Gigi's Journal - December 20, 2011
A day of reflection as I celebrate 31 years of being Michael's mother.
Michael was due on December 20, 1980. On December 19, Ray and I went to the church Christmas dinner. It was very cold that night and we didn't have heat at our house. Our dear friends, Garry and Nancy Haralambou invited us to stay at their house. So we stayed in their oldest daughter's bedroom - warm and snug.
At 3:30 AM, I woke up with regular contractions. I let Ray sleep and woke Nancy up. She and I stayed up timing contractions. Around 10:00 that morning we headed to Birthpointe where my midwife Bobbie Johnson met us. My brother and his girlfriend took Christopher to the park and entertained him that morning. I remember many things from that labor but one thing that I won't forget is being stuck at 7 cm for a while. At one point I asked Bobbie to give me 10 minutes without contractions or else I wanted to go home. It's rather funny now to think about today but 31 years ago I was very serious! Bobbie climbed into that bed with me and instead of laughing (although I'm sure she was laughing on the inside) she told me to forget everything I learned in Lamaze class and just breathe. Well, 10 minutes later I was complete and at 2:35 PM I pushed out my 9 pound 9 ounce baby!
When he first came out Bobbie announced rather proudly, "It's a GIRL!!!" Somehow, I knew he was a boy and didn't really hear her proclamation. Ray reached over and removed the umbilical cord from between his legs and said, "Try again". She then went on to apologize for her error. In the days before routine ultrasounds and Sneak A Peak boutiques, we were surprised at the gender of our children until the birth. No ultrasound - I just knew he was a boy.
Christopher was brought in just seconds after Michael was born. He sat beside me on the bed and touched Michael. He was in love with "his" baby!
After the birth Ray went to Wendy's to get us all something to eat. And by dinner we were home, snuggled in bed together.
Michael was due on December 20, 1980. On December 19, Ray and I went to the church Christmas dinner. It was very cold that night and we didn't have heat at our house. Our dear friends, Garry and Nancy Haralambou invited us to stay at their house. So we stayed in their oldest daughter's bedroom - warm and snug.
At 3:30 AM, I woke up with regular contractions. I let Ray sleep and woke Nancy up. She and I stayed up timing contractions. Around 10:00 that morning we headed to Birthpointe where my midwife Bobbie Johnson met us. My brother and his girlfriend took Christopher to the park and entertained him that morning. I remember many things from that labor but one thing that I won't forget is being stuck at 7 cm for a while. At one point I asked Bobbie to give me 10 minutes without contractions or else I wanted to go home. It's rather funny now to think about today but 31 years ago I was very serious! Bobbie climbed into that bed with me and instead of laughing (although I'm sure she was laughing on the inside) she told me to forget everything I learned in Lamaze class and just breathe. Well, 10 minutes later I was complete and at 2:35 PM I pushed out my 9 pound 9 ounce baby!
When he first came out Bobbie announced rather proudly, "It's a GIRL!!!" Somehow, I knew he was a boy and didn't really hear her proclamation. Ray reached over and removed the umbilical cord from between his legs and said, "Try again". She then went on to apologize for her error. In the days before routine ultrasounds and Sneak A Peak boutiques, we were surprised at the gender of our children until the birth. No ultrasound - I just knew he was a boy.
Christopher was brought in just seconds after Michael was born. He sat beside me on the bed and touched Michael. He was in love with "his" baby!
After the birth Ray went to Wendy's to get us all something to eat. And by dinner we were home, snuggled in bed together.
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| Michael and I after we got home. He was 5 hours old in this pic! |
Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLovely!