Annie's Birth Day

 



My 10th birthday cake

When I was growing up birthdays revolved around food. You got to choose what everyone ate for breakfast (usually dad's German Pancakes,) dinner and either a birthday cake or pie (now my family usually has trifle, a combination of cake and pie.)  While food brings many great memories, John's family had a tradition that brought even more lasting memories. Every birthday his mom and dad would tell the birthday person's birth story. So, along with getting to pick your birthday breakfast and dinner, our family also gets to hear your birth story while

eating birthday pie, cake or trifle.

Annie and me in the hospital.

Today, June 5th, is Annie's birthday. 30 years ago today we were living in Midland, Texas. We had moved there from Houston, Texas two months earlier.  Midland was, as we liked to call it, was in the arm pit of Texas, down from the panhandle right where state line juts west to El Paso. The locals told us it was so flat you could stand on a tuna fish can in Midland and see clear to the neighboring town of Odessa 15 miles away. It was flat and brown and surrounded by oil pump jacks.

We had bought a little ranch style three bedroom house with a swamp cooler instead of an air conditioner. As the spring weather heated up the severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings began.  I learned to watch for the angry green clouds that were indicative of tornadoes or the low red clouds that meant a dust storm was heading our way.

Unfortunately, these storms made the air more humid which meant our swamp cooler didn't work very well. The day Annie was born, my due date, was warm and sticky. John and I decided to take Matt and Chris to the mall where it was air conditioned and I could cool down a little bit. As we walked I started feeling contractions that increased as the afternoon wore on. We took the boys home, fed them "homemade" Chef Boy-ar-dee pizza in a box and got them to bed. By 9:30 we decided it was be time to go to the hospital. We bundled up the boys and took them to our friends house. (I don't even remember their names). John and this good brother gave me a blessing and we got to the hospital by 10:15.

I was checked in and rejoined with John around 10:30. By this time the contractions were increasing in strength and coming fairly close together but a nurse hadn't come in to check me. I told John that I thought I needed to push. He went out and told a nurse. Again I told him I needed to push. Again he told a nurse. Finally I said I really need to push. He ran out and got a nurse who came in clearly thinking I was exaggerating. She checked me and said with surprise, "She's crowning! Don't push, the doctor isn't here."



"Fat and sassy" home from the hospital



The doctor (not my doctor, his partner) rushed in the delivery room, checked me and my little baby girl was born with the next contraction--all 9 lbs 1 oz of her, 45 minutes after we got to the hospital.

Because she came so quickly, I didn't have time for any anesthesia so she was a "natural" child birth. Annie was pretty big and I tore and had to be stitched up. I was coming off the high of child birth and it hurt so I made some "owie" noises. The doctor, in a tired voice said "Mrs Lingard, I am at the end of a 24 hour day and am tired, would you please be quiet!" I was stunned into silence but wished I had a snappy comeback like "I just pushed a 9 pound baby out of a little bitty hole with no anesthesia and you want me to be quiet?"



Doesn't Matt look thrilled with
his new sister?



But it was all worth it, we got our little girl, the best thing that ever came out of Midland, Texas.







 



My sister Stacey got married three weeks after Annie was born and Annie and I flew to Utah for the wedding. I love this picture of  us with all our babies born the same year as Annie. Back row: Roark, Shelley, Brett, Steve, Stacey. Mom, Dad, Ann, Dave holding Alison; front row: Melanie with Taylor, holding Cali, Kerri, me holding Annie and Jayne holding Chase.