I'll Take What's Behind Curtain Number One

Me, two days old.

It was a special day for my family almost 40 years ago.  I am the baby of the family.  Not just the youngest by order, but the baby of babies.  My sister is 13 years older than me. My middle brother is 11 years older and my youngest brother is 8 years older. I know what you're thinking.....Oooops...I was that baby.  But according to my mom, I was the only one that was planned!  Now that's funny!
She said she and my dad were considering having another baby before she had a Tubal Ligation, and they decided to sit down with all the kids in the living room and have a family meeting.  "Let's vote!  Should we have another baby or not?"
Fortunately for me the vote was in my favor.  


So in a mid-sized Kansas town in the spring, nine months later, my brothers and sister went off to school one morning, knowing when they came home, they would have a new brother or sister.  My mom had an appointment at the hospital  to have her baby.  They were inducing labor and she was given an epidural. My dad waited outside the door, just like he did with every birth.  Not necessarily because he had a weak stomach, that's just what dads did back then.  He said he tried to watch through the small window on the hospital room door, but the nurse saw him and closed the curtain in his face.  Can you believe that?  And when he finally did get to see me, his newborn baby girl, he had a question.  You see, I looked quite Asian when I first arrived.  Just look at my picture above. My dad looked at my mom and spoke the question out loud that was burning in his mind....."Are you sure she's ours?"   


After much assurance, he drove to my brothers and sister's  schools, so he could tell my siblings the good news.  He was allowed to write a note and have it given to them in their classrooms.  My sister, who was absolutely sure she was going to have another brother, was heard screaming for joy all the way down the hallway.  


I was a healthy baby with a little Jaundice.  They gave me light therapy in the hospital, and I would have gone home after a few days, but I made a small detour.  You see, my mom was definitely ready for that Tubal Ligation now.  Four babies, two boys, two girls, all healthy, they were a happy family.  Unfortunately, the hospital she had me in was a Catholic hospital.  Why is that unfortunate you ask?  Because they did not tie tubes.  Nope, no way, wasn't going to happen.   They transfered my mom to another hospital so she could have that procedure done.  They sent me home with daddy, and daddy took me to Aunt Sylvia's house for a few days.  Aunt Sylvia is my mom's sister and amazingly she agreed to take care of  her newborn niece until my mom was released.  So my first week at home was spent at my Aunties house.    No sleep, night time feedings, crying baby; my Aunt took care of it all my very first week in this world.  Now that's sisterly love.   
Hopefully she didn't close the curtain on my dad when he tried to look through the window.