21

It was a hot day, I do remember that. I was fast approaching my due date. I didn't know what sex the baby was -- I already had a little girl and was hoping for a boy. I'd been having some pretty hard contractions -- Braxton-Hicks they are called and aren't "true" contractions -- but they were very painful. On July 6, a Monday, I had a regularly scheduled appointment with my OB. I can remember the nurse nearly jumping out of her skin when she took my blood pressure. I have no idea what it was but it must have been sky high. They admitted me to the hospital right away. I can remember my doctor breaking my water to "get things started", then I remember him saying, awhile later, "we're going to have to do something before we have a disaster." The disaster was that I had had a placental abruption. In the not so distant past, it probably would have taken both me and the baby out of this world. I was rushed into an emergency C-section.

It was a boy but I was too sick by then to care. I was vomiting and bleeding profusely. I do remember asking my doctor to tie my tubes but he refused -- that would have been a decision made under duress (and it would have meant no Carrie a few years later). I had to have blood transfusions and more minor surgery because a stitch had accidentally gone around an ureter. I don't remember much about that time -- except a nurse bringing the baby into my room. She was holding him and he was very quiet -- until he heard my voice and jumped a mile. He knew me. He'd heard me from the inside.

I was released from the hospital on July 14 -- his actual due date.

We named him Wesley. And today he is 21 years old. He is tall and handsome with wild curly hair. He's a student at Georgia Tech, studying Computer Engineering.

For him, I'd do it all over again.