Happy Birthday S'te

I can't believe it's been 30 years since I first held you in my arms. You were a tiny little thing. So beautiful!!!

It is amazing how times change:
I don't have a newborn picture of you on my screensaver. In fact, the hospital where you were born didn't take nursery pictures and we didn't own a camera. So we have NO newborn pictures of you. I have ultrasound pictures of the grandchildren - but I never had an ultrasound before you were born. Those were special and used only for "problems". Since you had no problems - we saw the OB every so often until the last trimester. Then we went every 2 weeks (mostly the last month) and since not many of us had more than just a guestimate of our due date - all of the dates were +/- several weeks.

We didn't know if you were a boy or a girl - it just wasn't done in those days. One of the baby shower "games" was to swing a wedding ring over the belly - if it went in circles it was one (don't remember which) and if it went like a pendulum - it was the other (obviously)!!

I cleaned house like mad - it was a Sunday and your father was trying really hard to put a new foundation under his house. I was bothering him - so he told me to go find something to do. So I took Jeremy and went to Grandma's and bothered her. I just couldn't sit still. Aunt Sharen came over to Grandma's too - she was pregnant with Brett - Grandma was having a Gin Rummy game at her house so we chatted, hovered, cleaned the kitchen, watched Jeremy at the park across the street, and Maggie Larsen laughed at me and said "won't be long now". I figured she would know - she had 6 kids herself ~~

Dinner time came and we went home to cook. I went to the bathroom and then called the hospital. I didn't cook. . . . I got your Father out from under the house, he took a bath and changed clothes, and THEN my dear husband and I took Jeremy up to Aunt Susie's to stay - Aunt Susie said "see you in an hour or two - you aren't ready". . . Stopped at the A&W Drive Inn (since I didn't cook) and he wanted to go inside and eat. Now, I wasn't really in any bad pain - it was dinnertime - but I was just uncomfortable - and my BACK HURT - so I talked him into getting his dinner to go. The options were - get it to go or take me to the hospital and come back. I really think I was getting crabby about this time. It was after 6 - I'd been trying to get him going since about 4:30 and we had to go to the next town!!

Well, we got there at 6:45. Dr. Wolfe came in and said hi. Your father walked the halls. No phone, no tv, no family, no friends. That's how it was. Only husbands allowed in the labor room. He wouldn't even call my Mom because he thought it was a false alarm. The belt for the monitor wouldn't stay on my belly :) and my BACK HURT. I slid clear down on the bed so I could put my feet on something to take the pressure off of my BACK!! Your father thought I was being silly. He told me to quit whining and "toughen up" and left me in there alone.

Then you decided - it was no false alarm. I rang the nurse. The nurse said "hold on a minute!!" and ran for the Dr. (who, by the way, was stitching up a motorcycle casualty in the ER) who made it into the delivery room at 9:11 and your arrived at 9:12. Dr. Wolfe said you were beautiful, coo'd over you for (oh about) 45 seconds and returned to the ER to finish up. I was cleaned up and in my own room (there wasn't any other patients in "that wing" of the hospital that weekend. They brought you to me. It was instant, whole hearted, life expanding love, the minute I saw that tiny little face!!! Then you Father was allowed in to see us. He thought you were the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen!! And of course, you were!!! Visiting hours (like there was someone else there to desturb!) were long over - so he had to go - and he went to spread the news.

Next day we needed to decide your name. In those days, they wouldn't let you out of the hospital until you had an official name. He didn't like any of the names I came up with. Not Jessica, not Betty Jean (after grandmas), not Alexsis, not nothing. He did like the Marie part. During the afternoon visiting hours he came with a card that had the letters S'te on it and said "This is her name. How do you want to pronounce it?" I tried hard to think of how it should be pronounced. I finally came up with S.T. as a pronunciation. He agreed and you've been Miss Bright or Mrs. Elmore ever since. We put S'te Marie Bright on your Birth Certificate and off he went (visitation over again). He was going to return to work on Tuesday, so Grandma came and picked me up and we went to meet your brother. HE was EXCITED. He kept touching your little fingers and running that single finger across your forehead - because you made a face when he did that. We spent several hours at Aunt Susie's before Grandma took me home - so I'd get there before your Father go home from work. Guess what - we woke him up!!!! He had "spread the word" so hard that he was just waking up.

And our life began. It has been full of ups and downs, hills and valleys. But there is no one on this earth that can doubt that I have always, will always, and never faltered in my unconditional love for you. All it took was to gaze on that little face!!!

Happy Birthday S'te. Love Mom