A Son was born

43 years ago today, my son Billy was born. The night before, we had just moved into a little rental house in Caney, Kansas, and did not have anything unpacked. Michael had gotten up that morning to come down to Arkansas to pick up the rest of our belongings and our two girls. The girls had stayed with my mom and dad because I was so very pregnant, and we were moving, so we had left them down there for a couple of days.

At 11:00 AM, I woke up. And immediately upon standing up, my water broke. I had not had one labor pain, but that's the same way it was with both of my girls. Therefore, I knew I was having a baby that day.

We had an old car that was not very good. Michael, being a mechanic, could keep it running, but he was not there that day. I did not know if the car would make the four-hour trip back to Arkansas, where my doctor was. I was really afraid that I would be stranded along the side of the road.

Since we had only lived in Kansas for a couple of months, I did not have a doctor there. My doctor was in Berryville, AR. So there I was, going to have a baby, all alone. No doctor up there. I knew no one that lived there, and a car that was probably not dependable enough that I could drive the 4 hours back to Arkansas and know I would not be stranded along the side of the road. I did think a considerable time about just throwing my stuff in the car and trying to make it back to Arkansas.

Thankfully, I did have a little common sense then and drove myself to the hospital in Coffeyville, Kansas. I went to the emergency room. They didn't really think I had my water break, but I knew it had. Once they found out I did not have a doctor there, everyone got very excited.

They settled me in a room and hooked me up to an IV. I told them that I would need Pitocin because I had not had one labor pain, and this was the same way I was with my girl. They did not believe me and thought I could just walk that little boy out. So from 1:00 to 7:00 that evening, I walked around and around the corridors. Not one pain. I had called Michael earlier in the day, and he got there around 7 or 8:00 PM.

Finally, I had just had it with walking, and it was getting us nowhere. I told my doctor I had not eaten all day, not one thing, and I was not taking another step unless I got some crackers or something to eat. I remember they gave me 4 crackers and a cup of chicken broth. It was very good.

Finally, they decided I was right and they hooked me up to the Pitocin, and the labor pain started coming hard. They kept checking me and saying, "Oh, you're this far along and that far along." But within 2 hours of being hooked up, I told them I had to push. They told me I didn't have to. They had just checked me a little while before. And I said, "Trust me, I've had 2 of the kids. I've got to push." So they looked again, and Bill's head was out. The doctor did not have time to suit up; he had on one glove. And Billy delivered right there in the bed.

He was born around 11:00 PM, and I'm not exactly sure of that time. He weighed 6 pounds and a few ounces. He was about 2 pounds smaller than either one of my girls, but he was 3 weeks early. He was strong and healthy, and we named him after his father, like we had planned on doing.

The next morning at 10:00, I went home. Bill was not even 12 hours old. Michael immediately dropped the two of us off at that little rental house and then came down to Arkansas to pick up the two girls and load up the rest of our belongings. He would come back the next day.

So it was just me and the baby alone in the house, no phone, no television, nothing like that. But then we had some real excitement.

That afternoon around 4 or 5:00, a tornado started coming through Kansas. In that little town of Caney, they had a system where police cars would run up and down all the streets with their sirens going and hollering on their loudspeaker, "A tornado is coming, take shelter! A tornado is coming, take shelter!" I had never really been very afraid of tornadoes, but I had never seen anything like that with the police doing such a thing. And there I was with a new baby, all alone. I do remember I was worried, so I took Billy and some blankets and got in the closet. We sat in the closet because I figured that was one of the safest places.

The tornado missed Caney, but it wiped out the little town that was about 3 miles east of there. We were safe. The next afternoon, Michael came dragging himself with the kids and the rest of her stuff. The baby was still fine.

Now, I know this sounds like a really horrible story, but believe it or not, I've had many experiences in my life that were way worse than this. You just have to take things in stride. But that is how my little baby boy came into the world on this day in 1982. And I would not have traded him for anything. He is the joy of my life, as all of my children and grand children. Especially my GRANDEST!