It Takes A Village. . . .
April 26, 2009
The phone call came at around seven in the morning. I jumped from the recliner (well maybe jumped isn’t exactly the right word here as I have been nursing a sore lower back and I wasn’t really doing anything very fast) in the hope that I could get to the phone before the ringing woke MGH who often gets some of his best sleep between six and nine in the early morning (while that might not seem very early to most of you who are still gainfully employed it helps to remember that MGH and I live in the twilight zone of a retirement home which means as ’seasoned’ citizens we live in an alternate universe where time flows differently for us and if you don’t believe me just wait. . . the day will come when you will understand what I am saying.)
The voice on the other end said, “Hello, Mom, this is Sylvia. Did I wake you?” I quickly reassured her that I was wide awake (I didn’t tell her this, but if I hadn’t been there is nothing like an early morning phone call to get the adrenalin flowing which accomplishes the same purpose). Feeling the need to say something intelligent I asked her , “What’s up?” To which she replied, “Kristi, just called me (In order to under stand why this immediately got my attention you need to know that Kristi, who is Sylvia’s only daughter, was about to make Sylvia a grandmother for the second time and was due to deliver momentarily for the last week or so.) I can hear the wheels rolling here as brain cells swing into action with the thought—if it’s her second why is she calling her mother for advice on how to tell if she was in labor? I mean in the real world having had one child should qualify one as an expert on the order of ‘been there—done that’ shouldn’t it?
Alas, as any woman who has given birth to more than one child can tell you no birth is ever quite the same as a previous one, except for the hard work that goes into getting one’s baby out of a small space which is why they call it labor. The answer is that her first delivery was a C-section which is an entirely different experience from a ‘natural’ birth which is what Kristi was trying for this time. Here I must add that Kristi’s first pregnancy was an absolutely terrifying experience that darn near killed her. The Dr. a different one, thank goodness as the first one could have been a poster child for why physicians have to carry so much liability insurance with his botched handling of her pregnancy, was quite patient about the whole thing and had moved her scheduled C-section back several times in an attempt to let the baby come naturally. So now you know why Kristi wasn’t exactly sure if she was in labor even though she is a registered nurse and therefore thoroughly versed on what to expect. I here must add that the theory of how something works is often enlightened by experience.
In her phone call she told her mother that she was crampy but that there wasn’t any regularity and what did her mother think? Sylvia was reassuring and told Kristi to relax and time the ‘cramps’ if she could. Then feeling a little worried she called me to get my reassurance that she had given the right advice to her panicky daughter. I offered her said assurance and asked her to let me know when the baby arrived. End of phone call, but not the end of ‘mother’s who are asked for advice but are not on the scene who can’t stop worrying about the situation and wondering if they had missed something’. I got to thinking, always a mistake, that, and began wondering if perhaps Kristi might be experiencing the Gano Glitch in which case she needed to forget all that business about ‘timing’ contractions and head for the hospital immediately. These thoughts led to my calling Sylvia and expressing my concerns which, it turns out, were hers as well. So she called Kristi and Kristi told her mom that modern day doctors knew a lot more about delivering babies and things like ‘glitches’ were nothing to be alarmed about and had doctors past known then what they knew now her mother and grandmother would never have encountered the problems they did when they delivered their babies back in the olden days which proved to be a little disconcerting to Sylvia so she called me back and said that Kristi wasn’t listening to her. This led to my calling Kristi to whom I expressed my concern about the reality of ‘glitches’ and told her that she needed to leave for the hospital immediately and get checked out just in case. Her grandpa then added his two cents worth using his experience of delivering one of his own children while on the way as proof of his bona fide’s, suggesting that it was better to err on the side of caution. Alas, nothing either of us said had any effect and who knows where our conversation might have led had it continued but then Jonas unexpectedly appeared on the scene and she had to hang up to see why he was home.
Turns out his mom, who had come for a week to care for Dallin while Kristi was in the hospital, had called Jonas and told him that she wasn’t prepared to deliver a baby and he needed to get home quickly if he hoped to spare her this experience. We heard later that Jonas had his doubts about his mother’s concerns but put aside his feeling that it was a false alarm and headed off to the hospital which was a half hours drive with his wife and daughter to be in tow. (Kristi tells us that the pains started to get sharper as they drove and that she was very glad they hadn’t waited.) Upon arriving at the hospital she was checked out, admitted and told that it was good she had come when she did. Twelve hours start to finish isn’t all that bad for getting a ‘first’ baby here. Lydiann Marie was born April 21, 2009 around 4:30 P.M., weighing in at 7 pounds 15 ounces and 20 inches in length. She is a real cutie if I do say so myself, and it’s not as if I am at all biased.
The good news in all this, other than having Lydiann safely here, is that the Dr. told Kristi that she should be able to deliver her babies naturally from now on which is a real relief as she had been told after her first pregnancy and delivery that it was doubtful if she would ever be able to have more children. This was devastating news as both Kristi and Jonas would like to have a large family. (Whether this desire continues remains to be seen as both parents are ‘neatniks’ of the highest order and as anyone can tell you who has had any experience at all, children are the complete antithesis of order. . . . ) Ah well, be that as it may, they are now well and truly off on the grand adventure called parenthood. My prayers are with them.
In closing It was nice to be asked for advice. Which makes me think there just might be some truth after all in that old saw, ‘it takes a village to deliver a child’!