Today is 10-11-12…otherwise know as Amanda’s 21 birthday!!! I keep telling her that I plan it this way but that is really far from the truth.  Amanda arrived right in the middle of the fall semester of my second year of college. According to my doctor and my best laid plans she was to arrive around Thanksgiving.  This would have worked wonderfully with my school schedule as I was told that if I missed more than 2 weeks of class, I would need to repeat the semester again, one year later. But as you can imagine from the beginning, she has had a mind of her own!

I remember vaguely thinking early that morning, Destry needs to wear a better shirt to work today, instead I rolled over and tried to get another hour of sleep. As was normal for my entire pregnancy, I was able to keep down a dry piece of toast and cup of hot chocolate.  Sandy, BFF current and then, arrived around 7:30 so we could go on an observation day at the Greensboro Hand Center. She was so excited, because of the field work site that she said I was crazy for not feeling well and we headed on our way. By 9 am, I was staying in the restroom walking around, just not feeling good, contraction were not bad, 10  minutes or so apart. Sandy checked on me several times but was not willing to leave the observation because there was no way I was in labor. So at 11:45 we headed home. I had just got a “new” car 1990 black Nissan. I was determined to drive back through Greensboro because I did not trust Sandy. I made it back to I-85 were I proceed to stand on the passenger  seat backward for the rest of the trip.

After arriving home, Sandy helped me back a bag for the hospital. She called and found out that the doctor’s office was closed, so we headed to the hospital. I did call Destry at work so he would meet us there. We arrived at the hospital, Destry and Sandy stood around talking for about 10 minutes while I was fussing. I arrived at the hospital at 2pm and Amanda’s official birth time is 2:20pm!

I had received no pain meds at the hospital because I was dehydrated and needed at least one bag of fluid before they could administer anything. The doctor checked  me initially and decided he had enough time to go down the street to purchase a horse lead. They attempted to page him several times but he left the pager in the car. I remember being told not to push because the doctor was not there but that was not happening either.

One other thing stands out in my memory, I did not even have a baby bottle at home when Amanda arrived. She arrived 4 weeks early, I had a huge lay away at Walmart with all the necessary items! My mother washed all the girl baby clothes she had been hiding and purchased several bottles. Amanda and I claimed the layaway when she was 5 days old. Maybe that is why she like Walmart so much!