21 Years Ago

Tomorrow my oldest son will be 21 years old! Wow, I can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday when we brought him home from the hospital. It hasn't been easy raising a son but it has been an experience I will always cherish. A ritual that my son and I share every year is the story of his birth. I tell him the same story every year. I will tell him that same beautiful and humorous again this year for the 21st time. The difference: This year I will share it with my readers, too.

The year was 1990. A couple of weeks before I was set to deliver my bouncing bundle of joy, I began to have abdominal pains. They were not regular but they were intense. One of my close friends went to the hospital with me(my mom met us there)only to find out from the doctor that I was having Braxton Hicks-prelabor pains. The doctor told me that I was only dilated to 2 cm(you have to be at 10 in order to begin the labor process). He instructed me to walk. He allowed me to walk for an hour around the hospital. Nothin happened so he told me I should return home and walk if I was ready to have the baby.

I was ready. I decided I was gonna have the baby that day. My house was on the border of Detroit and Hamtramck. I decided that I would walk to Hamtramck to Duncan Donuts and the ice cream shop. I wasn't brave enough to walk there and back so I decided to walk there and catch the bus back. What I wouldn't do for a glazed donut and pralines and cream icecream(my favorite back then)LOL. Well, the stranest thing happened when I got back home. As soon as I walked in the house, my water broke! I was so scared. I was by myself and didn't know what to do. I couldn't find my mom because she was out looking for me. About 2 minutes passed when she returned. I was crying just like the baby I was about to have. LOL. ( I didn't even get to eat my ice cream)My mom took me to the hospital and that's when the miracle began.

The doctor told me he had to induce labor. The nurse gave me more than was prescribed so the pain was extremely intense. I was in labor with Marty for 14 1/2 hours. On May 9, 1990 my beautiful son was born. I never got to eat that ice cream but I was blessed with the sweetest substitute. Tomorrow, my son will turn 21 years old. Can you believe it? And I still look good!

Have a Happy Mother's Day Everyone!