| Biographical Non-Fiction posted August 29, 2020 | Chapters: |
...57 58 -59- 60... 
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Leading up to the birth of my new baby
A chapter in the book Remembering Yesterday
Baby Number Five
by BethShelby
The year was 1973. The Roe vs. Wade abortion decision came down in January. Nixon was in his second term as president, but the Watergate Hearings, which led to his resignation started in May of that year.
I ended up working through my eighth month of pregnancy at the printing company, because they needed me longer. I think they were starting to be afraid I’d go into labor at work. The guys got together and bought me a changing table and a baby bathtub as a gift. One of my co-workers told me that if I needed child-care when I went back to work, his mother loved children and was hoping to find a baby to keep while the mother worked. I took her phone number.
-----
Since I’d never been home for any length of time before, I began to meet some of my neighbors. The lot on the right side of us had sold, and a new house had been built there. The new neighbors had two children, a girl about three and a son who was still a baby. Three houses down were the Durios. He was a lawyer and Lisa, his wife, was also pregnant. Next door to them were the Juneaus. Pat was a fireman and his wife, Diane, didn’t work. They had a teenage son.
Roslyn Marchand, the lady from across the street came over to visit, when she saw I was pregnant. She was also pregnant, and coincidentally she and I were due to deliver the same week. She already had a two-year-old daughter. The only contact we’d had with the family before was when her husband had yelled at Don because he was playing outside with a BB gun he’d gotten for Christmas. Mr. Marchand was convinced that Don would either hit someone or shoot his windows out.
******
When our pastor learned I was home, he immediately figured I could contribute my time to a project he had going. He needed a driver to help take a group of church kids on a trip to the beach on the Mississippi Gulf coast. I didn’t want to do it, because I was spotting some blood, and I was worried the baby might come early. He wasn’t concerned with that.
“You’ll be fine,” he told me. “It’s just a short drive, and you won’t even have to spend the night in a tent. I’m taking our family's camping trailer, and my wife and I are sleeping in it. There is an extra bed and you can stay with us. We really need you to take about five of the kids, because there aren't enough cars to get all the kids down there.” I thought he was asking too much of me, but in the end, I agreed to go, because our own three children were part of the group that would be going.
There were five or six vehicles making the trip and the pastor wanted all of us to leave together in a convoy. It took a while to get everyone together, as some of the drivers had worked that day. We left about eight o’clock in the evening and it was around ten-thirty that night when we arrived at the campsite to find the gate locked and no one around to let us in. The pastor started making phone calls, while we all waited in our cars with some restless kids, unwilling to sit still.
It was at least an hour before someone could be contacted to bring a key to the gate and let us in. There was still a good way to drive before we reached our rented campsites. It was well after midnight, when all the tents were pitched, and the children finally settled down. My back was killing me, and I’ve never been so relieved to be able to rest, even though my bed was narrow and hard.
When we got up the following morning, it became apparent that someone had disturbed a skunk and the whole place reeked. We, the adults, had to unload the cooking utensils and go about preparing breakfast. It was around ten before the kids were allowed to visit the beachfront. Children seem capable of adjusting to most any circumstance, but It was up to the adults to get two more meals together, and try to keep up with everyone.
The pastor called roll almost every hour. Several times, he seemed on the verge of losing his cool and taking it out on his poor wife, who in addition to catering to his demands, was taking care of their eight-month-old daughter, who wore corrective braces on her legs. I was very relieved to have that first day behind us. Thankfully, I didn’t know what lay ahead.
A severe thunderstorm came through during the night. Most of the tents blew over, and all the sleeping bags got soaking wet. The kids had to be put back into the cars and other vehicles to try to dry them off. They decided that I shouldn’t be involved since it wasn’t long until my baby was due, so they borrowed my car keys and told me to stay where I was and rest. No one got any real sleep, including me, because I felt guilty for not being outside helping the others with our mini-disaster.
The following morning the sun came out, and we strung lines and tried our best to get as many of the towels and other gear as dry as possible. Around three that afternoon, we left to go home. I was so relieved to be back with you and in my own bed that night.
