A birth story...

When a baby is born, most people like to hear "the birth story". If you're not one of those people, stop reading now. 30 years ago today, my mother had quite the birth story with me. Here's what she wrote about it:
"About 5 months into the pregnancy, I began to bleed heavily, which very much alarmed both me and Tom. I went to the doctor, who did an ultra-sound and told us that I had a placenta previa - the placenta was over the cervix, and I would have to have a C-section in order to deliver the baby safely - if I didn't miscarry....I had episodes of spotting throughout the pregnancy, during which I had to go straight to bed for twenty-four hours...Tom was out of work during the pregnancy. He finally found a new job with Ives Laboratories, and started training in New York City in September. Soon after he left, I had another spotting episode. I took to my bed, only to wake up in the early morning hours hemorrhaging heavily. I called my parents and had Mom baby-sit my children while Dad drove me to the hospital. I couldn't convince the hospital personnel that I really had been hemorrhaging, and they had me walk to the maternity wing; then the resident doctor felt that I could wait for a C-section. I told them that the baby was six weeks early, but they pooh-poohed that idea, telling me I only had two weeks before my due date. Finally my doctor walked in, and asked me how much blood I had lost. I told him I had lost about a quart. Suddenly the staff sprang into action, prepping me and having me sign papers in a flurry - I found out later that Dr. Barton had yelled everyone for not getting me in quicker, as the only reason I wasn't bleeding heavily was because I had already lost too much blood. Then they couldn't find heartbeat on their electronic stethoscope (it was malfunctioning.) I refused to even think what that could mean. As they put me under, I begged, "Please, don't let anything happen to this baby." When I woke up, I was informed that I had another girl who weighed in at only 5 lbs. 7 oz. and 18" long. As they wheeled me to my room, I was able to see her across the intensive-care nursery, all wired up with electrodes and tubes. A nurse later asked me, 'How early was this baby? I would guess that she was six weeks early.' They told me she was fine, but I later found out that she had low Ph and hyaline membrane.
I called Tom in New York, but couldn't get him right away. He called me later that afternoon, recognizing the phone number as coming from the hospital, and asked me, 'What is going on?!' 'We have a new baby,' I told him. 'What kind?' 'Do you really want to know?' I asked him. 'Yes, I really want to know!' 'Well, what kind do we usually have?' I said. 'Oh, Tom said, rather disappointed, then he added, 'Well, that's neat!'
They wouldn't let me see my baby, they told me, until I could walk down to the nursery to see her. Problem was, since I had been restricted from any exercise, I was terribly out of shape, so recovery went slow. The second day, I couldn't even walk to the bathroom without help, let alone make it to the nursery. Dad came in that afternoon and asked me how my baby was. 'I don't know - they won't let me see her until I can walk to the nursery,' I told him. Dad marched out to the nurses station and demanded a wheel-chair 'so that little mother can see her baby right now!' The nurses complied, and Dad wheeled me down to the nursery. Spring was still all wired up, but they took her out of the incubator for just a few minutes so I could hold her. When they put her in my arms, a surge of love went through me and I could feel it course through Spring and back to me, like an electrical current. It was an amazing experience. They told me later that Spring had had a dangerous first day, but it seemed that after I held her she rallied and began fighting to live. She just needed to know that somebody loved her."

There's my birth story. I definitely feel loved now! I've been spoiled rotten. An update on our current lives is coming, I promise!