Good Monday Morning 10-24-22

22 years ago today, my youngest son was born at 4:00 in the afternoon. After having labor induced and receiving an epidural to manage the pain, labor was dragging on until it was getting dangerous for the baby.

By that time the epidural had worn off and I felt the pain as I pushed a third child into the world without the benefit of medication to dull the pain.

The first child was born on the day he was supposed to have been induced. I woke up in labor. I couldn’t figure out how to breathe during the Lamaze classes and anything I did learn was forgotten when the labor pain became intense. When the nurse told me it was too late for pain medication and my doctor would be very upset if they gave me something at that point, I panicked. Needless to say, a short time later I screamed as my firstborn came into the world.

With my second, eighteen months to the day after the first, I woke up in labor and sat up most of the night by myself. The pain wasn’t bad. But by the time I woke my husband up and we made it to the hospital, I knew I was in trouble. I asked for pain medication, as the contractions were getting intense by that point, but my baby was already crowning. The doctor broke my water, and my daughter was born twenty minutes later.

I said to my husband, “Let’s not do this again for at least five years.”

Six years later, I found out I was pregnant but the fetus never developed and it wasn’t a viable pregnancy. I miscarried a few weeks after I took the test.

A few months later, when my cycle was regular again, my husband and I talked about it. We knew we needed to take precautions if we didn’t want another child. Instead, we decided to “see what happens.” Both of us had always said we wanted three or four children (my husband would always add, “or half a dozen.”)

It was no surprise when I became pregnant a few months later.

As mentioned above, by the time he was born, I was in pain and exhausted.

My son was born on October 24, 2000.

I loved being pregnant, and I loved my babies. But I knew I couldn’t go through another labor and delivery.

Besides, I was 35 years old. We considered our family complete and took permanent steps to make it so.

I’m blessed to be the mom of three adult children. Since 2010 I’ve been a single parent. Their dad would be proud of them for the wonderful people they are today. They are supportive of me and also protective. They are worth every moment of pain that I bore to bring them into this world.

Happy birthday, son.

And may God’s blessings be upon you, your sister and brother from this day forward.