And the woman bare a son... Judges 13:24

Happy Birthday Marcus. Miracle #1

22 years ago (yesterday) I had a baby boy! It was the start of motherhood!
Who knew it would be such a wild ride.

When I got pregnant with Marcus I wasn't "trying" but we weren't avoiding it either.
Earl was 27 when we got married, and all though I was just a baby he wasn't getting any younger. :o)

Needless to say Marcus was a honeymoon baby. We started out marriage with me tossing my cookies and passing out. I am sure Earl wondered what he had gotten himself into.
Toast, cooking eggs, car exhaust, cologne just about anything I could smell would cause me to lose it.

side note We were married in August and I found out at the end of october that I was pregnant. We were so excited. I only ever wanted to be a mom!

I remember going to the doctor and being terrified. (please note that from the time I was 15 til I got married I could probably count all my "cycles" on one hand, so using that as a judge was not an option for me)
I remember my doctor (he was new to me, His nme was Dr Nelson, but we have come to call him Dr. John) asking me when my last cycle was. I said I think it was April but it could have been March and he said... YOU ARE JUST NOW COMING TO THE DOCTOR?!!
The Dr left, the nurse came in, gave me the CUP, and pointed to the "room".
20 minutes later they came in and said yep your pregnant. (I had done an in home and had a good idea) They listened for a heart beat, measured my belly and told me I was probably do late April or May. I remember saying um can that be right, I didn't get married until August! The nurse said "you don't have to be married to get pregnant".
I remember being angry and thinking I am never coming back here, I said to her... I DO! I remember Dr John getting a big smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, and he said what day did you get married. I told him and he said ok, lets set your due date for June 12th. That was 9 months and 2 weeks to the day I got married.

In November we were at the Tabernacle for Region conference. I had a horrible back ache (not hard to get on those benches) and needed to go to th girls room. The closest restroom was in another building. I told Earl I would try to be back before the conference started. (please understand Earl is early for EVERYTHING, so we had been sitting for a long time). When I reached the restroom there was the ususal "line". When it was my turn I was not prepared for what happened next.
I had started spotting and I had no idea what to do. I wanted my mom and big sisters. I remember starting to sob, and since there was a line.... someone finally asked me if I was ok and I explained. She had me come lay on the couch that was provided for nursing mothers... then she went to get help. Pres Hunter called my husband out of the meeting (which had started) and told him to meet his wife at the visitor center. Meanwhile some of the biggest MALE security guys were invading the ladies room. An ambulance was called and my first ambulance trip followed. Earl reached the visitor center as they were wheeling me out. He had to go get the car and meet us at the hospital. We found out that day that my placenta had attached near the bottom of the uterus, a condition they called placenta previa. They told me it could be worse and that I just needed to be more careful than most pregnant moms.
No lifting, no long walks, no sitting on hard benches for hours to get the good seats :o) and working was to be shorter shifts. I was so bummed I had just gotten a new fulltime job at a cute card shop. It required heavy lifting and long hours standing.
I had a couple more spotting episodes and passed out a few more times and threw up a lot more times, but we were so excited.
Then on June 11th my sister Paula and here family were at my mom and dad's painting. They were trying to get it done before my Mom got home from youth conference. I was on my hands and knees scrubbing the bath tub and my sister says to me... "are you in labor?" I looked at her like she was crazy. I said no, and she said "why are you scrubbing the tub then?" duh it needed to be done. an hour or so later I was talking to a friend on the phone and she said are you in labor. I said NO! and she said are ya sure every 7 minutes you breathe funny! I thought everyone was stupid! I had a horrible backache, and I was crabby but I was not having contractions. I was the pregnant one, I think I would know if I was in labor. After another hour of people discussing me, I finally agreed to go to the hospital just to be checked. I knew I would be coming home. I wouldn't even let Earl bring the bag into the hospital. I was ticked. I complained about everyone and everyting all the way there. I kept telling the nurse how my family forced me to come in, she just smiled and said lets check things out. At about 3 o'clock she said. I think we are going to have a baby today! I remember rolling my eyes.
At about 5 o clock all my mom's showed up at the hospital (that's another post).
At 6 I got an epidural and everyone decided to go get some dinner. At 7 the doctor came and checked in on me. He said you are only at a 6. I am going to join my family for dinner, my daughter graduated yesterday, then I will be back. At 7:30 I said I need to push, the nurse oh you probably just need to go to the bathroom. At 8 I said um no I need to push. She said (in that ok, you have no idea what you are talking about, but i will humor you voice) ok i will just check and see how you are doing, I am sure where you were only a 6 an hour ago it will be a while before you can push. She checked, then went to the door and said to someone else could you call Dr. Nelson and the on call doc. She came back and showed Earl what to do to help me, and then said can you wait a few til the doctor gets here. At 8:30 Dr John was back. At 9:30 Dr John said this isn't working we are going to need some help. Your hips are this big and he shows his hands hip width apart, your baby's head is this big and he stretched his arms as far as they could go. He came back with another doctor and what Earl calls the salad spoons.
At 10:19 pm a screaming baby boy who looked just like a little man was born. weighing in at 8 lbs 2 oz and 22 inches long. He was long and skinny and perfect, and worth all the effort.

Marcus, I love you! You are an amazing young man. You have a lot of people who love and admire you. You are a lucky young man. I love your sense of humor and your big mushy heart.
Thanks for letting me be The Mom!