Discussion » Questions » Family » Parents, what is an interesting, odd, funny, weird or cute fact about any of your childrens’ births?

Parents, what is an interesting, odd, funny, weird or cute fact about any of your childrens’ births?


  When my wife was pregnant with our first child, she went into labor late in the morning, maybe 11 am. After examining her, the medical staff estimated that she would give birth sometime within the next six to eight hours, or approximately 5 pm to 7 pm that evening. As a first-time expectant father, I did all the normal things, stayed by her side until or unless the maternity ward staff kicked me out temporarily while they did their thing, otherwise, I nervously paced the halls of the hospital.
  By 6 pm, the baby still wasn’t ready to make any debut, and the estimate was changed to between 8:30 pm and 10:30 pm. More pacing.
  At 10:45 pm, still nothing, and the new estimate was then changed to between “just wait and see” to “maybe sometime tomorrow”.
  On top of all my other compounded  anxiety, a panic-stricken thought shot through me: the date was the 12th of the month!  If the birth took place at any point after midnight, every time for the rest of our child’s life the 13th of the month fell on a Friday, it was tragic to have such an ominous omen!  I wigged out, frantic that if labor didn’t take place immediately, we would unleash on the world a demon, or we’d at least bring forth a child doomed to be beset by demons for all eternity. Quickly, I thought, I had to do something, anything to avert this calendaralrial* tragedy!
  At my next hand-squeezing session with my wife**, I spoke directly to her bloated belly, sending psychic and telepathic messages from Pa to womb, begging yon spawn to venture forth posthaste ’ere the witching hour be upon us. I besought all that was in play to align properly so as to ensure the right outcome.  The staff ushered me out again, and I found myself in the wasteland of the waiting room one more time, alone with my thoughts. 
  As seconds ticked by and then overflowed into minutes, and after that the minutes flowed into more minutes, the sweat of my brow increased to cascading waterfall*** levels.  Wrought with resignation, I slowly became numb to the grim reality that my firstborn, the crop of my sowing, might forever suffer the fate of being born on the 13th.  That’s about the time a nurse came to me and said that my wife was fully dilated, had been wheeled into the delivery room, and told me that if I didn’t hurry and get into my scrubs, I would miss the birth.  I scurried after her to the prep room and dutifully followed all the instructions for getting cleaned up and dressed. My excitement made me completely forget the triskaidekaphobia for the time being and attended the event that sealed my designation as father more concretely than had conception. The birth finally took place and mother and baby were doing fine.  So focused was I on all the other important aspects of the moment, such as the health of my wife and of our newborn, I didn’t notice that the time of birth was 11:11 pm.  I had worried for nothing.


  And guess what?  I’m not even superstitious.




*I know it’s not a real word.

**Why and how can tiny, petite, demure women, especially in the time of frailty and sapped strength at childbirth, give such bone-crushing grips on their husbands’ hands?

***Sidebar, did you know that the Spanish word for waterfall is cascada, as in cascade?  If it weren’t for being a different language entirely, cascading waterfall would be redundant. I’m jes’ sayin’.

 
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Posted - June 12, 2020

Responses


  • 6477
    Cool story! Only you would be so worried about calendarial trivialities :P I like making up words! 

    Mine isn't anywhere near as funny, though I did happen to shut the baby's father's hand in the car door, then proceeded to squeeze the living daylights out of the same hand apparently. 

    My daughter also apparently fell asleep during her birth.. She was inactive, not dangerously so, but she wasn't engaging in the process of being born - so I was told to drink cold water to try to wake her up. Funny thing is she is now 19 and spends most of her life in bed asleep!  Also at said birth my two sons were present, they were 9 and 13 at the time, an impressionable age! The birth wasn't *fun* - I'd been told I would need a cesarean, and the student midwife, (I was her first birth without any help!) wasn't getting it, she wasn't doing anything to help, no pain relief, no anything! So, me being me, decided to scream the place down and use every swear word under the sun... Little did I know that my two sons and my mother-in-law, who was looking after them, were right outside and heard everything!! I've scarred them for life but honestly delivery room doors should be sound-proof!
      June 12, 2020 12:43 PM MDT
    6

  • 53501
    Story. Of. The. YEAR!

    This is great, I love it!

      June 12, 2020 1:37 PM MDT
    2

  • 44595
    Odd only that they were both born at home.
      June 12, 2020 2:03 PM MDT
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  • 53501

     

      That certainly counts. 


    ~

      June 12, 2020 4:30 PM MDT
    1

  • 44595
    Naval Base housing. We had to get permission from the hospital captain.
      June 12, 2020 7:37 PM MDT
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  • 8214
    All were born upside-down. 
      June 12, 2020 2:38 PM MDT
    4

  • 53501

     

      Wow.  Do you mean breech babies?

    ~

      June 12, 2020 4:32 PM MDT
    0

  • 8214
    You are definitely a writer!
      June 12, 2020 2:39 PM MDT
    2

  • 53501

     

      Merci beau coup, mon Cheri.




    ~

      June 12, 2020 4:34 PM MDT
    1

  • 34222
    First child after trying to be 1 week early (on my birthday) was 2 weeks late and labor had to be induced. 

    2nd child the cord prolapsed and wrapped around the baby's neck. My Dr. was great he was able to get his fingers in between the cord and the neck allowing my son to breathe while he did an emergency c-section. My son was in the NICU for a week. But he is fine. 

    3rd child was a planned c-section. It went as planned. This post was edited by my2cents at June 13, 2020 6:33 AM MDT
      June 12, 2020 8:37 PM MDT
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  • 22891
    ive never been lucky enough to have kids
      June 13, 2020 1:54 PM MDT
    0