Happy Birthday Samuel

At this time of day, the ordeal was over. Thirty-one years, gone by in a blink. Five lbs. 1 oz. of pure heaven blessed my life forever.
Here's the story, for the record. On February 23, 1977 I went to the hospital thinking it was time for the baby to come. Back in those days we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl until they were born (unlike a week ago Friday when I went with Laura to learn that the baby she'll be having in June is a boy). The doctor eventually showed up and said I was in false labor and to go back home. All through the night, I thought I was still in false labor. It was my first experience with childbirth. What did I know? I began to think that if this was false labor, I didn't want to go through the real thing. Around 5:30AM on the 24th, I said we needed to go back to the hospital. We got there about 6AM and Samuel was born at about 6:40AM. Yeah, false labor my eye. Because of the quick turn of events that morning, I hadn't filled out all the paperwork before Samuel was born. After they'd whisked my baby away to check him out (they had some concerns due to his low birth weight), they asked me to sign a paper. They put the pen in my right hand. Mistake. As I started to sign my name right-handed, I began writing my name mirror-image. The P was perfectly backwards. Then I had to think how to make the A, and I started to write it on the left side of the P. But if I did that, it would run into the P. I got very confused, and at that point, my brain hit overload and I had a seizure. I remember my hands jerking up over my head and then I passed out. I woke up in a strange room. Even though the seizure happened moments after Samuel was born, my doctor had already left the hospital. Another doctor who was walking down the hallway at the time jumped in (although I don't know how you "help" someone in the middle of a seizure).
For days, they tried to figure out why it all happened. In the meantime, I was given the most gigantic shots several times a day so I wouldn't have any more seizures. Not fun. I've never had another one since (maybe those shots worked after all), but on my next pregnancy, that doctor told me that from the sounds of it, I had toxemia. Good to know.
Now my tiny boy has grown into a wonderful father of two darling little girls.

Here he is with Sara and Nora on Sara's first day on earth. Much less complicated than Samuel's first day on earth.

And this was the day he graduated with his master's degree, and the day we learned that Sara was on her way (they already knew, they just waited till then to tell the rest of us).


I love you Samuel. You are an amazing person. Have a Happy Birthday. 31 years so far, and many more to come. May they all be happy ones.