******
My baby was due June 2nd., but the date came and went. My neighbor, Roslyn, across the street had her baby a week early, but my labor didn’t start until around two in the morning on June 7th. I waited until morning to call the doctor. When I told him the pains were five minutes apart, he told me to get to the hospital, and he canceled his trip to a family reunion, which he had planned for the day. Since this was my fourth pregnancy and fifth child, he expected a quick delivery. He need not have worried. My baby would take its time, like all the rest of them had.
You called your work and told them you wouldn’t be in that day because your wife was having a baby. They were all shocked, because this was not news you had shared. You were a very private person, and I think being a dad again at forty-four was embarrassing for you. I was thirty-five, and I was a tad concerned myself. I just wanted to know it would be healthy since I was a bit older than when the other children were born.
However, your mom was in her late forties when Nan was born, and she was fine. As a teenager, you had found that embarassing as well.
My daughter, Connie Lynnae, was born around five in the afternoon. I had a cold as a result of my recent camping trip, and the doctor couldn’t give me anything for pain. He decided to do an epidural. This was the first time I witnessed one of my babies being born. I heard the doctor say, “Look at the size of this monster.” When I confronted him later, he denied that he'd said it. She weighed 10 pounds and her face was so fat she looked like a little sumo wrestler.
You called the kids to tell them they had a sister. Don told you to ask the doctor to go back and look again, and make sure that he hadn’t left a boy in there.
The hospital let you bring them over that evening to see the new baby. Carol seemed excited. Christi was quiet. She was the one I was worried about. She wasn't thrilled to be losing her place as the baby of the family. The kids came in to see me for a minute, and Don asked me if the doctor was sure there wasn’t another one. It wasn’t the outcome he’d hoped for, but I’m not sure I could have handled another Don.
The year was 1973. The Roe vs. Wade abortion decision came down in January. Nixon was in his second term as president, but the Watergate Hearings, which led to his resignation started in May of that year.
I ended up working through my eighth month of pregnancy at the printing company, because they needed me longer. I think they were starting to be afraid I’d go into labor at work. The guys got together and bought me a changing table and a baby bathtub as a gift. One of my co-workers told me that if I needed child-care when I went back to work, his mother loved children and was hoping to find a baby to keep while the mother worked. I took her phone number.
-----
Since I’d never been home for any length of time before, I began to meet some of my neighbors. The lot on the right side of us had sold, and a new house had been built there. The new neighbors had two children, a girl about three and a son who was still a baby. Three houses down were the Durios. He was a lawyer and Lisa, his wife, was also pregnant. Next door to them were the Juneaus. Pat was a fireman and his wife, Diane, didn’t work. They had a teenage son.
Roslyn Marchand, the lady from across the street came over to visit, when she saw I was pregnant. She was also pregnant, and coincidentally she and I were due to deliver the same week. She already had a two-year-old daughter. The only contact we’d had with the family before was when her husband had yelled at Don because he was playing outside with a BB gun he’d gotten for Christmas. Mr. Marchand was convinced that Don would either hit someone or shoot his windows out.
******
When our pastor learned I was home, he immediately figured I could contribute my time to a project he had going. He needed a driver to help take a group of church kids on a trip to the beach on the Mississippi Gulf coast. I didn’t want to do it, because I was spotting some blood, and I was worried the baby might come early. He wasn’t concerned with that.
“You’ll be fine,” he told me. “It’s just a short drive, and you won’t even have to spend the night in a tent. I’m taking our family's camping trailer, and my wife and I are sleeping in it. There is an extra bed and you can stay with us. We really need you to take about five of the kids, because there aren't enough cars to get all the kids down there.” I thought he was asking too much of me, but in the end, I agreed to go, because our own three children were part of the group that would be going.
There were five or six vehicles making the trip and the pastor wanted all of us to leave together in a convoy. It took a while to get everyone together, as some of the drivers had worked that day. We left about eight o’clock in the evening and it was around ten-thirty that night when we arrived at the campsite to find the gate locked and no one around to let us in. The pastor started making phone calls, while we all waited in our cars with some restless kids, unwilling to sit still.
It was at least an hour before someone could be contacted to bring a key to the gate and let us in. There was still a good way to drive before we reached our rented campsites. It was well after midnight, when all the tents were pitched, and the children finally settled down. My back was killing me, and I’ve never been so relieved to be able to rest, even though my bed was narrow and hard.
