Delivering Miss Jamie

Twenty nine years ago today, I gave birth to our youngest daughter Jamie.  Her birth was one of those where I can really impress people with my "strength" and "courage" and "stamina"!  Not the labor and delivery, but what I was doing before that point!

We were still back in our farming days and I was driving the tractor working the ground ahead of the wheat drill.  As I went around and around I started feeling those old familiar twinges and realized that we were going to have a baby that night.  It didn't seem too serious so I wasn't overly concerned.  It was back before cell phones and although the tractor I was in had a cab and a two way radio, the one Mark was driving didn't.  I knew within a few rounds I would catch up to Mark and let him know.  Then I saw Mark drive his tractor over to the corner of the field where the trucks that held the fertilizer and wheat were, he backed up and filled the drill up.  I stopped at the corner waiting on him to come back, but instead he climbed into the truck and drove off!  I couldn't follow because the cultivator I was pulling had to be manually folded up to get through the gate to go home and I dang sure didn't want to walk the three miles home so I kept working the field.  I was getting a little nervous when I fianlly saw the dust flying on the road letting me know he was on his way back, but his cousin was behind him.  I saw them both get out and start talking.  I know it was dumb, but I was embarrassed to go over and say anything in front of the cousin, so again, I kept going.  Finally he headed over.  He came up to my tractor, climbed the steps to see how I was doing and I told him.  Being it was number four, neither one of us were overly concerned.  I said I don't think I'm that close but I am going to go home and take a bath.  He said alright, he would just finish cultivating with the tractor I had been driving, because there was only about twenty minutes left, then he could bring that tractor home.  Sounded good to me.  He drove me over to the trucks, I climbed out of the tractor and into the wheat truck and drove home.

 But,once I got home and was on my feet walking around, taking a shower, getting dressed, I realized things were moving along a lot faster than I thought!  I called him on the radio to say "You better hurry home, this is a lot more serious than I thought"  Of course he had to raz me saying, "You've waited nine months, you can wait another few minutes for me to get done".  "NO MARK!" I stressed, "YOU NEED TO GET HERE!"  Of course he was already heading home full speed ahead.  Once home he took a quick shower and we headed to town.  When we got there the doctor did a quick check and said I was ready to go to the delivery room!  "Wow", I said, "I just got off the tractor thirty minutes ago"  Fifteen minutes later we met our little Jamie!

 Again, I would love to end saying something like "Yeah that was back when women were women!" or something equally as dumb, but the truth is it only shows how very easy birth came for me - but it still makes a great story!