Sunday, April 22, 2012
































Today marks the 25th anniversary of the third time I gave birth.  It is time to tell the last delivery story even if it's about the next to last kid.  Harris was late like Morgan - maybe it's an April thing.  I was almost two weeks past my due date and awfully tired of the whole situation.  I had had an ultrasound test at 20 weeks along to verify my due dates and at time learned that boy #3 was on his way.  By now, Hollis, Morgan, Clayton and I all had middle names that start with L.  Finding an L middle name for this boy is easy enough - my grandfather's first name was Lyle.  He did not like it much.  He went by Steve to most other adults but I can still hear my grandmother exclaiming "Lyle!" when he used colorful language that she did not like.  We had a middle name.  The first name was trickier but I'll get to that in a bit.  I went to see my doctor the day Harris was born.  It was first thing that morning but I'll never forget what he said after my examination.  "Something is eminent."  No kidding, Dr. Ryder?!?  Something is eminent?!?  I am two weeks overdue with child #3 in 4 years and something is eminent?  He was not mistaken.  Hollis came home from work at his usual time that day and we took Morgan and Clayton over to his mom's house for some dinner and great-grandparent time.  If I dominoed in the next day or two, it would be a while before they got fussed over (and at) by Paw and Gregie.  Feeling certain I was in labor, I didn't eat but Hollis and the boys were well fed.  We then took the boys home and put them to bed.  Willis followed us home and we left for the hospital.  I arrived about 7:30 in active labor and we settled in.  My dear friend Suzy met us at the hospital and stayed for all the fun.  Dr. Ryder broke my water when I was about 7 cm and at 10:34, boy #3 made his entrance.  No drugs, no drama - there he was.  Once he was all cleaned up and in my arms, Hollis and I knew we had to nail down the name thing.  There were two choices:  Nathan Lyle or Harrison Lyle.  We did the only thing we could think of - we flipped a coin!  Heads would be Harrison, tales would be Nathan.  Heads, and Harrison, it was.  Paw's grandfather was named Stanton Harrison and he so wanted us to use the name. It always cracked me up that he pestered me so about using the name and then proceeded to call the kid Hayden for a couple of years.  I didn't get to use the same wonderful hospital for Harris that I had for Clayton but I had made the decision not to rush home in the morning as I had done before.  I would allow the hospital to care for me not just one, but two nights.  Dumbest plan I ever made.  I got tangled in the sheets my first night and due to some pretty bad lower back pain, I couldn't get out.  The nurse was not much help.  My overall care was just not what I would have gotten at home.  My mom arrived from Houston the next day to take over with the big boys and she brought them to meet the baby.  Morgan at age 4 was all about this new baby.  Clayton at 18 months was quite indifferent.  I really wished I had gone home.  The next morning as I was preparing to check out, the nurse came in and rolled my baby out of the room.  She said I was required to attend a new mothers class.  She said my current experience did not exempt me from the class.  She even said that I would not be allowed to have my baby back or check out until I had attended the class!!  So I sat there crying as they told me how to hold him, nurse him, change his diaper, put him in a car seat and care for him in general.  When I had the chance to go to a different hospital for #4 - I grabbed it!  I still managed a drug free delivery and took home a very healthy baby.  He was the biggest of the 4 at 9 lbs, 8 oz and was a very sweet east baby.  I love thinking about their "birth" days.  The memories are of hard work that results in the most precious prize of all.  I am blessed beyond blessed!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

It's a boy! - the first time. . .

