Sons

Earlier I wrote about our daughter’s birth. It made me think once again, about how things can change in just a few years. Giving birth is so different now than it was in the early 70’s, even different in 9 years!

My second pregnancy was 9 years later. In that time, things concerning childbirth really changed. During this pregnancy there were “Childbirth Classes” available for the pregnant Mother to be. Not just for the Mother, but for the Father! It was a class for both the Mother and the Father to be. The class was 8 or 10 sessions (can’t remember how many), but during these sessions we learned as a couple, how to breathe during labor, the Dad learned how to help his wife during labor, and the couple learned exactly what would take place during labor and delivery. They even showed a video of a birth, to further explain the process. We were so much more prepared for this birth, than we had been with our first child. Oh, how all of this information would have been helpful during my first pregnancy 9 years before! It would have eased my fears, my anxiety and I would have known exactly what was going on throughout the labor and delivery process!

I had a hard time convincing my husband that we needed to attend these classes. He didn’t understand, why when this was our second pregnancy that we should take the time for these classes. I had to explain to him how things changed and how helpful these classes would be. Afterward, he agreed that the classes were really helpful.

Another change was that the husband was allowed to be with his wife all during her labor and could also go into the delivery room and be there for the baby’s birth. My husband wasn’t real sure he wanted to go into the delivery room, but he did agree to be with me during labor. That was wonderful. When the time came for delivery, he did go in, at the encourage-ment of my doctor. He was so glad that he did. It was a real experience for him to see our son’s birth, and he was surprised when the doctor had him “cut the cord”, he said later that it was the best experience in his life. It was a real thrill for me too, as with Dawn’s birth, nothing was said to me about looking in the “mirror” to see her birth, but for our son, I knew to look in the mirror and I saw the whole miracle of birth. It was a real “high” for both of us, an experience we will never forget.

After his birth, he was wisked away to the nursery, and we didn’t see him again for hours.
This time, my husband did allow us to name our first son after him, but he was not a “junior”, his middle name was Gerald, after my Dad. Also, when our daughter was born, all mother’s were in a “maternity ward”, a room with 8 beds. Now, every Mother had her “own” room, (this was the same hospital). The ward was nice though, especially for a first time Mother, because I was with women who were having their second and third child. There was one who just had her 6th. You felt you had a support group. We also stayed in the hospital for 4 – 5 days, and their was a regular routine we each did each day.(I won’t go into detail here, but I’m sure some of you know what I’m referring to). Nine years later, we were sent home within a day or two.

Not quite 3 years later, when our second son was born, another change had taken place. The nurses cleaned him up quickly, checked him over and gave him to us in my room for us to hold and cuddle and be with as long as we wanted. The two of us cuddled him and bonded with him almost immediately after his birth, something we weren’t allowed to do with the other two, we kept him in our arms for more than hour, we kept looking at him, looking at the miracle of life. We were amazed just how alert he was, he was wide awake and kept looking at us. It was wonderful. The change that took place in those 9 – 12 years made a big difference. It made me really glad that we didn’t have our 3 children so close, or we would have totally missed out on watching their birth, and really being a participant in the miracle of birth.

I'm grateful for all the changes over the years. I am also grateful that I lived in a generation that has the ability to "plan" your family, and I have no regrets how Bob and I
planned ours. I am thankful for our three Miracles of Life!