Finally, A Baby Boy

At last, on the evening of February 12, 1965, I knew labor had started. G was away on a band job in Nancy, France. I expected him home around 2 A.M. and figured that would be ok. Little Segroine had been in and out of the apartment and her room all evening. When she realized the baby was coming, she stayed close to me. Around midnight my pains were about 10 minutes apart and she brought her Mother up to see me. It was snowing like crazy and the roads were getting bad. I was beginning to wonder if I could wait till G got home. Frau Reiss was acting lke a Mother Hen and wanted me to let her get the village midwife. I told her (through Segroine) that if G wasn't home by 2:30 A.M. or if my water broke, she could get help. Till then I was going to hang on. Segroine was excited to be part of it and knew she wouldn't be sent off to bed. We needed her to translate. Meanwhile it just got later and the storm got worse. It was beginning to look like I might have to deliver there, even if G did get home soon. Frau Reiss wasn't taking any chances. She had things ready and I was sure glad to have her with me. The water didn't break and we waited. G finally arrived at 4 A.M. Just after poor Herr Reiss had been ordered from his bed to fetch the midwife. The Reiss's wanted me to stay there and not go back out into the snow. G wanted to take me to Landstuhl. By then my pains were just a few minutes apart. The hospital was only 10-12 minutes away on clear roads and G said the roads hadn't been as bad as they looked in the village. So we left for the hospital. We made it in 15 minutes and they took me to a room while G did the paperwork. I was barely in the room when my waters broke. There was only one nurse on duty and she left me to get undressed and into bed by myself. Everything seemed to happen at once. Within 10 minutes, I had that uncontrollable urge to push. I yelled for the nurse. She didn't come. I screamed for the nurse and she yelled back at me. She didn't come, she yelled at me! Clear down the hall. Now I was mad. Too mad to be scared. After waiting an extra two months, this baby was coming now. I didn't stop screaming and the nurse marched into the room, jerked back the blanket, turned white and started screaming too. She ran out, brought back a gurney and rolled me onto it. Then the ~#*##$%** crossed my legs and climbed up and sat on my ankles. Pure adrenelin kicked in and I threw her across the room. She was still on the floor when two medics arrived and wheeled me out of the room. But, my son didn't make it to delivery...he was born in the hall, attended by medics. I never did see a doctor. It was just minutes after 5 A.M. on February 13, 1965. My last period had ended March 8, 1964. Five days after arriving in Germany. My baby was 1/2 oz. shy of 9 Lbs. and almost 23 inches long. The first time I saw him, I thought he was covered in the Psoriasis that covers my ankles. But, they told me his skin had only been effected by being so long in the womb. It cleared within hours and they were right.

G wasn't there when our son was born. He'd signed me in and then he went back home to sleep. He came back to the hospital 5 hours after our son was born. All he said to me was they told him it would be awhile. I will leave it up to your imaginations as to how I felt about that.