Nina's Garden

After three more pushes, our daughter's head was out, and as Nina pushed once more, the midwife helped to free our daughter's shoulders. Finally, our daughter was born, at 11.57 P.M. on September 29th,2000. She soon started to cry as the doctor handed her to Nina. Nina took her daughter into her hands for the first time, a wide smile appearing on her exhausted, sweat-covered face, and started crying as she looked at our daughter for the first time. My eyes too watering, as I was allowed to cut the cord. About an hour later, they took Nina and our newborn child to her room. I cried when I held my daughter for the first time. When Nina, who was very tired and sore, but also beaming with happiness, extracted one of her breasts and held our daughter to it to let her nurse for the first time, I cried even more.

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We named our first child Gabriella Helen Grimaldi, and she was so cute and gorgeous. We had been told our child would of a 'decent' size, but we were still surprised at how big she actually was. Gabriella weighed in at an even 9 pounds, and measure 20 and 3/4 inches, and she was born in very good health.

Nina and I were so proud of Gabriella, and we were elated when we took her home four days later. Of course, the birth of Gabriella induced mature changes and adjustment in our lives. Nina and were anxious about those, and indeed at times it was difficult and challenging. I had not expected to ever become a family man, but now I was, and in fact I loved it, even if at times it was very hard.

But, in the end, I believe we were able to overcome those problems, and our marriage was lifted up and transformed onto a whole new level. Nina seemed to be a natural at being a mother, and I can't begin to describe how good care she took of Gabriella, and what an amazing mother she was and still is. I tried to be the best father I could, but at that time, my role was mostly taking caring of Nina, supporting her and loving her, as she took care of our newborn child, which I hope I did well. I also tried to be the best husband I could in all circumstances, as I hope the story of the following years of our wedding, leading up until now, will show. I'll tell you in short, as a way to bring my story to a conclusion.

The birth of Gabriella of course altered radically altered our sex lives, as well as changing Nina's body and altering her experience of sexual activity, but that was a challenge we were able to overcome quite quickly. Nina actually started training more intensively after the birth of Gabriella. She did not have much pregnancy pounds to lose - Nina's weight gain during her pregnancies was never very big. But she did want to exercise and get into a better shape, by biking, swimming and running whenever she could. Her increased fitness, combined with motherhood to everyone's surprise, including mine gave Nina more energy than ever before; she seemed indefatigable at times, instead of being tired.

Thus, our sex live definitely did not die, because in the late spring or early summer of 2001, Nina became pregnant again. Her second pregnancy was uneventful, and our second child, another girl whom we named Jenna Evelyn Grimaldi, was born after a fairly easy ten-hour labor at 12:50 P.M. on March 21st, 2002.

After the birth of Jenna, Nina and I had our own pool built in the backyard, and 2003 saw us changing and redoing larger parts of our garden, as well as repainting and decorating several rooms in the house. We also took our first 'couple's getaway in the Florida Keys, while Gabriella and Jenna stayed with Nina's parents. These getaways, once every two years, have since become a tradition.

The year 2004 was a sad year for Nina and me. Nina became pregnant again early in the year, but in May she suffered a miscarriage at four months. For a while, it even remained unclear whether she would be able to have any more children in the future. Just about a month after the miscarriage, and with Nina still in disarray trying to process it, her grandmother, whom she loved a lot and whom over the years had been a great resource to Nina, made a nasty fall in her house and suffered a fractured pelvis and hip. She was taken to the hospital and underwent surgery, but suffered major complications and died three days later. Her husband, Nina's grandfather, was unable to cope with the loss and passed away of a heart attack before the Summer was over. On top of it all, Nina's sister Arwen and her girlfriend were severely wounded in a car accident and were in a critical condition for a while - although both of them later recovered completely - and in the fall Nina herself suffered a burst appendix, which put her in the hospital for two weeks.

2005 saw Nina and me having some marital problems, partially due to the events of the year before, partially due to me being suddenly promoted at work after my direct chef died suddenly, causing major stress and requiring me to adjust. We received counseling from a therapist, as well as from friends and family and were able to work through our problems. We took an extended getaway in California that year, in part to continue working through the problems we had been having. I'm not sure if they could have endangered our wedding, but in any case I believe we came out stronger.

