Dear Third Born.

June 2014

Dear Craig.

The date you were due to be born was June 23. Eight months into my pregnancy the doctor seemed to think I was carrying you very low and he told me, “do not have this baby, yet!” I was so excited thinking you might arrive early – since Audrey and Bob were both born past their due dates.

Ultra sounds or sonograms were still pretty new at the time. In February Dr. Perrin Smith did the first ultra sound. He said something about a daughter. I asked if he could tell and he replied - no but that he could in a minute. I told him, “Don’t tell me even if you can see.”

I thought, since Bob was born by c-section, that the doctor would just schedule a date and I would go to the hospital for another c-section. Late in my pregnancy Dr. Smith said that he thought I could deliver the regular way. I was afraid. I was not assertive enough to say so, though.

While I was pregnant we sold our house on Robinwood Circle in town and moved into a rental house for about eight weeks. On June 9 we moved into our Lakeover house. It was a Thursday. Dad’s friends from work brought their trucks over and loaded our stuff and helped move us.

I wasn’t much help since I was big and pregnant. But we got moved in. I was feeling large and every day marked another day that you weren’t here early enough to suit me.

On your due date – June 23 – a Thursday – I felt some contractions in the evening. They were pretty regular for a couple of hours. But after I got out and walked around the neighborhood they subsided. I had a doctor’s appointment the next morning, Friday, and told the doctor about the contractions. He said that my scar may be an issue and if it happened again to go to the hospital.

And so - Friday night when the contractions started up again, Dad took Audrey and Bob to Grandmother and Granddaddy’s house. Then we drove to the hospital. It was pretty late when we got there and, thank heavens, Dr. Smith was not on call – Dr. Miles was. Dr. Miles said that he would have to have the surgery staff on call anyway because there was, at least, a 50% chance that I would end up having a c-section. He said it was my choice, though. I said to go ahead with the c-section. I wasn’t very brave about delivering you.

Dr. Miles told me later that he was very glad that I had opted for the c-section because when he opened me up my uterine wall was very thin and he could see your head full of dark hair right away.

Dad saw you before I did because I had general anesthesia for the c-section. He was so surprised that you were a boy. He called you his “Sugar Boy” right away. You were so dark headed and right from the start you were not like anyone else. 

The morning after you were born Dr. Smith did the rounds and he came in and asked how our little girl was doing. I told him he was very wrong. We had a big boy. You weighed 8 pounds and 6 ounces. Born at 1:36 a.m.

And my world has been sweeter ever since.

You were born on Saturday, June 25, 1983.

Love, Mom