Pregnancy Memories

Pamela from http://justthetwo-of-us.blogspot.com/ shared her memories of her first pregnancy recently. It brought back so many memories of my own.

DC and I were 25 and 30 when we were married. That was considered old maidhood in those days. We'd never heard of the ticking biological clock at that time, either, but that is what was happening to me. I began to be very eager to have our first baby.

I'll never forget the little butterfly tickle as I felt her for the first time that morning as I tried to motivate myself to get out of bed and get to work. I worked in a bank at that time and there were 12 of us pregnant out of 100 total employees. We had the greatest time sharing stories as we came back from our monthly, then weekly appointments.

The day that stands out the most starkly is the day I got a call at my desk about mid-morning. I had been in for my monthly check a few days earlier. They wanted DC and me to come by at lunch time to visit with the doctor - no explanation why. I truly didn't think of it as ominous - I don't know why. We met each other at the doctor's office and waited for far too long in the waiting room. Of course, the doctor had been called out for a delivery just as he was to talk to us.

When he finally called us into his office, he cut right to the chase. He told us that the blood test they'd done a few days before indicated that I had contracted rubella. This is a type of measles that can cause deafness, retardation, and any number of other serious problems with the baby. I asked if I could have had rubella without knowing it - I hadn't had a moment's illness during the pregnancy, not even morning sickness. He told us that we were "not too late to terminate the pregnancy." This was also before abortion was a hot button topic. But DC and I looked at each other, knowing without saying the words that we were going to have this baby, no matter what might be wrong with her (though we didn't know then that it was a girl, because this was also before ultrasounds). She was kicking me the whole time, as if to say, "Mommy, I'm okay!"

They decided to do another blood test. I held the nurse's hands so tightly as she stood with me during the blood draw. This nurse was special to me for years, right to the day she retired. I still miss her when I go in for my yearly check-up (at the same clinic with the same doctor who eventually delivered her).

That was the longest week-end of my life. This was a Friday. I went back to work, though I don't know how I did it. My boss was a fine Christian and he had prayer with me, right in the lobby of that bank. What a blessing!

Monday finally came and they called us with the result - a lab error! No sign of rubella or any other problem. She was born several months later and was the most beautiful baby girl - Kristen from http://kristenssocalledlife.blogspot.com/ is that little baby who was telling me that she was okay.

I could not find a single picture of myself during this pregnancy. I can't imagine that we didn't take any. But here we are when she was about 5 weeks old. I haven't worn my hair this long before or since.