We even decided to have another child the following year. Around Valentine's Day, Nina conceived again. The first months of the pregnancy weren't as carefree and happy, but instead were anxious and stressful due to Nina's miscarriage, but the pregnancy continued well and we calmed down. We found out we would be having a son, and were elated. During her third (completed) pregnancy Nina did suffer a lot of pain in her back, and had some problems with her legs. Because she had to take more days off of work during this pregnancy, Nina insisted on working until the very last moment, and scheduled for her maternity leave not to start before the afternoon of her actual due date - I don't think anyone ever understood why Nina did this.

The afternoon of her last day of work, also her due date, Nina went into labor sitting at her desk. I had to go and get her, then drive home to retrieve her bags and take her to the hospital. Nina's water broke when she got out of the car in the hospital parking lot, and she gave birth to our son an hour and a half later, after a fast and crazy, but luckily uncomplicated four hour labor. We named our son Leo Marcus Grimaldi, and he was born at 18.10 P.M. on November 16th, 2006.

After the birth of Leo, Nina decided to work part-time, working three and a half days a week, requiring us to make some financial adjustments to be made because of this. 2008 and 2009 were fairly uneventful. The only real major event was Jenna requiring surgery after she fell from a tree she was climbing.

That brings us to last year, 2010. We had our couple's getaway in April, and this time we spent it in a beach house in the Florida Keys. We enjoyed some of the things we used to do when we were younger, and before we had children, when we had our first getaway in the Keys. We had quite a lot of sex during that trip. We should've known better by now, but we again forgot protection, and were surprised to discover Nina was pregnant again a while later. We hadn't really intended to have another child, but here we were.

Her last pregnancy wasn't as uneventful as her others. Nina suffered a lot more ailments and nuisances, and she was very tired and stiff throughout her pregnancy. One Saturday night when she was seven months pregnant, Nina suffered preterm contractions, and I took her to the hospital. It turned out to be a false alarm, but an examination showed there was an actual threat of preterm labor, and Nina was put on bed rest. That was in November of last year.

Shortly before Christmas, and after nearly a month of bed rest, Nina was feeling quite a bit better, and the danger of preterm labor seemed to have been averted. The Christmas family gathering of Nina's family was held at our house last year, hosted by Nina and me. While Nina was allowed to get out of bed, I did not allow her to do much.

In the afternoon of Christmas itself, while we were sitting down in our living room drinking and talking as the gathering started, suddenly Nina's water broke. I remember her yelling, in panic, that it was a month early - Nina wasn't due until January 25th. I took her upstairs to help her change and get her stuff ready - her bags hadn't fully been packed. But Nina quickly went into full blown labor, and she progressed very, very quickly. I knew we would have to get to the hospital quickly, but when I wanted to help Nina get to the car, she collapsed before we even left our bedroom. Her labor was already very advanced, and the baby was coming - very soon. An ambulance was called and paramedics helped to deliver Nina's baby, who was born after one and a half hour of labor. The ambulance took Nina and our child to the hospital.

Because of her slightly premature birth and small size - she was absolutely tiny compared to our other children - our fourth child, whom we name Megan Rose Grimaldi, spent a week in Neonatology before we brought her home.

Today, all four of our children are doing well. They are all healthy, and they are amazing.

Gabriella looks a lot like Nina, except for being a brunette. She is studious, nearly always well behaved and extremely bright, and she loves reading. Jenna, while having a close sister relationship with Gabriella, is completely different. She too is bright, but she has definite tomboyish mannerisms and likes playing rough games, climbing trees and riding her bicycle. She has also started judo. She has dark hair and dark eyes, and seems to have quite a bit of an Italian fury. Leo looks just like me when I was his age, and while he is a playful, social kid, he is also a slippery little rascal. And finally, little Megan, is not as tiny anymore. She has caught up with her growth and is now a healthy, very cute baby.

And Nina and me? We have loved each other, as our vows said, for better and for worse. And we still love one another. Our lives are now for the most part dedicated to our common mission : raising our children. We don't plan on having anymore.

Nina and I however also continue to enjoy some of the activities we have always enjoyed, and which first helped build our bond. We continue to make time for the two of us whenever possible, and we enjoy life and love. As a matter of fact, as I'm writing this, our children are spending time with my parents, their grandparents, for a weekend. Nina came home from the supermarket half an hour ago; we'll be cooking a special dinner tonight. But, judging by the way Nina just called me to the master bedroom, it is time for another of our favorite activities first.

As it says in proverbs, rejoice in the wife of your youth, and be intoxicated always in her love. I guess that is just what I'm going to do right now.

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Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
be intoxicated always in her love.

- Proverbs 5:18-19