enter Leif ~ 1

so today my sister reminded me that i have not written in a while and i decided to fix that.

we lived in the duplex with the big oak storm tree until just before the baby was due. it was March of 1971 and my mama was hoping that i would domino on our anniversary, the 23rd.

we realized that, while we could not afford a 2 bedroom house, we needed a different layout than the little 'shotgun' style place where we lived. so i set out again with a visualized goal - a place with baby room.

i found a sweet garage cottage. it had small rooms but was layed out so that a tiny 'study' type nook was adjacent to our bedroom. it was perfect for the crib, changing table, and the built-in book shelves doubled as baby supply hideaways. and the price was just what i had asked in my prayers. it was only after we moved in that i realized how short the shower was - David had to scrunch down to shower (no tub, just a stall) and his head touched the ceiling :-(. but he was cool with it. the screened-in porch was the piece de resistance. such a cute house.

meanwhile the tummy grew. we had friends who were also due in the spring. the 6 of us hung out closely awaiting the arrival of our 3 babies.

there were the usual guesses about the gender of our kiddos, from us and our other friends.

everyone had a way to determine it. CB carried her little one out front and up high so it was a girl. SW was low and had back pain so it was a boy. or something like that. i barely showed so folks had a hard time guessing ours.
i knew that it was a boy. he would be caramel in color, with very curly black hair and soulful brown eyes. he would also be brilliant. i knew this because i am told, shown things. by spirit.

it was amusing when we delivered our children...C & HB in late Feb. S & RW, 2 weeks later in March. Me and David, 2 weeks after that.

and we all had boys!! :-) i have always had a secret little laugh each time i think of it.

on March 25, 2 days after our 1st wedding anniversary, i went in for a doctor visit and found that the pains i had been experiencing were not 'false' labor after all. the doc said go to the hospital and check in; he would meet us there later. we were so inexperienced that we went to the reception area and David said (he is very conservative with words) "Linda Crear". the volunteer looked at her list and said "no". i think we both had momentary flashbacks of being ignored at the desk when we went for our marriage license.

but this was not the case as the woman's expression indicated. David said it again and as he was repeating my name it came to me that she needed a full sentence and i said "i am Linda and i am having a baby so we need to check in!" ohhhhh. ok then. everything speeded up.

it was bizarro world in the hospital room. i was not given the option of natural childbirth. and i had not prepared for anything like that so it was heavy drugs in store. i held my tongue when the pain was so strong...i knew that if i complained they would start the circus. and i was not ready for David to be kicked out. it was really cool that they allowed our friends to come in one at a time and they brought me flowers from their vendor basket and they joked and laughed and David watched batman, the series - zap, pop, boom! until i asked for a tylenol - kapow!

the contractions were sooooo heavy by then that i just had to have something to help. and i was right - they made D leave me and i hated that. i am so glad that those times have changed.

it really was a circus after that point. they put me in the 'active labor' room with other women who were in different stages and who all seemed very angry with the babies' daddies. there was a lot of cursing and threats going on ... i was a little frightened of them. and i was very careful not to say anything mean about David :-).

the drugs caused weird in and out sensations. i would be lucid one minute and then go under again and then pain would pull me back. straaange. like i said "bizarro world".

stay tuned for part 2 and the really smart baby who was born with the gift of gab.