Giving Them Wings
By Pam Henderson
I’m feeling kind of melancholy these days as one of my daughters nears another milestone birthday. The feeling hit over the weekend while we were out to lunch, and “Surfin’ USA” came on the radio. You know the song – the catchy Beach Boys tune that makes it feel like summer even when it’s 12 degrees with 25 inches of snow on the ground. That song will always remind Rick and me of her.
At 42 weeks of pregnancy, my obstetrician decided to give nature a little nudge. I was healthy and it was a great pregnancy, but babies aren’t meant to live in their mommy’s belly forever. And, I was already as round as I was tall. Just a few days before, a stranger in a restaurant asked me when I was due. Imagine his surprise when I replied, “10 days ago”.
We arrived at the hospital at the crack of dawn, knowing that by the end of the day, we would have a baby of our own. After a routine medical procedure, Rick and I walked around the hospital for two hours in an effort to trigger labor. Still, no baby (but it was fun to get curious looks from hospital guests).