From my dad:
After your brother was born, your mom and I decided that we would prefer that he not be an only child and that he would have a sister, so we ordered you. Seriously, we figured we would get pregnant whenever we could and hope for a girl. Although it only took us 2 weeks to get pregnant with Reg, it took us about 8 months for you - mostly because breastfeeding can be a form of contraception. The pregnancy was "routine" (medspeak for normal) in large part because we both already knew what to expect. We waited a bit longer to go to the hospital when you indicated that you wanted out, because we didn't want to hang around there any longer than we had to. As we were being led down the corridor to our room, we passed Room 222, which was where Reg had been delivered, and I asked if we could use it again. They didn't see any reason why not, so led us in there. After they got us settled and left, your mom and I discussed the best strategy to speed things up and agreed that she should walk around as much as she could rather than just lay in the bed. So we did. I remember having to encourage her to keep walking a time or two, but she did and thanked me later. About 90 minutes after we checked in, they had mom lay down for a check to see how close she was to delivering you. Probably due to all the walking and the fact that you were our second child, she was very close and they called for the obstetrician to come to our room. Your mom's regular OB was off that night, but his wife was on duty and came to the room with her dinner in her hand. The nurse suggested that she might want to put it down, because you were coming out NOW and there wouldn't be time for her to finish it. She did, scrubbed and gloved, and caught you on the way out on mom's second push. I remember shouting something like "It's a girl." and taking you from them as soon as they wrapped you in your receiving blanket. Your mom was a little miffed at being ignored in all of the excitement surrounding your arrival, but you were soon handed back to her to be fed. It turned out that the OB and her husband were trying to get pregnant as well, and she asked how we managed to have you pop out so soon after we arrived at the hospital. She said she hoped her birth would be as fast and easy as yours. She managed to eventually finish her dinner and left so we settled down with you for the night. The next morning we checked out and stopped at our favourite Italian deli for takeout sandwiches, just as we had done when Reg was born. That night we had a Bible study class at our place, and they were amazed that your mom was up and around less than a day after delivering you. Since she had no drugs and delivered you normally, there wasn't any reason for us to stay the extra night at the hospital, and we saw no reason to cancel the group. I think my mom came again from Oahu when you were born, just as as she had with Reg. I seem to recall my dad saying she could only be on loan to us for a few days (he couldn't get off work to come with her.) Shortly after you were born we moved from 14927 Condon Ave in Lawndale to 2205 Graham Ave in Redondo Beach. I remember our first night in the new place. The sellers had left us a bottle of champagne in the fridge to celebrate our purchase and it was the only thing that seemed to calm you down and put you to sleep that night.
And from my Mom-ma:
When I was pregnant with you, Ms. Sarah, I was lucky enough not to have to work and pretty much looked after Reg and stayed home. I frequently walked down on the Strand in the South Bay of Los Angeles. The Strand is a walkway that goes along the beaches and it's a beautiful place to walk. You know how much I love to walk by the ocean! I think because we had Reg not too long before you came into our lives we were much more relaxed about the birth and weren't in any rush to go to the hospital. In fact, we were going to wait until your Auntie Julie got off work so she could look after Reg overnight. That was not what actually happened as my contractions were coming too close together so Jenny, our teen babysitter, came over until Julie could get to the townhouse in Lawndale. I was in quite a bit of pain on the ten to fifteen minute ride to South Bay Hospital. I remember that part. When we arrived at the hospital we must have been checked in and I was put in a wheelchair and we went up to the Obstetrics floor. The nurse greeted us and took us to a close-by room. Dad asked if we could be in Room 222 instead because that is where Reg was born. The nurse said she would be glad to have the extra exercise. I guess Room 222 was down at the end of the hall. It wasn't very busy that evening.
We had decided that I would stand and walk during labor so that is what we did. Near the end, or the beginning, I didn't want to walk anymore and I just stood and clung to your dad. The nurse had a very hard time convincing me to lie down so she could see how dilated I was. After some coercing I lay down and I guess your head was visible. The nurse had been a midwife in Britain so I'm sure she was capable of delivering you, but they paged the doctor (who happened to be my doctor's wife) to come RIGHT AWAY. She must have been eating dinner as she walked in with her plate in hand (probably thinking she'd finish her dinner), took one look, said "Push" and there you were. One push! We were so excited that we had our girl. I think we both expected you to be a girl. Not sure why.
No comments:
Post a Comment