31 years ago today

31 years ago today at 6:56 AM, God blessed our home with a bouncing baby boy.  He was our first son and our first child. This is the story of his birth.  I went to the doctor on March 12th for my normal visit and the doctor told me I would not be giving birth for another two weeks.  He did tell me that if I wanted to go home and drink a bottle of caster oil, it would be fine.  Being the young mother I was and not having any idea what caster oil was let alone what it would do to me...I went strait to the store and purchased me a 4 oz bottle.  Upon my arrival home, I got out my orange juice (just as I had been instructed) and began to mix "the whole bottle" into it.  Just following doctors orders.  I drank away all the while feeling like I was going to throw up. That was about 3 in the afternoon.  Well, most of you know what happened next.  By 6 I was having cramps so badly that I thought I was in labor.  I called my husband from work and we left around 10 for the hospital.  Upon arrival, I was given the great news that it was not labor at all but cramping from the Castor oil but that they would keep me for the night.  I remember morning dawning and the nurse telling my husband and my mother (who was patiently awaiting the arrival of her first grandchild) that they could go down and eat breakfast around 6 AM. The cramping had caused labor to start. She told them that it would be hours before I would give birth. I begged my husband not to leave me.  Sure enough my body chose to do things just like it has with all my subsequent births and "prepare" for birth in less than an hour.  At 6:56 AM, less than an hour after they said I would not be having a baby for hours, I gave birth to a 7 lb 10 oz baby boy.  I remember my words so clearly as he entered the world..."yuck, he is so ugly".  LOL  Words spoken by a young mother that had never heard about vernix.  All I can remember is he was covered in white "stuff" from head to toe and screaming uncontrollably.  But, I had a son!  The hours that followed will forever be instilled in my mind as I held him for the first time.  He was ours!  We were taking him home with us to start life as a family.  How blessed we were. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEREMY!

a baby in every season of life

I was thinking the other day about having babies.   My firstborn son just celebrated the birth of his first born son (his fourth child).  He will also celebrate his 31st birthday next week.   I was pondering the day I learned I was pregnant for the first time as well as the day he was born.  I was married very young and had my first child 1 year and 9 months later, one month shy of my 19th birthday.  My husband and I did not start our lives together out as born-again Christians and I will have to admit that news of my first child's impending birth was not as happy an occasion as it should have been.  Those days in my marriage were very rocky days.  God was faithful though, as He kept us together, knowing full well what His master plan was.  His birth was a much more joyous occasion.  Friday the 13th of March, was a great day for us as our first little bundle arrived at 6:56 A.M.  As I was pondering all that took place that day and the feelings that rush in as you bring a son into the world knowing full well that he will carry on your family name, I had a thought.....

It occurred to me that I have been pregnant and given birth in each of the seasons of life I have lived.  My first child came when I was a young bride at the age of 19, thus giving me a child in my teen years.  Our second child, a daughter, was born 19 months later when I was in my early 20's.  Now fast forward to my 30's  when our third child (our first reversal baby) came along (that is another story).  Three years later when I entered my 40's, we were blessed with yet another baby.  Two years later we were blessed again.  Then two years later, we were blessed again but God chose to take that baby back into His arms to await our arrival to Heaven one day.  So four seasons of life spanning over three decades God chose to bless our home with children.  How incredibly blessed we are.