The past year has been like no other for a group of Columbus Regional Hospital Birthing Center staff members who surprised the hospital and the city last year with a mini baby boom of their own.
At one point, 15 staff members in the birthing center, including nurses and physicians, were pregnant at the same time, leading some patients to observe that “every nurse I had here is pregnant” or to jokingly wonder if there was something in the water at the birthing center.
A year later, the CRH staff members have given birth to eight boys and seven girls.
Their mothers, some of whom will celebrate their first Mother’s Day today, said the past year has been full of excitement, stress and, well, a lack of sleep.
Overall, the good times have far outweighed the challenges, said Morgan Myers, 30, a pediatric nurse at CRH whose second child, Stella, was born July 15.
Stella is now crawling “all over the place” and can stand up with assistance, Myers said. She has started to build up her vocabulary and can say “momma,” “dadda” and “bubba,” referring to her 3-year-old brother, Mason. Myers, however, conceded that “dadda” was Stella’s first word.
“She is kind of all over the place and getting into things and not wanting to stay in one area for more than a few minutes at a time, but it’s fun,” Myers said.
“The next milestone will be walking, so we’re keeping the house baby-proofed,” she said.
Myers said it has been “fun and exciting” to share the journey with so many co-workers at one time, especially the support and comaraderie among the mothers.
However, there has been some playful competition, though not in a bad way, she said.
“(There was) no competition in a negative sense, but absolutely competition in the sense of a ‘who’s-going-to-deliver-first’ kind of thing just in the sense of, you know, ‘I might be over being pregnant,’” Myers said. “It’s kind of like a race to the delivery room almost there at the end when all women are just getting tired and that sort of thing. But, definitely, it’s more of a fun, supportive and nurturing environment for all of us.”
One of the best parts so far of having two children has been watching Stella and her brother interact with each other, Myers said.
“Watching their relationship grow and watching them become the best of friends has been the most fulfilling part of the journey of being a parent of two,” Myers said.
Brooke Dye, 28, a nurse at CRH, said the birth of her first child, Sophia, on Nov. 19 was a blessing. She is enjoying being a mother, but didn’t anticipate all the stress and anxiety that comes with motherhood.
“Everything has been fine, it’s just now you’re no longer just worrying about yourself. You have another life that you’re responsible for,” Dye said.
When asked how becoming a mother has changed her, Dye said, laughing, “Oh, gosh.”
“Well, I don’t sleep if that matters,” she said.
One challenge Dye recalled involved getting Sophia to warm up to eating baby cereal, which took a few weeks.
“Each time we would try to feed her anything she would throw a fit, but actually (Wednesday) she ate an entire bowl of cereal,” Dye said. “I think she’s finally getting the hang of it.”
Dye said having more than a dozen co-workers having babies at roughly the same was has been great, especially since she is a first-time mom and could ask questions or express concerns.
But the best part so far, Dye said, has been watching her husband turn into a “softie” after becoming a dad.
“He’s a big, tough guy, but the second he got to meet her, he kind of melted and he’s been a softie ever since,” Dye said. “So it’s great to watch him with her.”
Overall, motherhood has been the “greatest experience” of her life, Dye said.
“I’m just super thankful for it,” she said.
Both mothers said they will celebrate Mother’s Day at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, but are looking forward to enjoying their families’ company and gathering with all their co-workers and babies someday in the future.
“I know that when we’re able to get all of us and the babies safely together for a picture and just get together, I know that’s something that we plan to do, hopefully in the near future,” Myers said.
