEW it was necessary. There is nothing more uncomfortable about spending all that time in a hospital during this entry process. I was given a clear sign to get on the road when Bear decided to give a polite little knock at the passageway, with her fist (so it felt anyway). She arrived as big as Doodle, yet glowing like Bean and silently as both of her siblings who entered before her. Even though these scientific doctors were disturbed by their silent entrances, I never had any concern that any of them had medical issues. They were given to me and I KNEW that all three of them were uniquely created special humans that I got to guide and love into this world for whatever reason they chose to be here.

Doodle had the roughest start……………...