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March 1964: the day Mom and I came home from the hospital, before the haircut.
Here are some stories I have been told.
The weather that week was unseasonably warm.
The delivery was not complicated, and I was healthy. Dad says when the nurse brought me out to him a short while after I was born, I wasn't crying. My eyes were open and alert. When he spoke, I looked in his direction.
Instinctively he reached for me.
But the nurse said, "Oh, you can't touch him!"
They were paranoid about germs in those days. What a difference when my daughters were born in 1991 and 1993: I got to attend even though the births were C-sections. I didn't get to hold Marian right away because the labour had been long and difficult and she was in distress. But when Brenna was born, the nurses took a quick look to make sure everything was okay, then handed her to me.
I was the only one of Mom's three children she succeeded in breastfeeding. When Bob was born in 1951 he was tongue-tied and almost starved to death before the problem was found. When Mike was born in 1954 the nurses would snatch him away every time Mom tried to breastfeed.
But when I was born Mom was almost 31 and had more gumption. She insisted on breastfeeding. She also insisted on keeping me in her room at night. But the day nurses ostracized her as if she was a heretic. Whenever she buzzed for help, they made her wait before they answered.
The night nurses were three young, redheaded Irish midwives. They thought Mom was a star and treated us royally.
Here are some stories I have been told.
The weather that week was unseasonably warm.
The delivery was not complicated, and I was healthy. Dad says when the nurse brought me out to him a short while after I was born, I wasn't crying. My eyes were open and alert. When he spoke, I looked in his direction.
Instinctively he reached for me.
But the nurse said, "Oh, you can't touch him!"
They were paranoid about germs in those days. What a difference when my daughters were born in 1991 and 1993: I got to attend even though the births were C-sections. I didn't get to hold Marian right away because the labour had been long and difficult and she was in distress. But when Brenna was born, the nurses took a quick look to make sure everything was okay, then handed her to me.
I was the only one of Mom's three children she succeeded in breastfeeding. When Bob was born in 1951 he was tongue-tied and almost starved to death before the problem was found. When Mike was born in 1954 the nurses would snatch him away every time Mom tried to breastfeed.
But when I was born Mom was almost 31 and had more gumption. She insisted on breastfeeding. She also insisted on keeping me in her room at night. But the day nurses ostracized her as if she was a heretic. Whenever she buzzed for help, they made her wait before they answered.
The night nurses were three young, redheaded Irish midwives. They thought Mom was a star and treated us royally.
