Happy Birthday, Daughter

The year was 1982. I was expecting my third bundle of joy. Bundle Number 1 and Number 2 were both boys, born in 1980 and 1981. (Yes, it is possible, and yes, they were all planned. Well, Number 1 came a little earlier than we had planned, but, he got the ball rolling.)


My plan was to have two boys, and a girl. So far, so good. All my pregnancies went quite well, and most days I felt so good that I would have to remind myself that I was expecting.


Back then, ultra sounds were not common practice. We had other scientific ways of determining the baby's sex. Like, the Drano test. Mix Drano and urine, and it would turn blue for a boy, but, maybe black, for a girl. (I can't quite remember the actual color, but, I don't think it was pink. That would be ridiculous.)


And, comparing the heartbeats. A slow heartbeat meant a boy, a fast heartbeat meant a girl. Also, the way they were carried, high for a boy, low for a girl. 

My due date was December 6. I was very happy with that date because it was also my sister's birthday, and my Grandma's birthday. How cool would it be to have three generations born on the same day?


If I remember correctly, we were having a relatively warm December. I don't think we had had any snow yet.


Everything was progressing quite well.  But, December 6 came and went, and no baby. I went to the doctor on December 7. He said, "When do you want to have this baby?" I truthfully said, "Yesterday." He said, "How about tomorrow?"
Yep, that was fine with me. Then he said, "When can you be here?" 


I told him that Hubby didn't get home from work until about noon. I think he may have asked how close we lived to the hospital. "Oh, we just live about 15 minutes outside of town", I told him non-chalantly.


I think he may have been a little nervous, because Bundles 1 and 2 came pretty quickly. My longest labor was 6 hours.


When I got home, I told Hubby that "Tomorrow is the day".  


We had finally decided that her name would be Jennifer Darlene. Hubby really liked Jolene, but I told him it would sound silly with Darlene. He would always go around singing Jo-lene, Jo-lene. I don't know who sings it, and that's the only part he knew. I also went through a phase when I thought I liked the names "Bobbie Jean" and "Laura Louise". I was influenced by General Hospital for those names. (Jennee has told me that she is soooooo glad we did not give her one of those names!)


So, on that December 8, 1982 (also a Wednesday), Hubby and I took Bundles 1 and 2 to Aunt Sue's house, then we were on our way to the hospital. The doctor met us there, we did all the prep stuff, then took me to my room. At 1:00, they broke my water. As the nurses came in to listen to the heartbeat, they would say, "It sounds like a boy to me." I told them, "No, it's a girl."  They didn't argue with me, but they doubted me.


Not much was happening, so at 2:00, they checked me again. It turns out, I had a double bag of water, so they broke the second one. After that, things started happening right quick!


At 3:05, our daughter entered the world. The doctor let Hubby cut the umbilical cord, which he thought was pretty neat. 


She has been a blessing in our lives. Our lives would be truly dull without her, and I can't imagine life without her! She is quite amazing, and if you hop over to her blog, she will tell you! (In a nice way, of course.) She has also informed me that she is glad she wasn't born on the 6th. She wanted her day all to herself. She is a little upset that she had to be born in December, but, maybe someday, she'll accept it!

Happy Birthday, Jennee! We love you! 

And, tomorrow, I can decorate for Christmas!!

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