The Story of My Fourth Child's Birth | The Struggles of an Experienced Mother

Daily Couple Meetings

About half a year after moving into our new home, we were living happily, though it felt a bit cramped for a family of four.

Even though this was our fifth experience, the word "pregnancy" always takes us by surprise.
Five times—yes, we had previously experienced one miscarriage.

From then on, every night after putting the children to sleep, we would have walking meetings while connected via LINE call.

It was a discussion about whether or not to have the baby, boiling down to the idea that we had to remove the "but" from "I want to have the baby, but...".

With a fourth child born in consecutive years, I worried: wouldn't the happiness of the older children be diluted from one-third to one-fourth? Would we have enough money? Could we keep living in our new home? What if I were transferred for work? Could one or two people really handle four children? The worries were endless.

But after a few days, I realized that, honestly, what I was most concerned about deep down wasn't the practical financial side or the inability to take care of the other children, but rather "what society would think."

Also, regarding the timing, there was the incident where the former Prime Minister was shot and lost his life, and we talked about how there are people who want to live but cannot, and that we have no right to take that away.

We talked it over properly as a couple, cleared away our hesitation, and decided to have the baby with conviction.
By the way, when we told both my parents and my wife's parents, both sets of parents were surprised and also tried to discourage us from having the wife visit her parents' home after the birth. (I get it...)

A Planned Birth Strategy

Husband's Perspective

Since I would be taking care of three children during the birth and four after the birth, I felt I needed to consult with my workplace early, including requesting a transfer.

When I reported it to my boss, although I was teased for "having children in a way that goes against the times," it was a period when the organization was starting to put effort into initiatives for men to take paternity leave, so everyone supported me, and I decided to take paternity leave around the expected birth date.

Wife's Perspective

Since our third child was born 10 minutes after arriving at the hospital, she said, "For the fourth, I definitely want an epidural."
We decided to go to the maternity clinic we had used before.

It was still a COVID-era birth. Since we couldn't meet until discharge, she organized the drop-off and pick-up times for the three children's nursery school, kindergarten, and lessons, as well as the items to prepare.

Notice of Labor

Around 7:00 PM while I was at work, I received a message saying, "Labor might have started," so I dashed home to avoid a repeat of the third child's car-birth crisis.
When I safely dropped my wife off at the hospital, the second and third children started crying, "Mommy!"
For some reason, the first one followed suit... A difficult road ahead.

...No, no, it'll be harder after the baby is born, and my wife has it harder... still...
When I got home and went to the futon, the three of them cried "Mommy!" again, and I was quite simply hurt.

Epidural and Switch

Since this fourth one should be our last, she said she wanted to give birth with an epidural.
However, when talking to the midwife, she was told that there would be an additional fee and that she might get a headache after the birth, so

she was told, and I received a message saying, "In that case, I decided to buy a Nintendo Switch with that money."

Well, I suppose it's up to the person giving birth... I felt like I could accept it, but then again, maybe not.

At 23:03, a 3,002g baby was born, crying louder than any of my previous children.
As expected of an experienced mother, I left a composed comment, saying, 'I feel like I was able to give birth more calmly than ever before.'

The Ambition of a Mother of Four

My wife had one ambition as a mother of four.

However, since the graduation ceremony was the day before my scheduled discharge, I was supposed to be unable to attend. But I had such a strong desire not to miss the process of my child's growth, and since it had been such a struggle and so difficult to get my first child into kindergarten, I stubbornly insisted on being discharged immediately after giving birth.

When I conveyed my strong feelings to the doctor, I was able to shorten my hospital stay because I was an experienced mother. While the other mothers were shocked, saying, 'Huh? Isn't that too soon?', I safely reunited with my three children and attended the kindergarten graduation ceremony, where I started crying the moment the graduates entered.

Life with Four Children

When I walk around with all four of them, people often look twice or even three times.
Especially when we go to parks, McDonald's, or conveyor belt sushi restaurants, I can feel the gaze that says, 'Wait, four?'
I see it. I hear it. I understand it.

Once, a colleague apparently saw me heading to the local supermarket with all four of them in a wagon, and I felt so embarrassed when they mentioned it at work.

But lately, I've finally stopped caring about those stares. (Maybe I just don't have the energy to look around anymore!?)

Origin of the Name

My wife had another ambition as a mother of four.

She says she just finds infants so adorable.

(The End) ...Or maybe not.

Thank you for reading until the end.
I would be happy if you could 'like' or comment, as it motivates me.
Also, please take this opportunity to check out my other posts.

I would be happy if you would also continue to read the episodes about my first to third children.