My birthday - as told by my Mother

Hello folks.  Today is my 31st birthday.  So in lieu of what I have accomplished to this point, I asked my Mom to tell about my birth.  A couple notes...my parents had no issues conceiving me what-so-ever.  In fact, they kind of got their weeks messed up when they were trying not to conceive, and there I was 9 months later.  So here's that story.

The Story of Nikus’s birth

As remembered on November 23, 2008 by her Mother

On Thanksgiving Day, I didn’t eat turkey dinner; I just didn’t like the idea of food.  However, when the pecan pie was served about 6 pm at Phyllis and Bud’s (my Dad's parents) house, I ate a big piece!  (I never was a big fan of pecan pie!)  I must have been huge, since my due date was the very next day!

I remember waking early, about 4 am, with weak labor pains.  I prepared:  I washed my hair, gathered my things together, before waking Daniel (my Dad) about 5 to tell him that I thought it was time to go.  He drove me to TMC in the pickup truck and we checked in.

My water broke just as I got into the hospital bed.  (Great timing!  What a mess that would have been in the truck!)  Labor pains intensified.  Soon I was begging for relief which came in the form of an epidural, about 8 am.  The anesthesiologist would administer a shot in my lower back to “deaden” the lower half of my body.  I could see the contractions happening on the monitor but couldn’t feel them.  The epidural lasted for an hour.  Then we had to find the anesthesiologist to ask for another shot.  It took awhile to find him and I was in major pain by the time he came so I learned to send Daniel to search for him at the 45 minute mark so he’d be in my room ready to give me the next shot just before the prior one wore off.  (I’m such a wimp about pain!)  I remember getting six shots!  And that took a LONG time to work itself out of my body after you were born.

At 12:45 pm, the doctor and the nurse checked me and said, “This baby isn’t coming.  You aren’t dilated enough.  We’re going to need to do a C-Section.”   The doc left the room to get prepared and the nurse said, “Let’s pray that your baby hears us and decides to make an appearance so that you don’t have to go to surgery.”  (A C-Section was major surgery and would have meant a 2 week recovery.)

Daniel went into the bathroom to gown himself for the surgery.  The doc came back and said, “Thank God!  You are completely dilated, the baby is crowning.  It’s time!  Let’s go to the birthing room.”  They pushed my bed down the hall quickly.

Daniel came out of the bathroom to an empty room.  He walked into several birthing rooms before he found me but he got there in time to see you being born.

You were healthy, pink and as responsive as a baby needs to be.  The nurses guessed at your weight before you were born:  one said eight pounds, 3 ounces and the other said eight pounds, four ounces.  You were born between 1 and 2 pm and weighed 8 pounds, 3½ ounces!

Daniel and I married on Saturday, November 23, 1974 in Muncie, Indiana.  You were born on Friday, November 23, 1979, five years to the hour, adjusted for the time change, of our wedding.

We stayed in the hospital Friday and Saturday and came home on Sunday.  I spent the next six weeks at home with you but did bank reconciliations for my employer at home because I needed things to occupy my mind.

Daniel was the best husband and father!  I nudged him awake in the middle of the night when I heard you crying.  He’d go to your room on the other side of the house, change your diaper, bring you to me and I’d nurse you.  When you were full, I’d elbow him again, and he’d take you back to your crib.

I nursed you for seven months, expressing milk in the office bathroom, brought it home in a cooler, froze it, then thawed it a day later for the babysitter to use.

I stopped breast feeding after the Iowa trip in June, 1980, for Daisy’s (my aunt) wedding.  That was the wedding that Uncle Leo met Aunt Shawna because she babysat you while Daniel and I were involved with Daisy’s wedding.  (Shawna was the groom's cousin.)

So that's the story as told by my Mom, written out a couple years ago.  And I leave you with that.  Happy Birthday to me and Happy Anniversary to my parents!

LOVE!