A Trip Down Memory Lane

(I meant to post this yesterday, in honor of my son's birthday, but was busy with another essay.)

So today I'd like to go down memory lane--24 years to be exact. On May 4th, a Sunday afternoon, I was lying on my bed all alone in the apartment. My husband was at work; normally he'd be home, but he was filling in for someone else that day. I was nine months pregnant with our first child and experiencing a few twinges and odd feelings I'd never felt before. I really wished my husband was home so I could run my symptoms by him and see what he thought. Could I be going into labor? Or was it just that spicy pizza coming back to haunt me? Or was it really nothing at all?

Well, it wasn't nothing at all. My water broke and that set everything into motion. My husband was now home, running around looking for the doctor's phone number. He found it, called and was told all three of the doctors I'd been seeing for the past nine months were out of town! WHAT? Oh, don't worry, there is a doctor covering for the group.

Yeah. Sure. But I don't know this doctor! And he doesn't know me. I'm supposed to feel comfortable and relaxed with a doctor I don't even know delivering my baby?

Well, what could I do? I went to the hospital and had my first baby, a little boy. It was a wonderful experience. I had natural childbirth, no drugs. My husband served as my labor coach and did a great job. He even outlasted the student nurse who fled the room at one gory point. I still wonder today if she ever became a nurse or if the birthing of my baby scarred her for life and she wound up flipping hamburgers for a living.

That little bundle of joy is now 24 years old (as of yesterday) and graduating from college in a few weeks. He is a multi-talented, creative, sensitive, intelligent young man who has made me proud since the moment he came bursting into this world.

I hope he will be very successful in his chosen career. (And maybe so successful he can send his dad and me on a nice trip to Hawaii!)