Joshua’s Birth
Yesterday
was “Labor Day” and of course, I know that means we celebrate the work force of
the United States. But in my mind, Labor
Day reminds me of the days in which I was in labor to birth my three sons. The most interesting of the three is Joshua’s
birth, our youngest son.
Joshua was
quite the surprise. We were “thinking”
about having a third child when I found out he was already in my belly. I found out on Jan 13, 1994, which is the exact
date I found out about my pregnancy with Thomas, six years prior. The due date for Joshua was September
16. Thomas was due on the 19th
of September but was born on September 20. Joshua was born on Thomas’ due date of 9/19. With both Thomas (1988) and Ted (1991) the
labor was long, and the process included induction, an epidural, and in Thomas’ case also
required suction to get him out after 3 hours of pushing. He was one short procedure shy of a C-section.
Everything was
different with Joshua’s birth. My water
broke at 4 am on the morning of September 19.
It was a Monday morning. Contractions
began shortly thereafter, and it was time to go to the hospital. The Peters,
our neighbors, were awakened and summoned to stay with our sleeping children. I sat downstairs at the kitchen table and
waited for Jerry. He was shaving and
talking to his brother on the phone. I
could feel the urgency and yelled out for him to come on! Jerry knew from past experiences that it
would take all day and did not seem to be in a hurry. As we approached the first red light, however,
the contractions were coming so close together that he proceeded to run the
light. The hospital was a 20-minute
drive, with no traffic and as we approached it, Jerry turned one street too soon
and we ended up in a vacant parking lot.
By then it was nearly 6 am and he was getting a little nervous about the
panic I was in. Arriving at the emergency
room entrance, we left the car and scurried in and by wheelchair, I was whisked
away to labor/delivery. The nurse
checked me, and I was at 8cm, and she told Jerry that if he wanted any photos
to go get his camera, but don’t bother to move the car as if there wasn’t time. I was frantic because I had never had a baby
before, the natural way. I cried out “I
can’t do this!”, to which the nurse replied “yes, you can, you already are!” speaking
to me with her nose almost touching mine.
Jerry returned, followed by the doctor who walked in just in time to
deliver Joshua at 6:26 am on Monday, September 19, 1994. He was 8 lb. & 6 oz and 21.5 inches. We did not know we were having another son
because during the pregnancy with Joshua, not one ultrasound was performed. (Nowadays,
at 34, almost 35, I would have been considered a high-risk pregnancy.) We brought him home from the hospital on
Thomas’ 6th Birthday. He was born without me so much as getting an
IV, no drugs and no intervention. The
natural birth delivery turned out to be the best and fastest delivery I had! I like to say that I pushed 3 hours with
Thomas, 3 minutes with Ted and 3 times with Joshua. I’m a proud mama to three handsome sons. This month, Thomas will be 37, and Joshua
will be 31 years old. Ted turned 34 on
August 5.
Tammy
Harvey 9/1/2025
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