Welcoming a New Child

The newest addition of the family tree

This week my family welcomed our third child and first daughter into our home. This will be our last child. These days a family with three children is a little bit unusual. This is especially true in Japan (where I live currently). Japan has a birthrate of only 1.44, as opposed to 1.8 for the US. Combined with a healthy and growing aging population, this low birthrate is a big problem for Japan. 

Looking back through my family tree it's also interesting to see the difference in birthrates from generation to generation. For various reasons, religious, cultural, mortality rates, etc. earlier generations of my family had a lot of kids. My great-great-grandfather John E. Feero was one of 11 children, all by the same mother! (Understandably considering the times, three of the children died when they were very young) I just can't imagine how physically, emotionally, and financially taxing many children would be. 

Also, as romantic as it is looking back on family history I certainly wouldn't want to back to those times, especially in the case of medical safety. In this latest childbirth, my wife lost a lot of blood but thanks to the doctors and the hospital everything ended up okay. I hate to think what would have happened in she was giving birth in Skagway, Alaska in the 1800s.