Show i either fox trot He says they love it Bill Fitzpatrick 68 a retired security guard and grandfather talks to them: “I aay ‘What a beautifol baby you are! What beautiful eyes you have!’ I try to get them to open thetr eyes and smile By the time I leave I’m smiling and inwardly I’m e die foranmner of anew breed— arafeUow who has failed to outgrowsparticular rite of passage I don’t claim to have the rawer and furthermore I don’t care to I'm getting fri too much cnioymetttarri satisfaction out of being a baby holder And eo are aU the other men who do whatldo One newcomer to oar nnki recently hoeted adhmerparty end each meet was asked “Fleam king afro for the babies” Larry Litton 49 father of two stepfather to two more atria "baby fieek” came to the hoepital to g rive blood and ended np Tft a neat way to net your hands on a baby” he lays 1 ah and coddle them and they forget all aboot me as soon as I walk out bntlcan’t help thinking about them iD week” Lanya home base is Boston bat his work m an education consultant relocated him to New York and for the year he was here he made it a print to get to the boarder-bab- y nursery forthe6pm feeding When ms fondly came from Boston on the first visit to avant-gard- Reynolds 40 a former cop carries in his wallet a color snapshot of the baby whom I’ll call “Mr Strong” (For the sake of privacy I’ve changed his and the other babies' names in mis article) Arecovered alcoholic and drug addict Kevin had a very special relationship with this child who was bom prematurely toawoman addicted toher-oi- n and methadone (Drug babies are d baby-holdin- his Manhattan apartment his daughter had a list of three things she warned to do: VWr the Statue cf liberty Ice skate at Rockefeller Center See Daddfi babies Larry recently returned to Boston and Steve Graff 43 (his replacement on the job) has not only tasaen over his apartment but his baby-holdfa- too “Meanwhile” Larry reports Fm suffering a sort of withdrawal now that I’m not doing it” lanMoCnt 43 a banker and bachelor was doing volunteer work with AIDS patients when one day he saw a lineup of boarder babies in their plastic bass nets was hooked Now I love to sit quietly withababy and liitentoclaiaicri mutic on the nursery radio It's toothing for both of us and in often the first peace I have all day long" I was the veqrfirst man to join the new Prtysm at St Hospital Center three years Many ofourbabies are “crack” babies ago I didn’t know it at the time No ooe since this cocaine derivative is cheap and made a fins Virginia Qrocby the cor- plentiful Ifi also fiercely addictive and nthoughttoundermineawonianli materporate director nvohmteersud found“With (he nuning nal instinct Often only a few mothers erof the riiortage I knew we had to look outside come to visit Some are trying to turn for hem if we were going to give these then lives around and are hnpy tort there babies die love and cudauim all babies are volunteers caring for tnetr babies Most of us have on “spedallier when need but it never occurred to me that men would want to join us But they it comes to I for examdid andlhe nurses found it ftecinrthig ple mb heads Moving my fingers in a slow circular fashion Imassage the top Especially when Billy McGuire 30 the baby’s head and almost always of whose us joined boyiA Anogy good looks have made him a successful get rewarded wife a tiny gummy smile model he’s the eldest in a family of 10 Ialre nfo noses with them fakinio-styl-e children BabyJiokfiqgforhimliiitHt-un- i Stove Graff is a (“It sets up a nice rhythm and gives a baby someas breathing Even infonts suffering from drug withdrawal tespondtohis thing to concentrate on And Steve touch These Brines suffer terribly They Miller 36 a lawyer who sprints over cry incessantly feed and sleep poorly from his office in time for the 1 pm and constarriy thresh about They have feeding makes feces and turns the faucet on and off in the wash basin (“It to be calmed with sedatives and I’ve seen BiUycareftiDy open stimulates the babies and encourages a blanket and gendy begin massaging interaction") Ed Belling 47 who works the baby's arms and legs all the while in the theater walks with the brides rings to them and occasionally breaks into a talking to it In whispers 1 Baby-Hold- er Luke's-Roosev- ek fiopnys baby-boldi- back-patt- swad-dkddrir- iy LIFE FOR ME” SAYS ONE MAN WHO IS ARECOVERED ADDICT HIMSELF er bon too soon and too small) “When I was doing drugs” Reynolds says “I didn’t feel much Many days I just wanted to pull the coven over my nead”So Kevin figured that Mr Strung who was suffering withdrawal probably didn’t feel much either and needed more than the usual amount of holding nd hugging rdnouhii hands and feet and I’d often keep them moving for an hour or so That way Ikept him constantly in motion until I knew he fek connected The baby went through detoxification tripled his birth weight and was eventually placed in a foster borne “I think he was using food to absorb his pain” Kevin says “That’s how be got so fet” He wasn’t at the hospital the day Mr Strong checked out “A selfish put of me didn't want him to leave” he admits Babwhriding condoles to give himatremendous sense of serenity and peace “The babies are a bridge baa to life for me” It would be easy to become attached toababy you found ei It wouldn’t be wise however continued |