New arrivals

And so today was spent sleeping and sleeping and sleeping some more.  Had a rotten headache that laid me low and I had no reason to soldier on, so I slept it off, I hope.

Also had some nice news today.  My friends finally had their baby, a little boy.  Strange how news of someone else's birth can put such a lovely glow inside me.  I am genuinely pleased for them and also was aware of how much this birth of a new little stranger re-evoked memories of the birth of my own children.

When I had my daughter, just about 40 years ago, she was two weeks late and I had to go to the hospital for labour to be induced.  I don't think theat's done so much anymore, but then it meant that I was hooked up to an IV drip and contractions were difficult to monitor as they were quite irregular.  After 10-12 hours of labour I finally had an epidural to relieve pain and my daughter was born with the assistance of forceps.  I remember very clearly that the doctor gave the baby immediately to Ralph, not me and I was left waiting for a few moments to meet my new baby.  I was just 21 years old and pretty nervous of the whole thing.  My daughter was and still is, absolutely beautiful though I have yet to meet a new parent who doesn't think their child is a beautiful little miracle.  Ralph was allowed into the labour room and was with me at the birth which, in 1970, was quite unusual.

When my second child as born I was only just over eight months pregnant and his early arrival took us very much by surprise.  He was a tiny scrap - just over five pounds and again was just a tiny, mewing miracle.

When my third child was born I went into labour right on schedule and had him very quickly after about five hours in intense labour.  He seemed in a great hurry to arrive and I was in an equal hurry to have him in my arms.  Ralph was with me and held me and let me squeeze his hands so tightly they had marks for hours.  The birth process was really amazingly fierce and exciting (also painful!).

Each birth was fantastic.  Each pregnancy different.  I was as amazed the third time as I was the first.  The extraordinary moment of birth, the moment when this bulge in my body became my son or daughter just had me reeling.  What a privilege to grow this tiny human being and how terrifyingly responsible I felt immediately on their birth.

Before the birth of each of my children I started baking cakes.  It was almost like a primitive urge that I had to obey, so when my friend mentioned that she had been baking, I smiled and thought, any day now her baby would arrive.

So, tonight, a bit headachy and tired I am really happy.  I remember that feeling of having this new life that was mine to care for.  I remember being scared, nervous, uncertain and massively excited.  Now I am the mother of two fully-grown adults.  I often wonder about those new babies I held so many years ago.  They may have grown up but the infants they were and their tiny hands and feet, their first smiles, their first steps and first words are alive memories for me today. Nice.