March 4th, 1976. February had been a mild month and now March entered like a lamb hitting temperatures in the balmy 70's. Everywhere you looked daffodils were in full bloom. Their beautiful yellow petals and brilliant green stems signaled to the world that spring had come!
It was on this particular morning (2 AM)when I calmly woke my husband telling him it was time to go to the hospital to have our first child. The look of terror filled poor Larry's face as he scrambled to get dressed, forgetting where his shoes and pants were. We had practiced this departure for two weeks and finally when my water broke that morning nothing was ready. Larry had parked the car in backwards for weeks so we could just take off from the driveway. Now it sat forward. There were towels all over the bathroom floor and my suitcase was empty.
"Go get your mother!" I screamed at a wide eyed Larry. This, he was eager to do and vanished out the back door, running through the fruit orchard that separated our homes. Men never share their feelings but I often wondered what thoughts went through his mind as he ran through that moonlit field. Did he ponder that he was about to become a father for the first time and what it would mean to guide and love a small male child? Did he think of the awesome responsibility it would mean to shape a young man's life? Since he never shares his feelings I'll never know but odds were he was just trying to run like the wind to get his mother.
Mother Thornhill arrived minutes later out of breath and gave me a brief reassuring hug and quickly organized the two of us so we could get to the hospital to become a family. She was good because before I knew it I was dressed and in the car. As we were backing away from our little home I stared at it as we pulled away. It hit me that when I saw it again I would be a mother......Mother, Mommy, Momma. A real, live breathing mother of a child. The hospital was actually going to let Larry and me take a real live breathing, crying, pooping baby home! Thank heavens for the labor pains that soon took my mind way off of that!
I had a wonderful German nurse when I got to the labor room of the small country hospital and I felt like I was in very good experienced hands. Then she calmly tells me that she is ready to go off shift but will come to see me and my baby when she comes back on. If I knew then what I know now I would have never let her leave me!
During the following hours my labor pains started in and my very pregnant younger sister Beverly shows up at my door with her hands full of bright yellow daffodils. She and her husband had been out on their motorcycle (7 months pregnant!) and stopped to pick me flowers.
A new nursing crew came on shift and it looked like they were all fresh out of nursing school. One young nurse had me breathing hard just hours after my labor started. Within 8 hours of this I was exhausted. Each long hour they would check me and tell me it would be any time now. As the endless hours of labor continued a spring storm blew up outside and I could hear the lighting, wind and rain as it beat against the roof of the hospital. What a storm it was! I later found out that the wind had picked up our mobile home and sat it off it's foundation!
March 4th, 1 AM....Twenty four hours later, and still no baby. I was starting to think I just wanted to get up and go home when there she was standing in my labor room doorway....my German Nurse! She quickly accessed the situation and determined I was nowhere near ready to have my baby and called the doctor for a real evaluation. Within twenty minutes a rain soaked Doc Nickels stood over my bed.
"Sorry little lady but it looks like this little guy is going to need some help getting born, I'm going to stop your labor and take him by C-section." My poor Larry looked as tired as I was as he kissed me goodbye as they wheeled me away to surgery. The shot Doc gave me eased up my contractions as I felt myself drifting away on a dream cloud. As I slowly came to, my wonderful nurse was standing there and asked in her strong German accent if I was ready to hold the most gorgeous boy she had ever seen. Yes, Yes, Yes I told her as I struggled to sit up. She gently placed him in my arms as I stared down at his sweet sleeping face. He was mine, I mean ours as Larry stared down at our sleeping son.
That was 34 years ago today.....34 years ago I became a Mom for the first time. I remember every little scratch, bump and cut he ever got. I remember the "why" questions and "watch this Mom". That little boy and the man you have become, filled our lives with so much happiness that can not be measured. So "Happy 34th Birthday Adam Joseph! I hope you have a great one. Dad and I are so proud of you and all your accomplishments. I know you will spend this day with your own little family and I hope you have as much fun with your own son as I did with mine.
Happy Birthday Son......Momma Onie
I can't believe that Adam is in his mid 30's!! I remember so well the times we had growing up in a small yellow brick house with parents that would make us sit at the bar and eat tv dinners. The younger picture of Adam reminds me of the picture of me with long blonde hair, must have been the style back then. Mom, this post sure shows who your favorite is, but thats ok, I know i'm loved.
ReplyDeletejer, you should know soon your first is favorite, so suck it up and get over it
ReplyDeleteMom, thanks for dinner at Lamberts Friday night. It was alot of fun. Thanks for the birthday blog too, but next time maybe you can pick a little more flattering picture? Love you.
ReplyDeleteWhich one didn't you like???? The then or now because I loved them both.
ReplyDeleteJeremy, don't know who anonymous is but he or she is dead wrong in my humble opinion. As any good parent will tell you and you will be blessed enough to know. As much as you love that first child God gives us each the ability to swell our heart to make room for the next child to come. Sometimes with the first you just have a little more time.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't have said it better myself! Bravo reader! Your first child comes into your life with much anticipation and anxiety. It's the first time and all is new. But when baby number two enters the picture you realize that you now make up a growing, thriving family. I have no idea how my mother showed so much love to each of her seven children. She loved us each in her own way. So Jer I do have a favorite son (in fact two of them!)
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