Wednesday, July 29, 2009

My Birthday

Today is my birtdhay and I received the best gift from my Mom this morning in my inbox. I am going to share my Mom's gift to me with y'all. So today's post is written by my Mom.

July 29, 1962, I woke with the great desire to go to the bathroom about 2:30 a.m. Found myself in the bathroom several times thinking that the corn on the cob I had for dinner the night before was causing all the cramps. About 5:00 I decided oh no, the corn is innocent, I am having labor pains. I woke your father up and told him it was time to go to the hospital.

Now we had a 1953 Ford car that didn't always start so Dad kept it on the hill where we park our cars incase he had to roll it down to start it. I believe that morning it was good to him. We drove from Brunswick down route 2 to Bellview Maternity Hosp., between Latham and Schenectady. Since it was early Sunday morning and Dad was afraid to stop the car in case it stalled, he slowly ran through every red light we came to, lucky him most of the lights were green and except for Troy and Watervliet, very little lights to worry about.

We were at the hospital shortly after 6:30. Remember in 1962 fathers were not part of the birthing process. Once checked in the soon to be father was told where he could wait and after examining the expectant mother about how long it might take. Being a first time Mom he was told he could go and get some breakfast if he wanted to as it would take some time.

Dad went to Hoffman's Diner for breakfast while I tried to pace the labor room because it was more comfortable. The nurses kept telling me I needed to stay in bed, what did they know, I knew how I felt.

When birthing time got closer the dr. arrived and did the exam. I was wheeled into the delivery room where I was given gas to put me to sleep and you were born. Dad returned to the hospital shortly after you were born and taken in to see you immediately.

I was back in my room where they woke me up, I was very tired from spending the night on my bathroom trips and with the gas I was solidly sleeping. The nurses kept encouraging me to wake up, they finally brought you in to see me when they felt I was awake enough. I tried nursing you but you were more interesting in hic-cupping and I wanted to cry because I felt like a failure since you wouldn't stop hic-cupping. Dad wasn't around and since visiting hours were set from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 I was okay with that.

Sometime between 2 an 3 your father walked into my room with Gram and Grandpa. He had trusted his car enough to go to Stillwater and get them to see their granddaughter, for Gram it was number 2 granddaughter but for Grandpa it was his first grandchild and he just beamed from ear to ear. They had to see you in the nursery as babies were only allowed in the room with the mothers and fathers at feeding time.

Aunt Dorothy visited you in the hospital and then she went to Woolworth 5 & dime store and bought you two doll dresses to wear. You were 6 lbs. 2 ozs. and 18 1/2 inches long, perfect doll size. We were going to bring you home in a sleeper but Aunt Dorothy would not hear of that.. The doll clothes were a lot more affordable then baby clothes and Aunt Dorothy was on a tight budget. The dresses were beautiful, one was all pink and the other was pink and white.

You were probably five days old when we brought you home as that was the norm. You wore clothe diapers as disposables were just coming out and we couldn't afford them anyway.

Now you have the story of your real birthday. You can send this to Heidi or anyone you want to if you so desire.

Love,
Mom & Dad

11 comments:

HeidiTri's said...

That is an awesome story! Thanks for sharing it with us!

TC said...

What a great story! :)

I think it was Bone whose Mom did something similar for him a couple years ago on his birthday, and then, like now, I was a tiny bit jealous. It's nice to have these things written, even if now they come via email instead of handwritten with love and smear marks. (If you can't tell, I'm still a huge fan of handwritten letters.)

I hope you have a wonderful birthday! And may you get to celebrate many, many more.

PS: Interestingly enough, my word verification is "grama." :) Seems like yours would be happy 'bout that.

Felicia said...

That is so cool! I never knew you were the "first grandchild". Wow! And the doll clothes thing is so cute! I wonder if your mom knows that a lot of my friends are using cloth diapers as well in an effort to go green!

Doohickie said...
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PennyCandy said...

Oops was using Doohickie's computer to print off work stuff so I decided to leave messages but then I realized they had his name on it. So I deleted it and am writing from my computer.

Heidi - I cried this morning when I read it.

TC - I love hand written letters as well and when I go to the mailbox and there isn't any there I am always disappointed.

Thank you for thank you for the birthday wishes and I loved what your word verification was.

I would have never thought of doing this but now that my Mom did it for me I'm sure I will do it for my boys when they get older.

Felicia - Yeah I'm glad Mom did this for me. I'm the oldest and I have to say I have always loved that fact. I used cloth diapers for Andrew but not for Colin. I wish my Mom had saved those dresses for me.

Unknown said...
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Life Is What We Make It said...

I seriously thought she was sending you an email about being constipated the previous night and I COULDN'T for the life of me understand why she would think she was in labor... very confusing email to wake up to that morning hahahaha

Bone said...

Happy birthday, Penny Candy! And what a sweet, sweet story! This is the best kind of gift and truly something to treasure.

It reminds me so much of something my Mom wrote last year that I posted on my blog. She even mentioned Woolworth! :)
http://littlenibbler.blogspot.com/2008/02/lime-green-mulberry.html

PennyCandy said...

NP - Yes the corn story cracked me up.

Bone it was a wonderful gift. Sometimes the best gifts don't cost anything but the time you put into them. I'm going to go read yours.

MarkD60 said...

Happy Birthday! When I was born, my Dad took my Mom to the hospital, went to go park the car, and when he got back, It was all over! I was already born!

PennyCandy said...

MarkD60 - Yeah my Mom wasn'that lucky.

Thanks for visiting.