Seventeen years ago today, I was once again in the hospital having a baby by C-section, the only way I knew how to accomplish this feat. This time around was quite different, however, because it was a planned C-section and that made all the difference in the world. As my pregnancy hummed along and gathered steam, I fully intended to have this baby in the conventional manner. As my due date got closer, I began to get rather nervous and started to worry that what happened the first time would happen again and I would go through another horrible experience. I was never into the whole "birth experience" anyway. I just wanted the end result, healthy and in one piece. Therefore, I told my doctor I didn't even want to try. No problem. He gave me a short time-frame from which to pick the date. It was just like making an appointment for a haircut. I decided June 14th would be perfect and giving the gift of a birthday on Flag Day was an added extra.
The unexpected knowledge of this baby's existence was a big surprise. I'm still surprised! We had just bought our house three years before and life was good for my husband, my daughter and me. Our daughter was almost 10 when I became pregnant. She was perfectly happy being an only child and often remarked upon that fact. When we took her to the ice cream parlor in town to break the news that she was about to become a big sister, her first response was, "How could you do this to me?" Well! Have I mentioned before that she was always a precocious child? It wasn't exactly as if it was a case of her father and me staying up late nights, plotting how to best annoy her. It's a good thing that pregnancies last many months so that everyone can get used to the idea. Lord knows I had to get used to the idea.
Once you've been pregnant the first time, you just know instinctively when you are again. I saw all the signs and had my suspicions but took a handy-dandy home pregnancy test just to make sure. I did the test early one morning and made breakfast for my husband while I waited for the results. I was afraid to look at the test indicator when the time was up and it was ready to check. I knew what I was going to see and I wasn't ready for this at all. I was enjoying the privilege of staying home and caring for my home and family. I had a child nearing her tenth birthday. I was seeing light at the end of the tunnel of caring for a young child and looking forward to more time to do some things I wanted to do.
At the ding of the timer, I picked up the little indicator stick that housed two little clear beads in a holder at the top. If the beads turned blue, it was time to dig out the maternity wardrobe, not that I had anything around from my first experience. Oh they were blue alright, bluer than blue! To this day, over seventeen years later, they're still deep blue. I know this to be true because I tied a little blue ribbon around it and have hung it on the Christmas tree every year since then. Quite the little conversation piece! I began to cry and it was a long time before I stopped. My poor husband was treated to a new delicacy in breakfasts; scrambled eggs (sort of) with raw onion mixed all through it, well seasoned with tears.
I was beside myself but it never occurred to me to do anything else but bring this child who sprung from the intense love between my husband and me into the world. And, of course, that's just what I did.
On the appointed day we went to the hospital early in the morning and within several hours, we were the very proud parents of a son. Neither of us had any preference as to the sex of our baby. I had a sonogram with this one but I didn't want to be told what it was going to be. It's one of the few surprises left on earth! The new big sister who never wanted a baby brother or sister arrived at the hospital that afternoon when she got out of school. When she got a good look at her brand-new brother, I think it was an open and closed case of love at first sight.
My son just finished his junior year in high school. One more year and he'll be off to pursue whatever he chooses to do with his life. I'm so glad this young man came along and I've always felt he must've really wanted to be here because we put a lot of obstacles in his way! It's exciting to have an older teen in the house when we're at the age we are...almost 52 and halfway to 55. Having a young person in the house helps to keep you young and on your toes. I like to think he's carrying on the tradition of what I did for my folks. I came along seven years after the fact of a supposedly finished family. My mother always told me I helped to keep heryoung.
I wish my son was more motivated to do his schoolwork and was more of an "achiever" than he is. He's smart but lazy. However, when I look at the big picture, he is a joy to behold. He could be the poster child for the classic "doesn't live up to his potential" syndrome. This makes us crazy but then I take a closer look at that "big picture". He's a good kid. Doesn't drink, doesn't use drugs, isn't in a gang, doesn't tote weapons to school (and use them). He's communicative, affectionate, amusing (very funny at times and cracks me up royally). He is amazingly free of of the dreaded "teenage angst" and I think he would tell me just about everything that was going on and might be bugging him. In these troubled times, these qualities in a seventeen-year old male are not to be made lightly of. We must've done something right, somewhere. We can't supply the desire, the motivation to excel; these things have to come from within. My youngest has had nothing but love, unity, support and continuity in his life. We can offer no more. I think he is the sort who will find his path after graduation from high school.
So, to my son I say, Happiest of Birthdays! You are the best surprise I ever received in my life!
3 comments:
...and I'll add my voice to yours. Happy Birthday, birthday boy! Thanks for keeping that mom and dad young... Lisa :-]
Sounds familiar in many ways. I, too, had two C-sections. My daughter, who was a disastrous birth experience ( but a great kid ! ) and my son a few years later, who's delivery date was planned ahead, and much easier. My daughter was not excited when her brother was born, but she did come around eventually.
What a perfect idea for a Christmas ornament! They are supposed to be reminders of special times, and this sure qualifies!! Tina
What a wonderful story. My husband was also a surprise to his family, and a classic under acheiever, until age thirty when he suddenly decided to be a pharmacist and graduated second in his class. Sometimes they need time to bloom. Your son sounds a lot like my DH when he was seventeen.
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