Dear Mermaid O,
October 3, 1984, started out as any normal work day for Poppa and me. He was working as Deputy Director for the Indiana Division of Agriculture, and I was Editor of the Hoosier Farmer at Farm Bureau. The only thing different today was that any day now, I was going to have a baby. I was big, the baby was big, and it was getting hard to move around.
I got up at 7 to go to work, took my shower, and as I walked from the bathroom to the bedroom, I felt water on my legs. I thought that was weird because I had just dried off. But the more I walked, the more water streamed down my leg. And then I realized the water on my leg was because my water broke, and it was time to have a baby!
Excited and scared, we called Doctor Mary Soper, my OBGYN. She asked if I was having any contractions. No. She told us once my contractions were less than 5 minutes apart, I should let her know, and then I could come to the hospital. Little did I understand that would be 14 hours later.
Waiting for contractions to start is a bit like watching the pot boil…it takes foreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever! We decided to pass the time by driving to our friend, Dad’s boss, Gary Swaim’s log cabin project. Gary was rebuilding a log cabin near Mooresville. We walked around the wooded property, admired Gary’s work, and then headed back to the duplex. We lived in our first home then, a duplex at 49th & Washington Blvd.
One hour, two hours, now ten hours, and still no contractions. Finally, as I lay down on the bed at 11 pm, I felt my first contraction. Wow, that’s painful. How long is this going to happen? For an hour, Poppa anxiously timed the contractions, and they were five minutes apart. A call to Dr. Soper said it had been long enough to come into the hospital.
During the drive to Methodist Hospital in downtown Indy, we decided if it was time to think about names. If it were a boy, the name would be Daniel Ford Stevens. I thought Daniel Ford Stevens sounded like a good name for a writer. I don’t remember what we would call a girl, but likely Christina after my great-grandmother.
Got to say Poppa took the endurance trophy for birthing baby support. He stood by my side for the next ten hours, letting me squeeze his hand every time I got a contraction, keeping the boom box playing cassette tapes of Bob James and Earl Klugh. It got to the point where I would watch the monitor to see when the contraction started to subside, fall asleep for the next new minutes, and then start it all over again. Finally, Dr. Soper said this baby was taking too long and it was time to have a baby. With the help of a drug to induce labor, the roller coaster ride began. Wow, what a ride. Oh, I forgot to mention, by this time, it was too late to give me an epidural to block the pain, so I was in for the ride and the pain.
In a matter of minutes, Dr. Soper announced that we had a baby boy! But, since he was struggling a bit, the baby was immediately to get him stabilized. Within the hour we got to hold Daniel Ford Stevens. As with all parents, he was the most beautiful baby in the world.
Back then, we stayed in the hospital for a couple of days before returning home. We actually appreciated the time to get some rest before the real parenting started. Daniel Ford Stevens, born October 4, 1984, was a big nine pounds and the best thing Poppa and I have ever created.
Make Waves,
Grandma JAS
