Saturday, September 29, 1979!!!

This post is for my precious daughter, Jessica Leigh.....

.....I want to document the day of her birth for future reference.....before I get too old to remember.  The details aren't all glamorous....but the outcome was a miracle and a blessing!!!

Today is Saturday.....how appropriate that it is that this story took place on a Saturday.....33 years ago!!!   

On September 29th, 1979, I was 9 months and 15 days pregnant!!!  
Well....9 months and 8 days, according to my calculations and I guess I should be the one to know, right?!?!?

Around 6:00 that morning, I woke up in terrible pain, but it would come and go.  Since I had never had a baby before, I just thought it was "nothing" 'cause it was bearable.  I got up and went to the kitchen to make Pappy's breakfast (something I'm sure he wishes I still did).....and doubled over in the middle of the kitchen floor with another horrible pain....got up and finished  cooking breakfast.  My doctor's office was open on Saturday's "back then", so I called around 8 and they told me to come in to be checked.  It was also a blessing (ain't God good?) that it was Saturday, and Pappy didn't have to work because at that time he was working a job in Surgoinsville, which was about 2 hours away from home.  I remember exactly where we were on Asheville Highway, headed to Knoxville.....right past Cardin's Drive In.....and I was soooooo tired.  I remember thinking that if I could just go back to sleep this would all go away (yeah, right).  When I arrived at the doctor's office, they immediately checked me and I was already dilated EIGHT!!!  They called over to the hospital to tell them I was being admitted and to NOT give me an enema (I know, too much info), something I don't think they even do these days....but they said if they did, I would have the baby on the commode. (GROSS)  When we got to the hospital, and they had me in one of their lovely gowns, they asked for a urine specimen, if I was able to give them one.  I was so tired and hurting pretty bad by then, but went to the bathroom and after I did what I was supposed to do in the teeny-tiny little cup, I set it on the side of the sink and somehow knocked it off into the floor!!!

  So, I did what any respectable 9.5 month preggo lady would do....I went out and told them I couldn't give them one.  Well, I couldn't unless they wanted to go get it off the bathroom floor!!!

They got me settled in and hooked me up to the monitors and put the little "corkscrew" into the top of the baby's head (it was actually a monitor for her ).  I lay there with my head turned sideways and my neck all crooked trying to watch the monitor....'cause when that little needle would go up, I knew the pain was going to follow.  I had opted for "no pain meds".....yes, I was and still am a bit crazy about taking medication!!!  (that's another story for another day, how I've weaned myself off all prescription drugs).  During my pregnancy, I was even afraid that smelling my hair spray would hurt my baby....totally quit drinking my favorite soft drink at that time "Tab" (y'all remember those) and went to regular Coke (pure sugar), which probably contributed to my FIFTY POUND weight gain (I think I'm still carrying around some of that "baby" weight, 33 years later).  I knew the pain was coming when that little needle would start rising, and every time I would try my  best not to SCREAM.....which I didn't, but there was a lady somewhere near me who sure did.  Instead, I kept apologizing to the nurses with me that I was so sorry when I would complain of the pain.  One of the nurses told me she would have a house full of babies if she could have them as easily as I was having mine.  That was quite easy for her to say 'cause I thought I was gonna die!!!   Pappy was with me and once as I was pushing, the nurse said "come look, Daddy the baby has hair".  Now, what respectable nurse would have the Daddy come to the foot of my bed and her and him stand there gawking at my private parts just to see that the baby had hair?!?!?!?  Sometime after that, Pappy told me "every time you would push this big purple thing would come out of your bottom".....uh, sweetheart....those are called HEMORRHOIDS....something that still haunt me to this day!!!

  Anyway....when one of my favorite doctors in the group came in to check me....Dr. Williamson.....he was more of a Papaw figure, especially at my young age....he was so sweet and he patted my hand and told me he really thought I should take something for the pain.  

I asked....."Can you give it to me "NOW"?!?!?

They took me into another room for the epidural and just as the anesthesiologist gave the shot in my spine, I had a contraction.  The contraction caused the medication to go up higher than it was supposed to and instead of being numb from the waist down, the numbness went more up into my chest....praise the Lord that it didn't affect my breathing.   They rolled me back over and before I knew it.....at 12:42 P.M (she might have been late, but once she was ready, she wanted out)....they were handing me a baby.....a precious baby GIRL.....8 lbs and 1 ounce....baby GIRL!!!  I remember when they lay her on my chest the first thing I did was look at her fingers and toes and all that "gook" dripping from them....but she was PERFECT!!!

They took her from me to clean her up....Pappy went with them.....and he was gone....and gone.....and gone.....until finally I asked one of the nurses what had happened to my husband.  He was watching them clean up our daughter, along with my Mom and Dad (Daddy was at work and when Mom called to tell him that I was in labor, he asked if he could work 'till noon.....good thing he didn't 'cause he would have missed the whole thing).  I reckon I had done my part....having given birth and all....and everybody was interested in the baby....not the Momma!!!  Funny thing here....my Mom told me that Daddy couldn't believe that all of that baby was inside of me 'cause he asked her if a baby got bigger right after it was born!!!
Love his precious heart!!!

Anyway.....when they rolled me to my room, the last feeling I had in my legs was when they were up in the stirrups....so in my mind, my legs were still in that position as they wheeled me down the hall for the world to see....not really, but it felt that way!!!  I had to lay flat of my back for 12 hours after having the epidural and when my brother got to the hospital, he decided to feed me lunch....bless his heart....whole tater tots into the mouth while lying flat of your back....looking back I wonder if he was trying to choke me to death!!!   
Just kidding.....I think!!!

The rest of the hospital stay was a bit of a blur, with people coming and going.  I do remember my favorite nurse was a male nurse....Bill.  He was so nice.  I also remember the HEMORRHOIDS and oh, how much pain I was in from those nasty things.  And, they wouldn't let me come home until I had a BM....so one night when the juice wagon came by I asked for prune juice.....and spent some time hanging onto the side of the commode for dear life in about as much pain as the childbirth had been!!!!

See....I told you it wasn't all pretty....but the outcome was AWESOME!!!

We had the most amazing daughter.....and we still do!!!

 She looks so tiny with Pappy holding her!!!
(My man was.....and still is.....so handsome!!!)

Jess and her Momma!!!
Hope you know how much you're loved, Jess!!!

We are so proud of you and know that God has so much in store for your future!!!  You've blessed us with a wonderful son-in-law....two GRANDsons....and we'll soon get to see our brand new GRAND-daughter!!!

Jeremiah 29:11 
 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. 
“They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.    

Ain't God good?
Oh, yes He most certainly is!!!

In HIS Most Precious Love....and with mine!

Blessings,

Deb