Remembering 12 years ago.....
When I was 37 weeks along (which developed into a trend for me) I started s howing pre-ecclampsia symptoms, so the doctor ordered a 24-your test for me to do at home. When the results came in, he nurse told me the wrong result and the doctor was off that day. So I waited another day for my appointment, which made me pretty sick. I did not understand what pre-ecclampsia was, Dallas was driving to Missouri every day for work, we had kids in school who were not old enough to be left home alone... I had a lot on my mind! When I went to the doctor that fateful Friday morning, the doctor was so upset that I had been told the wrong results, he stormed out of the room, and hormonal mama started crying! I didn't know what was going on! Of course, my biggest fear was that something was wrong with the baby! (Back then we didn't find out ahead of time if it was a boy or girl, but I KNEW it was a girl!) The doctor had me put directly into a delivery room... PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! Dallas was still at work, the kids needed to have someone pick them up from school an my mother-in-law needed at least 3 hours to quit what she was doing, pack, and drive down to Des Moines. Back then I didn't have a cell phone and Dallas' couldn't call his mom with "roaming charges" (remember those?!?) ANYWAY! Everything all worked out! I called Dallas' cell phone at noon. He was back to Des Moines and they let him skip driving to the airport so he could come to the hospital. He ran home first, grabbed his bag, packed one for me (I think... maybe I had it ready?), called his Mom... of course everything worked out!
At 7:10 that evening, I delivered the tiniest, most precious little creature I had ever laid eyes on. She was 5 pounds, 4.8 ounces. The nurse laid her on my chest, and... she raised her tiny little head and looked straight into my face! Oh! I was so overwhelmed with emotion, all I could do was cry and say, "Oh, God!" It wasn't taking the Lord's name, I was trying to pray, and that was all I could say!!!! ......pause, dry tears, continue.... All was perfect in my little world. For about 30 minutes. The nurse came in and told me that they didn't have enough hospital rooms available on Powell, the labor & delivery side, so they would move me to the Younker side, where the C-section patients stayed. Same room accomodations, only smaller. No biggie, we thought. We had our baby, and each other, all was fine. Grandma brought the older kids to visit, that was fun. We finally went to bed. Dallas had been up about 24 hours by this time.
An hour later I was calling the nurse. "Something's wrong" was all I knew to tell her. She came right away, and fund that I had a giant hematoma (blood blister) on my.... well... where the birthing took place! I couldn't wake Dallas because he was toooo tired to wake up! The nurse got him up, called the doctor, and as soon as he got there I was off to surgery. I remember thinking (as I bobbed in and out of consciousness) "I have seen my baby, now I am going to die. Lord, take care of my baby...."
Of course a hematoma is not life-threatening, but it sure did hurt! Meanwhile, Dallas thougth I was dying. He cried and prayed in the dark until I was brought back. I had pain for quite some time from that. (That is probably why it took us 4 years to have the next one!)
My blood pressure stayed up at dangerous levels, so they put me on meds and kept me for 5 days instead of 3. I went home with 2-3 kinds of bp medications. I was exhausted, confused, drugged, and I don't honestly remember a whole lot about the next couple weeks until I was off those medications. I do remember the Columbine shooting, which happened 11 days after Corah was born.
Yadda, yadda, yadda.
CORAH! Is the prettiest, sweetest, most talented little girl I know! At age 5 she was a princess. She didn't just play princess, she was one! She had everyone at church calling her "Princess" instead of "Corah." And when she wasn't a princess, she was a... something else. When she woke up in the morning she didn't ask herself "What shall I wear today?" but "Who shall I BE today?" Somedays she was a "cowboy-girl!" (But still a princess.) She would wear her denim skirt ("cause girls just wear dresses") and the cowboy vest my mother made me when I was little, and cowboy-girl boots. My heart broke the day she told me, "Mom, I'm not your princess anymore." *tears* Why must they grow up?
Corah is an avid reader, a talented pianist, who can read music or play by ear. She is creative, helpful, and great with little sisters. (Those brothers are annoying, you know!) Corah has a strong desire to teach the younger "women" how to live a godly life, as her Bright Lights leader (and Mom) do for her. She was called to be a missionary at age 5, 2 years before she was actualy saved!
I am just so thankful for each one of my children. They are all so special, each in their own way. But I think there is just something so sweet about the bond between a mother and her first born. Maybe its because she is the one that "initiated" me into motherhood. Maybe its because we've been together the longest. I don't know, but I just can't imagine life without her.... nor would I want to! I LOVE YOU CORAH!!!
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