December 15, 2008
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Reflections
Twenty-six years ago, I was a very excited woman. I was expecting my very first child and I could hardly wait. I went into labor....oh goody, now I could finally meet my little dolly. It looked like I'd have it on my youngest brother's birthday!
My midwife came and finally went back home. Labor stopped. How disappointing! Vernon and I took a long walk the next evening and went to bed hoping, hoping....No, no soap.
Then on Saturday morning, labor started again. Again the midwife came.....hours later she asked us if we wanted her to go home. She lived over an hour away so I wasn't sure what to think. There HAD been some progress but everything stopped again. More disappointment. She said that since her husband was away for the weekend she really didn't need to go home so she just stayed. Bless her heart.
Well, we took another walk but cut it short because it was too cold and labor definitely kicked in again. That was about 4 PM on Dec. 18th. Our good friends, Vern and Elaine came and spent the night with us....helping us make some sugar cookies shaped like baby buggies. We had to wait until later before decorating them in the correct color. That was a LONG night for me, everyone else took turns sleeping and I walked the hall of our mobile home. I was getting exhausted. Would this never end? I was in "transition" from about 10 PM on.
Finally, at 7:21 AM , 31 hours later, we heard her first cry. Oh what JOY, all of my exhaustion flew out the door! I was a Mother and had the prettiest baby that was ever born. (Or so I thought, since then, I've found out that newborns usually aren't all that beautiful, but you couldn't have convinced me of that then!) All 5lb and 15oz of her--she was the loveliest dolly that I'd ever held in my arms.
Well, as I said, that was 26 years ago and I still love my dolly just as much. I miss her tremendously. Here are some pictures of her. Happy Birthday, Susanita!
She's about 5 or 6 weeks in this picture. Hagerstown, MD
Here is is 2 years old. We lived in Palama, Guatemala. She just loved her "flee-lilla".
This one she was 3 and 1/2. Taken on furlough, summer of 1986
