Henry Wolfe Napolitano joined us on July 25 at 7:52 AM. Ellie, Jack, Grayson, Jenna and I all adore him. It has been a pretty big adjustment, but we are all doing well. I should start by saying that we call him Henry, and Jenna will be disappointed by the title of this article, but Hollywood Hank has a pretty good ring to it, and he earned that title the morning he was born.
As a parent, every birth story is a special one, but Henry’s is one that we will never forget. It actually started on his due date, July 19th, six days before he was born. Everyone warns that your fourth child will come quick and we were both ready and on edge. There were multiple false alarms and trips to the hospital thinking he was on his way. On the 25th, however, there was no mistaking it.
That morning, Jenna woke Jack and I up at 7 AM. Very casual in contrast to most mornings in the Napolitano household. She told me she thought it was time to go and I needed to call her mother, Lisa. It didn’t take long to realize time was of the essence. Lisa arrived only 15 minutes after calling, and Jenna was already waiting in the car with contractions so intense, she could not hold a conversation. We took off like a bat out of hell racing towards South Shore Hospital in Weymouth. We were only halfway there when we had 911 on the phone thinking we may not make it. Was Henry going to be a highway baby? I looked at Jenna and said, I’m not stopping and an ambulance isn’t going to get to us there faster than we can get to the hospital. Luckily, we made it by the skin of our teeth. We pulled into the hospital parking lot on two wheels at 7:40 AM, I frantically grabbed a wheelchair and a nurse to help get Jenna upstairs while I parked the car. Henry arrived 12 minutes after screeching into the emergency room. To say it felt like we were living in a movie would be an understatement. As a fourth child, I think it’s safe to say he understands what it takes to be heard.
