Jayson's Birth - Mom's version

When I was expecting Jayson, Eddie was working in Scottsdale at night. He was driving Uncle Larry’s motorcycle to and from work. I don’t remember where Uncle Larry was probably on his mission. Anyway, it was a blessing to us to get to use it. I went into labor one night when Eddie was at work. I was talking to him on the phone timing the contractions. I actually knew nothing about how close they were supposed to be. But they were very strong and were continuous. By that I mean that as soon as one stopped another one started. There was no break in between. We decided I needed to call someone to drive me to the hospital. So I called OlaMae. As soon as I started talking, she said something like “Why are you still there?” She immediately came to my rescue and took me to the hospital. I think she ran a red light. When we got to the hospital, they of course admitted me. It took about three hours to deliver Jayson. The problem was, he was frank breech. That means he was bottom first and his feet were crossed over his chest. (And he wasn’t tiny!) But if he wasn’t breech, he probably would have been born at home, then we would all have been in trouble.

In the meantime, Eddie was trying desperately to get to the hospital. He either ran out of gas or had a flat tire and was having trouble getting there. Eventually he was able to flag down a car, asked for a ride to the hospital and made it in plenty of time. (Remember the three hours.) He was in the waiting room because he wasn’t allowed in delivery back then. There was an intercom in the room so there could be communication between the waiting room and the delivery room. Eventually, they let us talk to each other over an intercom. When I told him we had a little boy, I remember Eddie asking for me to repeat it. I felt irritated because I was so exhausted and it was all I could do to tell him the first time. It turned out Dr. Leavitt had told him earlier it was a girl. But Jayson was a big beautiful healthy boy and that was all that mattered. When I left the hospital I weighed 91 lbs. which was less than I weighed when I got pregnant. I guess the birth caused a little trauma to my body.