A Mommy Story

[From The Desk of Our Very Special Guest Blogger!! Enjoy! -3M]

First and foremost, I would like to thank Mary for asking me to place a post on her blog – I am always delighted to “share” my many life experiences with Mary. She is so sweet and so very easy to talk to. As she stated in her intro, we met in medical terminology class and have continued to grow our friendship ever since :)

During our weekly gathering after class, we all sit around a table and talk about our many classes. As I listen to each of the students, all of whom are so much younger than I, I cannot help but to think about how lucky I am – here I am, 42 years old and surrounded by young adults in their 20’s, just starting their adult lives with such enthusiasm and open minds! How fortunate I am to feel accepted by the warm and loving hearts of our campus community.

After sharing the fact that I have a son (who ALSO attends the same college) I decided to tell them one of my many “mommy” stories about my son, Andrew …

At the very end of my pregnancy in the summer of 1990, I became quite ill. It was a hot summer that year and I wasn’t due to give birth to my son until July 17th. On July 2nd, I spiked a temp (approx 102) experienced a backache, nausea and vomiting. For 24 hours, I tried to deal with the “virus” I initially diagnosed myself with. Sometimes, those who are in the healthcare field make horrible patients – seems we are always ready to help others, but fail to take care of ourselves the way we should :)

Well, that temp did not go away and I knew that it signaled an infection. The back pain I experienced was near my kidney and I was concerned enough to go to the Dr. After a trip to the OB/GYN, he confirmed a kidney infection. Since my “due date” was only 3 weeks away, he wanted to contact the pediatrician to see which med the baby could tolerate best. He sent me home with Keflex and assured me that my 4th of July holiday would not be negatively influenced by this illness :)

As instructed, I went home and took that horse pill! They also prescribed Phenergan, which helped to cease my vomiting and also made me sleepy. The next morning, to my elation, I woke to find that the Dr was right! Here it was, 8 a.m. on the morning of the 4th of July, and I awoke after the BEST night sleep OF MY LIFE! My fever broke, the backache was gone and I felt WONDERFUL! I remember my husband and I rolled to face one another in bed. I told him how happy I was to feel so much better. He embraced me as we snuggled together for a moment. I then giggled softly and said “too bad we couldn’t have a 4th of July baby” …

I then sat up in bed, and my water BROKE – literally GUSHED right after my statement! Andrew entered the world that evening, 10:42 pm, amidst the fireworks I could see from my hospital room window! As soon as he was born, the Dr and my husband commented on his striking RED hair, so fitting for a 4th of July baby!

He truly is, and always has been, my little “firecracker”!

The moral of the story might possibly be: A good night sleep will prepare you for all you may face the next day :)