Sixteen years ago today my baby boy made his entrance into the world. It was one of the best times of my life. Our family had been enduring unimaginable stress due to very serious illness. In fact , my mother was hospitalized for the last four months of my pregnancy. We had three children at home already that were being largely ignored due to my Mother's illness and then .... on July 6th 1992 here comes a tiny hope. A tiny little bundle full of happiness and light heartedness. We had something positive to look after, a bright spot every single day. It was like huge burdens being lifted from our household. And for 16 years, he's been up to the task.
I still remember so many details about the day Rick was born... some of them so funny!
Like the stray kitten that Mandi and Rachael found, they wanted to keep him and name him Houdini. They were having so much fun. I didn't tell anyone that I was in labor until well after noon. I just wanted to be able to do my labor at home, where I was comfortable. I played video games ( should have been a clue to the girls since I
never played video games)
Back To The Future to be exact, on Nintendo. The one we had to blow the hair dryer in cuz it would have moisture in it. Sheesh almost seems like a thousand years ago, not just 16.
I had been off work since the 1st of July because Ricky was due on the 4th and it just seemed easier to go ahead and start my maternity leave.My boss had to invent maternity leave for me,because no one had ever needed it before! That's a whole nuther story though.
Rachael had just come home. She had been living with her Mother in Tennessee. I remember how TALL she looked. She hadn't really been gone all that long, but she must have grown six or eight inches while she was there. Cristie was working at TacoTico and saving her money for a car and Mandi was doing that Mandi thing. Waking up happy every morning and going to the pool with her friends. Heather Moon seemed to be with us quite a bit then too. She was Mandi's friend from across the alley and her mom had just had a baby in March I think.
Anyhoo, when Richard came home for lunch that day I told him I needed to go to the hospital. That was around 1-ish I think. He went back to work to drop some stuff off and then
ran an errand ( you wouldn't believe it, so I won't mention it). By the time he got home, I was dressed and about to call a cab. Remember, no cell phones back then. I couldn't get in touch with him at all!
So off we go to the hospital. Apparently every full term woman in Topeka chose that day to go into labor, because they didn't even have a room for me! I sat in some kind of equipment room with a monitor on my gigantic belly, eventually they did have a bed for me.... in a supply room. It had all the necessary stuff but it also had a big closet where they stored linens and things, there were nurses and doctors in and out getting things the whole time. They were very nice though! Asking me how things were going and stuff, so overall, I enjoyed it. Except the part where I talked the nurse into a drink of water and barfed all over the place!
Total labor time at the hospital was probably only three hours tops. That's how I wanted it! Out pops Ricky, off I go to a nice room and within minutes my Mom and Dad are there to see us. My Mom was still in the hospital so Dad just wheeled her down . A super special memory.
Richard went home and got the girls to bring them up and they came and laid on my bed ( I had a regular double bed. I think the hospital was making up to me for all the lack of rooms earlier) and played with their new little brother. It was just the best. The very best of times ever.
The next day when we went home the girls had cleaned the house ( with the help of their friends even) and I still remember the coolness of the air and the smell of peaches. Peach carpet freshener and peach candles. That fragrance, whenever I smell it, always reminds me of that day.
And now we had little Ricky at home and I started to feel like a family again. Building new memories that didn't involve such heart ache.
Thanks Ricky! Happy Birthday buddy! I love you!
