I Didn't Know Nothin' 'Bout Birthin' No Babies!

Hey, Y'all,
I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted, until I was reminded by Carol and Daryl this morning. I have been so very busy acting like one of Santa's elves (making Christmas gifts) that I just hadn't taken the time. 

HOWEVER....today is Carol's birthday and when I called her to wish a happy one, she reminded me and I said, "Oh yeah, I guess I better let my friends, and neighbors, and family that I am still kickin' up the dust." 

I wanted to tell you a little bit about when Carol was born. Her dad, Charlie, and I lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where it really gets cold, and we did not have a car. He rode to work with one of his fellow employees, and when we went anywhere else we traveled by city bus. Usually, after the first snow fell, we didn't see the ground until springtime. So, since it was December when Carol was  born, there was snow on the ground and some ice on the sidewalks. My sister, Margaret, was up in Indiana to help me out when Carol was born. She had come up the week before, so she rode with me on the city bus to the doctor's office. 

When I went to the doctor's office that morning, she told me that they were going to do a Caesarian section delivery and that I should go from her office to the hospital, which was not far from her office. My blood pressure was elevated to a dangerous level, and I was in a preeclampsia state. Carol was born at 9 p.m. that same evening, and the doctor said she came into the world crying. 

I had never been in a hospital until that time and had no idea what I was in for. The needles, the transfusions, the bedpans, all those wonderful experiences of hospital life that I have experienced in the years in between then and now. Life for me changed forever with the birth of Carol, and I learned what it was to become a mother. I still don't know much about birthin' no babies, because Teresa who came along three and a half years later was born by C-section as well. I don't know nothin' 'bout no labor pains, thank God. 

I do know about pain from surgery, however, and when I was in the hospital with Carol - Charlie, Margaret, and Harold (Charlie's brother) came up to visit the next evening and they were telling me how Harold got lost coming up there and got on a one way street. Harold was saying that he saw someone coming toward him, and shouted out of the window to them, "Get out of the way, you idiot!"
Then they looked up and saw a sign that said one way and they were the ones going the wrong way. I laughed so hard, and had to hold my tummy to keep from hurting.

If you can believe it, I was in the hospital for a week, which was not unusual for those days. Nowadays they send you home without enough time to recover. We named her Carol for two reasons: Carol is the feminine form of the name Charles, and she was born near Christmas which made her our Christmas Carol. 

Here are some pictures:

Newborn Carol with Charlie and Ruby

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Looks Like She is Getting Ready to Say Something

From 1952 to 2011- Bennett Family

Big Sister, Carol - Little Sister, Teresa

Happy Birthday, Carol. I love my girls (and all their families). Mom.