Mother's Day with 2020 Vision

Mother's Day has always been celebrated in my family. We all were blessed with the greatest of mother's! My grandmother's on both sides of the family along with my mother and my aunts! Growing up I remember Mama making me wear that stupid corsage to church. I didn't get the meaning when I was six, but I do now.

Mother's Day 1998 was very different for me. I was in the hospital. I had just delivered my second son born the day before Mother's Day at 12:30 am. Do you know what the hospital did for us on Mother's Day? Brought us a corsage! We wore them that Sunday as badges of motherhood! Like a sheriff wears his star, we wore our corsages. The picture for this blog is mine that I dried and have kept 22 years.

The day I went into labor with Alex was supposed to be my big fourth grade field trip to Monticello. My good friends Marcy and Josephine took those fourth graders without me because my principal, Mrs. O'Toole, had the to good sense to forbid me to go. My due date was May 22nd, and I thought I had plenty of time! She did let me work that day in my classroom finishing up my lesson plans for my maternity leave. About 1:00 that afternoon, I went into labor. I was very thankful that I did not go into labor on a school bus in Charlottesville while touring Monticello!

When I was sure that I was in labor, I walked to the front office and told the ladies that I was certain I was in labor. You should have seen them jump up! They wanted to drive me home. I politely declined as I had to pick up my two year old from daycare and take him to a doctor appointment. When I made it to the doctor he asked me how I was feeling. I told him not so good I was pretty sure I was in labor. He said, "Right now?" I said, "Yes, right now." He was dumbfounded. We left the doctor and headed home. I was still in the first stages of labor and felt fine. As we drove home, there had been a car accident and traffic was at a standstill. My labor wasn't. In fact about that time, it shifted into a more painful phase. I had to start my breathing techniques! I saw the fire trucks and thought if the accident didn't clear soon I would have to approach them for help. Then traffic moved. I made it home and got Ryan out of his car seat.

Once inside I called my husband to come home. It was somewhere around 4:30. When he answered and I said I was in labor, he told me to time my contractions and call him back when they were seven minutes apart. I timed them and called him back quickly as they were already seven minutes apart! He then rushed home.

When he got home, he decided that the house needed to be vacuumed. Don't you know of all times, the vacuum belt breaks and leaves grease marks all across my kitchen floor! I went to the garage and found the grease cleaner that would clean it up. Phase three hit and my labor pains were intense. I couldn't get back up the steps into the house! I made it finally by pulling myself up the steps. He begins to take apart the vacuum to repair the belt. He asked me to bring him something else. I was furious at this point. I took off my shoe and threw it at him as hard as I could. I aimed it straight for his head hoping I'd hit my mark. I just missed. As the shoe went whizzing by his head, he looks up with a total look of shock and says, "You really are in labor aren't you?" DUH!!!!

We timed the contractions again and they were five minutes apart. We grabbed Ryan, called my parents who had been on standby, and headed to my brother-in-laws to drop off Ryan until my parents could come and get him. When Bob got to the car, he said, "I can't believe this. I've never seen someone in labor." His wife had C-sections. About the time he said that, I gave him a show because a contraction hit. I was breathing through it and I thought he was going to pass out! We then finally made it to the hospital! Let's just say I was happy to be there! I did not even think about the fact that it was Mother's Day weekend. I just knew I was about to become a mom for the second time.

I don't know why, but having Alex the day before Mother's Day was extra special. I don't know if it was the way we were treated in the hospital- like true heroes- or exactly why that birth was so imprinted on my mind. Alex and I were featured in the Richmond Times Dispatch when they wrote a story about moms that had children on or near Mother's Day. Maybe it's a combination of all of these things that always makes both of these occasions so special every year.

I'm very excited about this Mother's Day because we are coming off of quarantine! We can gather together as a family once again. This year we will be celebrating Mother's Day and other family birthday's that we couldn't due to quarantine. What a true pecan! I cannot wait to hug every one of them!

Being able to begin the process of returning to a state of new normalcy, is one that I am truly looking forward too. I miss my friends and family. So Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there that are like me and are extra happy to celebrate this year because being back with family and friends will be the greatest gift we could ever receive. It definitely calls for a #pecanreport.