Happy Birthday to my precious Son!

On August 19, 1985 I had one of the roughest days of my life. I had this little human being trying to exit my body butt first! My son James tried to come into the world folded up like a little taco with one leg on either side of his ears!

I remember the doctor feeling around down there and telling me, “Oh it’s going to be any minute, I feel her little head”. Back in those days we didn't just automatically find out if it was going to be a boy or a girl, so I had no clue.

An hour later the same doctor was telling me the same thing, to just hang in there the baby’s head is in position.

Another hour later, same thing…

After several hours of this the doctor finally realized that the baby was in some distress according to the fetal monitor strapped to my tummy and she ordered an X-ray to be done right away. You can't imagine how painful it was to go through contractions with a little human struggling to get out of you and you have to hold still for an X-ray? But I did it, with hardly any thought for myself, my baby was in distress and that was all I cared about.

After the doctor reviewed the X-ray she came into the room where I was still in painful labor with my mom on one side and my husband on the other. She explained that the little stinker was trying to make her entrance into this world butt first! She said the only thing we could do at this point was a C-section.

My husband was very much against my being put under; he felt that I wouldn't wake up again so he asked her for another option. Dr. Admiral, I will never forget her name, Dr. Admiral told my husband that he did have one other option, “We can just sit here and do nothing and you can watch your wife and your baby die!”

I told him, “Shut up and let her do what she has to do, I trust her!” And they wheeled me off into surgery.

At that time they didn't allow spouses to come into the surgery room, I was alone, but I didn't feel alone because I had someone else with me, that same little human being that was trying to split me in two was with me and I've never been alone since!

All I can remember is they strapped down my arms and they strapped down my legs and I just wanted to curl into a little ball from the pain but I couldn't…I was strapped down, then the blessed Anesthesiologist put me under and I felt nothing after that.

I woke up while I was being wheeled down the hall to the recovery room, the vision of my husband hovering over me and exclaiming, “Alice, it’s a boy, a beautiful little boy with blue eyes!” I just said, “That’s nice, leave me alone now.”

Afterwards I was in so much pain that the last thing in the world I wanted was to get up out of bed and take care of this baby, but the nurse brought him to me and told me I had to take care of him. I told her, “no thank you, take him away, I’m not going to get up, I hurt!” She said, “Oh honey…you’ll get up” and she walked out and left him there in his crib by my bed.

She knew what a mother’s love was. She knew that I would not let my baby cry. She knew I would get my ass out of bed come hell or high water to take care of my baby…she knew! And I did, and I fell in love with that sweet little boy, my son.

My Son - my come into the world butt first...son!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!