….I was nine months pregnant and nine days overdue and painting and wallpapering Robert’s office at the church that afternoon. (Yes, up on a ladder and all….) I started to not feel so well, and decided it was time to quit for the day. When I got home, I rested on the couch watching Oprah (probably the last time I ever did that) and noticed that my belly was tightening every 20 minutes or so. Could it possibly be contractions? At nine days overdue, you are pretty conditioned to the reality that “this is NOT IT.”
Robert came home, and by this time I was pretty convinced that “This IS IT!” even though the contractions were still consistently 15 to 20 minutes apart. Robert was now frantically trying to decide what to do about the fact that we, along with our church youth group (he was the youth minister) were supposed to travel to another church that evening and have our youth lead their youth in music, skits, games, and teaching. I said to not do a thing – I would pack my bag just in case, and go along with the group as planned. (The contractions were uncomfortable, but not yet very painful.) We went to church, told a few chosen folks that we thought I was in labor, loaded up a bunch of teenagers in the church vans, and headed across town to the other church.
Somehow, I made it through that entire evening – the contractions getting closer and more intense. And somehow, I was able to keep that fact from the many people I was surrounded by that night. We finally made it home around 9 or 10pm and the contractions were still not consistently 5 minutes apart – which was the golden figure for calling the doctor and heading to the hospital. THAT didn’t happen until 2am! I was trying to do all the tricks we learned in childbirth class, even soaking in the large tub of the home we were housesitting/renting at the time to pass the time and find some relief. I won’t tell you what Robert was doing….but it didn’t involve running my bath water. I woke him up 🙂 when the golden 5 minute rule applied, and we called the doctor and headed to the hospital – about a 30 minute drive – in a thunderstorm.
We arrived around 3am, and 12 hours later I gave birth to Kory. That’s right…12 hours later which equals 24 hours since the contractions had begun! And I’m not sure it’s fair to say that I GAVE birth. I tried, but in the end, Kory had to be extracted via forceps which was quite unpleasant to say the least….felt like the doctor reached up and pulled everything out from my brain on down. I will spare you the rest of the gory details, but they were just that. Now, after years of pondering, and the need for 2 subsequent C-sections, I’m not sure this was the best decision, but I didn’t know enough myself to request anything different or question the doctor’s leadership. And I definitely don’t qualify for Sorta Crunchy’s feature on non-intrusive home births…but you should really pop over there and be encouraged after this frightening story I have just told!
And NOW look at this first baby of mine! He has become a man of 14 years, and one that I am so proud of! I told him in his birthday card today that I count on his wisdom, maturity, and strength every day. I really don’t know how I would make it without him – he is so faithful, reliable, hard-working, and thoughtful – asking how he can be of help, anticipating needs, and taking on more and more responsibility in our family. And many of you know that he holds down a job outside of the family as well – a daily 6am paper route! This has given him some financial know-how and freedom – i.e. making purchases online with his very own debit card! Favorite places…. iTunes and ESPN! 🙂 But, I have also noticed a weekly check being written to our church which was “parentally unprompted.” He’s a giver in many ways, too.
And two important milestones occurred today as he turned 14: he mastered the “front flip” on our new trampoline, and he passed mom up in the height category! We’ve been checking every couple of weeks or so, and today it became official!Happy Birthday, Kory!
You are a joy and blessing to our family!
You are a joy and blessing to our family!
(And yes, that is grey hair on my head with which the color battle is no longer being fought. Guess that’s what happens when you are old enough to have a 14 year old! I hope to wear it proudly – or at least until an overwhelming attack of vanity occurs. They occur…just not overwhelmingly, yet. But then again I haven’t been south lately…..)
Happy Birthday Mosquito Boy!!!!!!! You are a fine young man who I blessed to watch grow up. I have your OU t-shirt bought and wrapped already to give you when we get back!
Oh Melanie, I absolutely LOVED this post and all the pictures! You are a mom who has planted seed after seed after seed in your son for all these years and are seeing those seeds produce some amazing fruit! What an awesome story! Happy b-day to Kory! You are a great mom! He is rising up and calling you blessed, for sure!
BTW, I am attending the Classical Conversations parent/tutor practicum this week, and I am SO excited to start the year! I am so glad that God has encouraged me through this event…I needed it!
Lovely post & not TOO gory details. Haha, I know just how far you could have taken that. 🙂
Happy Birthday, eldest Krumrey! And Mel, your hair looks hawt. 😉
Love you!
Melanie- I've never met you, but my husband (who you'd know as John Daley) turned me onto your blog a while back and I really enjoy reading it. And your greying hair looks marvelous. Wear it proudly! I'm actually looking forward to geting a greying head of my own one of these days…
Blessings!
Liz
Thanks, Ladies (and Ryan!)
Hi Liz! Thanks for your comment. I look forward to reading your blog. I see that you guys have just had a baby – congrats! I think John and my eldest (shown here) share a birthday, don't they?
Aw, such a nice birthday post for your son! He sounds like a gem. 🙂 Great pics, too … especially the ones of you together! Happy BD to him.
And, we all remember all the details of our labor, don't we?
Shirley
Yep- June 29th is John's birthday, so it's a great day of celebration for both of us, I guess. (It's also the anniversary of when I moved to Cincinnati, which was a BIG deal.)
Cheers!
Liz