Gaelan Edwards is a special kid. He’s 12 years old and lives in Campbell River, BC. He has three siblings, Gage, Rhianna and Rowan.
But it’s his newest brother whose birthday he’ll probably never forget. That’s because on Aug. 21, Gaelan delivered his own brother.
Around 2 a.m., his pregnant mother woke up and saw that Gaelan was still up, watching TV. She shouted for him and said she was going to have the baby.
He ran into her room and, he said later, his first thought was, “No, this is not going to be a home-baby!”
But the baby was already starting to come out and Gaelan worried that if he didn’t catch the baby it might get hurt.
So he went into action. He pulled the baby out by the shoulders, following his mother’s instructions. He wriggled the baby back and forth, carefully protecting its head, until it came out.
Then, without being told, he ran to the kitchen and got a pair of scissors and a potato chip bag clamp. He cut and clamped the umbilical cord (a cord that connects the baby to its mother when it is inside her womb).
Then he wrapped his newest little brother in a blanket and called a friend of his mother’s to come over and help them.
Throughout the 20-minute birth Gaelan stayed calm, even though he says he thought his baby brother was going to die.
Gaelan said he learned about how to deliver a baby from medical books and TV shows. He said it was kind of “gross” delivering the baby and said the baby was “squishy.”
His brother, named Caynan, is a healthy 7 pounds 9 ounces and doing just fine.
As for Gaelan, he says that when he grows up he wants to become a doctor.
This article was adapted from The Globe and Mail’s “B.C. boy, 12, delivers his own little brother,” by Vivian Luk.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Gaelen had to react quickly when his mother started to go into labour, but he didn’t panic. Instead, he was calm and was able to follow all of his mother’s directions. In stressful moments do you react calmly or in a panic? What types of things do you do or tell yourself to regain your sense of calm?
Reading Prompt
Gaelen explained that he knew what to do when his mom went into labour because he watched lots of books and tv shows about doctors, hospitals, and medicine. Did this make you think about the shows and books that you’ve seen and read about the human body? If so, which ones?
Primary
Explain, initially with some support and direction, how their skills in listening, speaking, writing, viewing, and repre- senting help them make sense of what they read (OME, Reading: 4.2).
Junior & Intermediate
Explain, in conversations with peers and/or the teacher or in a reader’s notebook, how their skills in listening, speaking, writing, viewing, and representing help them make sense of what they read (OME, Reading: 4.2).
Grammar Feature: Initialism
Initialism is a type of abbreviation, much like an acronym. When writers use initialism and acronyms, they use the first letter in a series of words to make a new, short, word. The word “laser” is a well known acronym. It stands for, “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.” But initialism is a little different. When an abbreviated word has periods after each letter, like in the word “a.m.” it’s called initialism, and the reason is because when reading the word, each letter is said independently.
Put periods in the appropriate abbreviated words below.
1. OK
2. DNA
3. NASA
4. USA
5. RADAR
