HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Today, July 6, is my older girl and second child's birthday. In 1970, I decided to ride the bus to my parents' house in Memphis with a child who was 27 months old. I was due in a month. I did not look that pregnant, so no one at bus station questioned me. Did anyone question how far along a woman was?
My diaper bag, purse, one suitcase or bag, plus a toddler who weighed a ton, and a teddy bear were along for the ride. He was good, but he was two! When we arrived in Memphis, I could not get out of the bus with my belongings and a child carry a teddy bear.
My teen sister was picking me up at the bus station. I sat still until she could come and unburden me. Then, and only then, could I drag myself from the bus and then, I could barely walk.
I arrived on July 3, 1970. I spent the 4th in a lounge in the backyard while Daddy cleaned the house-sized ac worked in yard and grilled. That was Saturday. On Sunday afternoon we went somewhere insignificant. Daddy hit a pothole or something that left a lasting pain.
Just before midnight, my water broke. I called my husband. So, Mama and Daddy took me and son to the hospital since I thought birth was imminent. Once at the hospital, I was met with obstacles and little care. They (whoever) examined me and said I was not ready to give birth and really doubted my water broke.
One nurse roughly told me the baby was too small and would probably die. I was very alarmed!
When we came in, the people registering me pressured my parents to sign and be responsible for the bill since I apparently had no husband or insurance. I did but did not know insurance and was not owner of policy or something like that. I was so stressed and refused to have my parents sign even though they wanted to sign.
I was sent home. Just come back in 12 hours. I went home, took a bath and paced the floor. My husband got there very early. I had told him to sleep since I did not want him to wreck and kill himself. Around 11 am, we went back to the hospital. Mama wanted to go and be with me, but I begged her to stay and watch my child. Daddy had been known to be in charge of a toddler and forgot the child was there!
Once at the hospital again, my treatment was better since I had a responsible man with me. /s In the room as I was undressing and was lying on the table, I remarked that I would be so happy to get this baby out because I was hurting. I could barely walk because I had to flop my left leg instead of picking up my left food. A nurse told me the baby would be better off staying inside until the due date.
As with my first child, I was sedated. Mama called the hospital and was told they did not know how long it would be because I refused to push. Later, I surmised I was trying to protect my baby by keeping it in. Once they somehow convinced me to push, I gave birth. It only took two hours unlike the six-hour first birth.
I had called my pediatrician we used for our son and told her what was happening. She arrived soon with a smile on her face. She said my daughter had eyebrows and fingernails and was not premature. She was so nice to me, unlike anyone else I interacted with that day. I don't remember seeing my doctor, but I used him for son's birth, too. He would have been nothing but kind.
As it turns out, OBGYN was unhappy because they sent me home. Both daughter and I had an infection and had to have antibiotics. He was very thorough, so I am sure he caught that. The nurses were mostly all very tight-lipped, so I wonder if he chastised people.
The same group of doctors delivered Lisa Marie Presley, something I didn't know until a year later. I always wondered if he delivered both Lisas since he was head doctor in that group.
She only weighed six pounds. I cried when I heard that because I had gained fifty pounds! However, within a or six weeks I had lost all the extra weight. My first child weighed 8lbs 9oz., so she seemed so tiny. Size 0 fell off her shoulder. She was tiny! She weighed 15 lbs. when a year old.
She is beautiful, smart, talented, singer, and can dance, too.
We drove around the neighborhood and saw lots of the tubes that are from fireworks. We knew we heard them nearby but could see nothing out the door. Well, all this was three streets behind us! And, we saw plastic all over a yard. I took a minute to realize they were patriotic blowups. Tonight, we went back after dark and the inflatables were flat. `We will try again tomorrow. I have not seen those inflatables before. Have you? We drove around the block and the inflatables are flat still.
Did you have a birth experience that did not take your feelings into account? Were you mistreated? Denied anything?