When we got up the following morning, it became apparent that someone had disturbed a skunk and the whole place reeked. We, the adults, had to unload the cooking utensils and go about preparing breakfast. It was around ten before the kids were allowed to visit the beachfront. Children seem capable of adjusting to most any circumstance, but It was up to the adults to get two more meals together, and try to keep up with everyone.
The pastor called roll almost every hour. Several times, he seemed on the verge of losing his cool and taking it out on his poor wife, who in addition to catering to his demands, was taking care of their eight-month-old daughter, who wore corrective braces on her legs. I was very relieved to have that first day behind us. Thankfully, I didn’t know what lay ahead.
A severe thunderstorm came through during the night. Most of the tents blew over, and all the sleeping bags got soaking wet. The kids had to be put back into the cars and other vehicles to try to dry them off. They decided that I shouldn’t be involved since it wasn’t long until my baby was due, so they borrowed my car keys and told me to stay where I was and rest. No one got any real sleep, including me, because I felt guilty for not being outside helping the others with our mini-disaster.
The following morning the sun came out, and we strung lines and tried our best to get as many of the towels and other gear as dry as possible. Around three that afternoon, we left to go home. I was so relieved to be back with you and in my own bed that night.
******
My baby was due June 2nd., but the date came and went. My neighbor, Roslyn, across the street had her baby a week early, but my labor didn’t start until around two in the morning on June 7th. I waited until morning to call the doctor. When I told him the pains were five minutes apart, he told me to get to the hospital, and he canceled his trip to a family reunion, which he had planned for the day. Since this was my fourth pregnancy and fifth child, he expected a quick delivery. He need not have worried. My baby would take its time, like all the rest of them had.
You called your work and told them you wouldn’t be in that day because your wife was having a baby. They were all shocked, because this was not news you had shared. You were a very private person, and I think being a dad again at forty-four was embarrassing for you. I was thirty-five, and I was a tad concerned myself. I just wanted to know it would be healthy since I was a bit older than when the other children were born.
However, your mom was in her late forties when Nan was born, and she was fine. As a teenager, you had found that embarassing as well.
My daughter, Connie Lynnae, was born around five in the afternoon. I had a cold as a result of my recent camping trip, and the doctor couldn’t give me anything for pain. He decided to do an epidural. This was the first time I witnessed one of my babies being born. I heard the doctor say, “Look at the size of this monster.” When I confronted him later, he denied that he'd said it. She weighed 10 pounds and her face was so fat she looked like a little sumo wrestler.
You called the kids to tell them they had a sister. Don told you to ask the doctor to go back and look again, and make sure that he hadn’t left a boy in there.
The hospital let you bring them over that evening to see the new baby. Carol seemed excited. Christi was quiet. She was the one I was worried about. She wasn't thrilled to be losing her place as the baby of the family. The kids came in to see me for a minute, and Don asked me if the doctor was sure there wasn’t another one. It wasn’t the outcome he’d hoped for, but I’m not sure I could have handled another Don.
I ended up working through my eighth month of pregnancy at the printing company, because they needed me longer. I think they were starting to be afraid I’d go into labor at work. The guys got together and bought me a changing table and a baby bathtub as a gift. One of my co-workers told me that if I needed child-care when I went back to work, his mother loved children and was hoping to find a baby to keep while the mother worked. I took her phone number.
-----
Since I’d never been home for any length of time before, I began to meet some of my neighbors. The lot on the right side of us had sold, and a new house had been built there. The new neighbors had two children, a girl about three and a son who was still a baby. Three houses down were the Durios. He was a lawyer and Lisa, his wife, was also pregnant. Next door to them were the Juneaus. Pat was a fireman and his wife, Diane, didn’t work. They had a teenage son.
Roslyn Marchand, the lady from across the street came over to visit, when she saw I was pregnant. She was also pregnant, and coincidentally she and I were due to deliver the same week. She already had a two-year-old daughter. The only contact we’d had with the family before was when her husband had yelled at Don because he was playing outside with a BB gun he’d gotten for Christmas. Mr. Marchand was convinced that Don would either hit someone or shoot his windows out.
******
When our pastor learned I was home, he immediately figured I could contribute my time to a project he had going. He needed a driver to help take a group of church kids on a trip to the beach on the Mississippi Gulf coast. I didn’t want to do it, because I was spotting some blood, and I was worried the baby might come early. He wasn’t concerned with that.
