Birth

When I was a teenager in high school I took many courses involving child care, development and birth. I always found this interesting, hoping one day to have children of my own. I even considered going into nursing which I never did.

As a mother of course, you go through the experience of birth which when all is said and done is wonderful. You are never closer to your own child than when you are pregnant. You experience the growth, the movement, hiccups, etc. It has to be the most incredible time in a woman's life to me.

Then there is birth. Yes, it is painful and you try all the things you learned in classes but there is still pain. Depending on how long your labor is it is mentally and physically tiring. Then they put that baby in your arms and you are happy. But to be honest, I did not forget that pain at that moment. I've always heard you do, but you do not.

You do hold a beautiful blessing from God. A gift and someone you have loved from the beginning and finally get to meet. A big change to your life from there on. Someone that is totally dependent on you and always will be. You will be there always to comfort, love and care.

Then my daughter became pregnant. Now I was never an over protective mother but something kicked in. My 23 year old baby was going to have a baby. She had quit smoking which helped add on extra unwanted weight. She was pregnant during the winter so I was always afraid she'd fall or have an accident.. I was a nervous wreck. I could not believe it although I was excited about becoming a grandma again. I had a granddaughter through my son but he did not carry the child.

Because of her weight gain towards the end there were a few extra trips to the hospital to check on her, the baby, her blood pressure and sugar. I had to be there. I had to know that she was OK. Today with all the equipment and monitors I wonder how I ever survived pregnancy. How did my grandma or mother?

Finally, the day came. Her water broke. Her labor started about 8:00 in the morning so we were off to the hospital. It was all planned. I was allowed be in the room and video the birth. From my daughter's head down, of course. We were discrete. They also allowed people to visit during her labor and now they go through the labor and birth all in the same room. My how times have changed. It was like grand central station. When I was in labor the last thing I wanted was company.

Her labor pains were up and down all day as far as how severe they were . I had never seen anything like that before. I was quite concerned. They let her suffer like that for 24 hours before they finally induced. Then that took another 8 hours.

My father was up from Phoenix, AZ and kept calling me to come home and get some rest. I would not leave my daughter. She went through the crankiness of a woman in labor and after so many hours it was worse. I felt so bad for her husband. She didn't swear or scream but he was beside himself. He was yelled at for staring at her, he had to spit his gum out because she could smell it and then if he'd try to rub her he'd get snapped at for touching her. He stuck it out though. I truly admired him.because I could also relate to what she was going through.

Then there was a birth. A beautiful little boy of 8 lbs 9 ounces. They cleaned him up and did all the check ups while his father admired him and his mother rested. I was so happy and tired I cried and filmed. Then they put him in his mother's arms and she cried and smiled. Finally able to meet that dear baby. The beginning of their family.

So I can now say the second most incredible experience was to witness the birth of my grandchild. Two years later a brother of the first. To watch my daughter go through all the experiences that I went through with her but back then she was a surprise. They didn't do sonograms back in that time.. There were a lot of wives tales but she was still a surprise.

It was also great that my father was there. Having health problems he always said he never thought he'd see his grandchildren let alone his great grandchildren. We were able to get those generation shots.

The one precious memory of many I remember was before the birth of her second. See, she was my second child. She said to me how afraid she was that she would not love the second liked she loved the first. I just told her not to worry. It comes naturally with no effort.