A Trip to the ER

My body didn't like letting go of the my babies when they were full-term. I felt it a little unfair that I couldn’t at least have one child a day before their due date. All my children were at least four to ten days late. With a couple of the kids, I was induced into labor or doomed to be eternally pregnant.

Fortunately, I had fast labors. Almost too fast. Baby number five, Ike, was born in thirty-five minutes beginning to end. I don’t recommend it. Talk about intense. When you labor that fast, there is no time for any pain relief medication. Ike’s birth had been my quickest and a little scary. It left me feeling more anxious about the birth of Joe than I had ever been before. When I was past due with Joe, baby number six, my mom came over to be with me, just in case I went into labor. I really appreciated her coming but it made the clock tick even slower. She'd done this in the past with Tina. That time she came over for a week and still no baby. I finally told her she should just stay home. I was induced a few days later. Here were all were just waiting and waiting. Mom sat on the couch. The five kids played, while I sat in my chair with my large belly protruding. The boys began running up and down the hallway, especially encouraging Ike to run faster. Hue decided it would be funny to trip him on one of his sprints. Eighteen-month old Ike went flying and landed his forehead on the hearth of our fireplace. Hue’s face dropped. At five you don’t always think about the consequences of your choices, especially when you’re just trying to have fun. Ike needed stitches right above his eye brow. Even worse they mummy wrapped him at the ER while I held his head straight. He cried non-stop. I was overdue and sure this would put me into labor. Not. I felt helpless and it was horrible to see Ike so scared and in pain. The only thing I could do was try to distract him. I would ask, “Where’s Bosco?” Bosco was my parent’s dog and Ike loved him. He would stop crying for about five seconds and repeat, “Bosco?” hoping he was somewhere near by before returning to crying. I did this over and over again. Each time I’d get the same response. It was the only thing help him stop crying. Immediately he fell asleep in my arms when it was all over, exhausted from his trip.