“You’ll be fine,” he told me. “It’s just a short drive, and you won’t even have to spend the night in a tent. I’m taking our family's camping trailer, and my wife and I are sleeping in it. There is an extra bed and you can stay with us. We really need you to take about five of the kids, because there aren't enough cars to get all the kids down there.” I thought he was asking too much of me, but in the end, I agreed to go, because our own three children were part of the group that would be going.
There were five or six vehicles making the trip and the pastor wanted all of us to leave together in a convoy. It took a while to get everyone together, as some of the drivers had worked that day. We left about eight o’clock in the evening and it was around ten-thirty that night when we arrived at the campsite to find the gate locked and no one around to let us in. The pastor started making phone calls, while we all waited in our cars with some restless kids, unwilling to sit still.
It was at least an hour before someone could be contacted to bring a key to the gate and let us in. There was still a good way to drive before we reached our rented campsites. It was well after midnight, when all the tents were pitched, and the children finally settled down. My back was killing me, and I’ve never been so relieved to be able to rest, even though my bed was narrow and hard.
When we got up the following morning, it became apparent that someone had disturbed a skunk and the whole place reeked. We, the adults, had to unload the cooking utensils and go about preparing breakfast. It was around ten before the kids were allowed to visit the beachfront. Children seem capable of adjusting to most any circumstance, but It was up to the adults to get two more meals together, and try to keep up with everyone.
The pastor called roll almost every hour. Several times, he seemed on the verge of losing his cool and taking it out on his poor wife, who in addition to catering to his demands, was taking care of their eight-month-old daughter, who wore corrective braces on her legs. I was very relieved to have that first day behind us. Thankfully, I didn’t know what lay ahead.
A severe thunderstorm came through during the night. Most of the tents blew over, and all the sleeping bags got soaking wet. The kids had to be put back into the cars and other vehicles to try to dry them off. They decided that I shouldn’t be involved since it wasn’t long until my baby was due, so they borrowed my car keys and told me to stay where I was and rest. No one got any real sleep, including me, because I felt guilty for not being outside helping the others with our mini-disaster.
The following morning the sun came out, and we strung lines and tried our best to get as many of the towels and other gear as dry as possible. Around three that afternoon, we left to go home. I was so relieved to be back with you and in my own bed that night.
******
My baby was due June 2nd., but the date came and went. My neighbor, Roslyn, across the street had her baby a week early, but my labor didn’t start until around two in the morning on June 7th. I waited until morning to call the doctor. When I told him the pains were five minutes apart, he told me to get to the hospital, and he canceled his trip to a family reunion, which he had planned for the day. Since this was my fourth pregnancy and fifth child, he expected a quick delivery. He need not have worried. My baby would take its time, like all the rest of them had.
You called your work and told them you wouldn’t be in that day because your wife was having a baby. They were all shocked, because this was not news you had shared. You were a very private person, and I think being a dad again at forty-four was embarrassing for you. I was thirty-five, and I was a tad concerned myself. I just wanted to know it would be healthy since I was a bit older than when the other children were born.
However, your mom was in her late forties when Nan was born, and she was fine. As a teenager, you had found that embarassing as well.
My daughter, Connie Lynnae, was born around five in the afternoon. I had a cold as a result of my recent camping trip, and the doctor couldn’t give me anything for pain. He decided to do an epidural. This was the first time I witnessed one of my babies being born. I heard the doctor say, “Look at the size of this monster.” When I confronted him later, he denied that he'd said it. She weighed 10 pounds and her face was so fat she looked like a little sumo wrestler.
You called the kids to tell them they had a sister. Don told you to ask the doctor to go back and look again, and make sure that he hadn’t left a boy in there.
The hospital let you bring them over that evening to see the new baby. Carol seemed excited. Christi was quiet. She was the one I was worried about. She wasn't thrilled to be losing her place as the baby of the family. The kids came in to see me for a minute, and Don asked me if the doctor was sure there wasn’t another one. It wasn’t the outcome he’d hoped for, but I’m not sure I could have handled another Don.
 Recognized |
I'm continuing to recall memories of life with my deceased husband as if I am talking aloud to him. I'm doing this because I want my children to know us as we knew each other and not just as their parents.
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