Next Saturday Morgan will be 29 years old.  Cleverly, he and Desiree have decided to get married on April 6th next year and will all the excitement around that event, I won't even notice that he will be 30 - or so we all think!  Here's what happened when he was born.  As I've said before, I always took time on the boys birthdays to tell them the story of the day they were born.  The four very best days of my life and Hollis' life.  The story of the day Morgan was born actually started the day before he was born.  I was about two weeks past my due date and Dr. Lovell said that if I hadn't dominoed on my own by Monday, we would induce on Tuesday.  My only ultrasound test had been very early in the pregnancy so we did not know if we were having a boy or a girl but there was something about knowing that it would indeed be over soon that allowed me to relax.  On that Wednesday, the 6th, Hollis came by our apartment at lunch time to pick up a key to the safe deposit box.  We were paying for this delivery ourselves and didn't know if they would keep the baby until the bill was paid so he was going to get some savings bonds to cash so if the hospital was cash and carry - we would be able to carry!  As he came into the apartment, I was sitting in a chair with a plateful of leftover Chinese food propped on my very large belly.  I put the plate aside and got up to go to the bathroom and as I did, my water broke.  I immediately called the doctors office and after Hollis called his office, we left for the hospital.  Dr. Lovell at that time delivered at Metropolitan Hospital on the edge of downtown San Antonio.  My contractions began as we were arriving at the hospital but they were not what you could call regular.  As the afternoon progressed, my labor was iffy at best.  I agreed to have some Demerol "to take the edge off" of the contractions.  First bad decision.  A couple of hours later, Dr. Lovell decided from his office across the street that perhaps I needed to have my labor intentionally stalled for a while in hopes that when it resumed, it would be more regular and productive.  This would be accomplished with a larger dose of Demerol - I agreed.  Second bad decision.  I was very groggy, very quickly but the contractions didn't really stop.  Then the good doctor made another decision.  He decided that perhaps I should be put on a Pitocin drip to stimulate my contractions - while I was nearly knocked out from the Demerol.  I don't actually remember agreeing to this decision but it was the third bad one.  I labored all night long.  All the training in the Bradley method of childbirth was lost because I came to in the MIDDLE of each and every contraction.  I had no time to breath, prepare, anything.  When Dr. Lovell checked me first thing Thursday morning, he said that I could push.  I was still pretty out of it but I tried.  Shortly thereafter, he said that it was going to take forceps and a pretty stout episiotomy to get this kid out.  For this part, he thought a light caudle anesthesia was called for.  At 9:27AM, Morgan Lee was born.  And then I hemorrhaged.  I had already had an IV for hours but they were putting fluid into me as fast as they could along with drugs to make the bleeding stop.  I stayed in the recovery room until 5:00 that afternoon and the minute one bag of fluid was empty, another one was attached.  I did begin to come out of the grogginess and was able to make a few phone calls.  While I was on the phone with my mother in Houston, Hollis came into the room with the information card about baby Morgan.  He handed it to me and pointed to the line that said "weight."  I gasped quite loudly and my poor mom on the other end of the line was freaking out.  I said "Mom!! Do you know what this baby weighed?!?"  She did not.  I said "NINE POUNDS, SEVEN OUNCES!!!"  I will never forget what she said next:  "Laura, you don't have to give birth to Kindergartners.  You can start with little bitty dudes and work your way up!"

I was moved to a room about 7:00 that evening and finally got to see my son.  He was so big and so beautiful - instant love!!  I had a parade of visitors that evening and then Friday morning, I went home!  I had wanted a medication free delivery and to leave when my baby was six hours old but I wasn't even awake yet when he was six hours old.  Although there were several things about this delivery that were not in my birth plan, and although I did not get along well with Dr. Lovell and did not go back to him for the other 3 deliveries, I do have to give him credit for one decision.  In 1983, HIV was out there buy they were not screening blood for it yet.  My hemorrhage was really bad and Dr. Lovell could have just as easily ordered a pint or more of blood for me that day and changed my whole world.  I remain grateful to him to this day for ordering fluid - and not blood - for me.  Oh, and it turns out they bill you for babies - we got to take him home and we didn't even have to sneak him out in my suitcase! 

His 29th Birthday Dinner - Dad's stir fry.
Happy Birthday Son!  You continue to be a great source of love and pride for us and we couldn't love you any more than we do right now.