Ramona June

Ramona June Welch Piwonka was born on October 24th 2019 at 12:13pm. She weighed 7 lbs 3.5 oz and was 20 inches long.

Mom and baby are both doing well. We are super excited to have Ramona in our lives.

My wife and I have been together since 2005 and married since 2011. We do things slowly and having kids was not something that we ruled out but it was something we really wanted to be comfortable with.

For me, I was always afraid of the impact having kids would have on my life and how I’d lose a lot of freedom to do what I want when I want. Selfish, but it was how I felt. In September 2017 my dad passed away unexpectedly which was very hard on me and my family. It made me think a lot about loss and what I wanted to accomplish with my life. Things were kind of feeling a little stagnant and repetitive… another video game, another work project, etc.

Things changed for my wife and her family relationships at the same time my dad passed. We revisited the baby conversations and decided we wanted to have kids. We wanted to have one big international trip together, which was our Japan trip in late 2018. After that, we started trying to get pregnant.

Krista surprised me on Valentines Day 2019 that she was pregnant. Our baby’s due date was October 25th!

Ramona was born one day early on October 24th. Labor was long and hard on my wife but she’s a badass and did great. We had great support from midwives and our doula.

I am on parental leave until January 2020 to bond as a family. It’s been going well so far, the days are pretty unpredictable and getting just one thing accomplished is a feat, but we’re getting in lots of snuggles and naps.

Love to all!

-Phil, Krista, and Ramona