Historical perspective on childbirth

My mother passed away this past fall and my father has taken to
emailing all of his children a daily "journal" so that he can share
with us what has gone on during his day. I found the entry he wrote
for my oldest sister's birthday an interesting comparison to how my
husband and I approached having our first child. It's also touching for
me to hear how he describes my mother.

Here is his story:

"Cathy's birthday anniversary today. Two score and a dozen years ago
she joined us. As I remember, we were rather casual about it
considering that it was our first child. I think we stopped for ice
cream on the way to the hospital. I don't believe I was in the waiting
room very long after we got there when Dr. Hall came in, shook my hand,
said it was a girl, everything was fine, and departed. (I didn't
realize at the time that this was to become a ritual!) When I next
saw Fran she was holding her baby and grinning like she had just won
the lottery. I don't think I had ever seen a baby up close before and
certainly never had held one. I was probably the least prepared parent
on the planet. Fortunately, Fran was superbly suited to motherhood.
She seemed to know instinctively, and to be able to do, everything
necessary to care for a baby. We had not tried to guess the baby's
gender in advance and had no names selected. We named her for her two
grandmothers, and I'm not sure why we changed the 'K' to a 'C' in her
first name. I was working at USS at the time and their insurance paid
a flat $120 for a delivery. That was actually slightly more than
adequate. Dr. Hall's fee was $75 including a few months of pre- and
post-natal care. Hospital rooms ran about $8/day at that time, with a
few dollars extra for the delivery room. "

Chris

"Chris" wrote in message
oups.com...
My mother passed away this past fall and my father has taken to
emailing all of his children a daily "journal" so that he can share
with us what has gone on during his day. I found the entry he wrote
for my oldest sister's birthday an interesting comparison to how my
husband and I approached having our first child. It's also touching for
me to hear how he describes my mother.

Here is his story:

"Cathy's birthday anniversary today. Two score and a dozen years ago
she joined us. As I remember, we were rather casual about it
considering that it was our first child. I think we stopped for ice
cream on the way to the hospital. I don't believe I was in the waiting
room very long after we got there when Dr. Hall came in, shook my hand,
said it was a girl, everything was fine, and departed. (I didn't
realize at the time that this was to become a ritual!) When I next
saw Fran she was holding her baby and grinning like she had just won
the lottery. I don't think I had ever seen a baby up close before and
certainly never had held one. I was probably the least prepared parent
on the planet. Fortunately, Fran was superbly suited to motherhood.
She seemed to know instinctively, and to be able to do, everything
necessary to care for a baby. We had not tried to guess the baby's
gender in advance and had no names selected. We named her for her two
grandmothers, and I'm not sure why we changed the 'K' to a 'C' in her
first name. I was working at USS at the time and their insurance paid
a flat $120 for a delivery. That was actually slightly more than
adequate. Dr. Hall's fee was $75 including a few months of pre- and
post-natal care. Hospital rooms ran about $8/day at that time, with a
few dollars extra for the delivery room. "

Chris

What a lovely post! And a fantastic and personal insight for you to have
into your parents lives and thoughts from when your sister was born...

For me, it's nice as my partner has never held a small baby.... helps me
understand his thoughts too.

Thank you for sharing!

Lucy
--

Due with a little girl 15.06.06
http://lucys-pregnancy.tripod.com/