Today is the 32nd birthday of my baby girl, Melody. Hard to imagine that that much time has passed since she was born. Everything went well during my 2nd pregnancy until President's Day when I started having contractions. They were hard enough that the doctor said I was to take it easy - almost bed rest - for a week. Nothing changed and he said I could then go about my normal business. We had signed up for a refresher Lamaze Course that was to take place on the 4th of April. On the 2nd we went out to eat with the session members and their wives - those coming on and those going off. We ate at the booth with the Hopkins. I had a steak dinner. Ken kept telling everyone that the baby was going to be born on Thursday. By the time we were done eating, I wasn't sure but I was in labor. We went home before picking Mark up from the Benjamins' house. Called the doctor but all they said was to go to the hospital if I thought I was in labor. It wasn't my regular doctor and I wasn't sure he really wanted to be bothered. But I finally decided to go in and we got to the hospital around midnight if I remember correctly. I was pretty far along and they called Dr. Freeman to come right away. He came from a baseball game and broke my water. I went into delivery and then things stopped. Finally at 1:20 (they considered it 1-1/2 hours of active labor) my baby girl was born. I was so excited. They had trouble delivering the placenta and it broke. I remember the doctor reaching piecing it together on a table in the back and figuring that he'd gotten it all. (I passed a large clump and a lot of small pieces in the next weeks so I guess he didn't get it all.) My baby went to get checked out and I went to recovery. They brought her right back to me to nurse. I remember feeling funny and said, "I feel kind of dizzy." Then things happened quickly. The doctor RAN back in, they whisked my baby away, raised the foot of the bed, began massaging (very hard, I thought) my belly, and put smelling salts beneath my nose. I was given blood since they decided that I was hemorrhaging. I'm not sure what all happened but I do know I was in there until around 8:00. We didn't call anyone until 7:30 and I wasn't didn't want anyone to know I was having problems. But I was moved to a room but had to stay on a liquid diet most of the day. Things went well and my baby and I were doing well.
She was not the prettiest baby right then. Her head was pretty flat since she'd been so low for so long. She was covered in the cottage-cheese looking stuff and her hair was so long and went every which way. But I loved her. I remember Marilyn Shanks saying she told her baby girl that she loved her even if she wasn't very pretty. And I loved my Melody! (She was very pretty by the following Sunday.)
My favorite phone call was to Connie Pottenburgh. She answered the phone and excitedly asked me how I was doing. I told her fine and she sounded so let down. "Oh, I was hoping you'd say you were in labor." She was so surprised to hear that I already had the baby!
That was tornado safety week and at 10:30 they had a tornado drill. Ken went on home and then to work that day. They brought all the babies to their mothers and then closed all the doors. In the evening they took out the catheter and finally let me eat something besides jello and broth.
Today was pretty much the usual. I had the S.S. lesson - the Triumphal Entry. We had 4 in S.S. today. Todd is in Indiana and AJ didn't make it to S.S. Had ensemble practice after the morning service. Worked with my Google Earth tour in the afternoon and then played around on Google Earth for a bit. Elder service tonight with Bob Meyer (outgoing) and Tim O'Brien (incoming) speaking. Kevin Thompson and Jenny both gave a testimony as well and Pastor and the elders prayed for them. After church we had a farewell for them with food. I made cookies but brought almost half (2 dozen) home. We'll have them tomorrow at Melody's birthday party.
It's already "tomorrow" so I'd better head off to bed.
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