My Little Bits of String: Timmy's 15th Birthday--the Story of October 4, 1999!

Today is Timmy's 15th birthday. The only problem with Timmy's birthday...it is right after Jack's birthday. Right after Jack's birthday--the next day, in fact. So, when they were little, we stopped celebrating Jack's birthday on October 3rd, because we had to celebrate Timmy's birthday on October 4th. My other three children get to celebrate their birthdays for weeks...Matthew's birthday is May 7th, but we would always have his birthday party in mid to late May, because it was always close to Mother's Day, and so we would avoid conflicts. But not with Jack. His birthday is over on October 3rd.

It wasn't really supposed to be like this. I think this is a good time to write about Timmy's birth story.

Honestly, Timmy's birth was fairly long...only because it lasted for 10 days. I was due with Timmy on September 25, 1999. September 25th came and went...but baby #3 wasn't coming, which was not altogether terrible. In mid-September, Hurricane Floyd blew through here, and we lost power in our house for 4 days. The temperature wasn't terrible, but my car was locked in our garage, and so were all my strollers. Jack was about to be 4, and Anna had just turned 2.

Anyway, for 9 days I waited for baby #3 to come. With nothing happening. Because I was late, I had to go downtown every day after 5 day postdate. Which meant I spent 4-5 hours roundtrip driving down to Philadelphia, including on weekends, seeing my doctor, having a non-stress exam to make sure the baby wasn't in distress, and driving home. Everyone encouraged me to be induced, but at that point, I felt like babies should come when they are ready, and I thought it seemed odd to do otherwise.

On Monday, October 4, 1999, I had an early appointment, and the doctor made the decision for me--I was going to be induced on Wednesday, October 6th. I came home, got Anna and Jack dinner, and at around 5:30, I started to feel uncomfortable. Within 20 minutes, it was bad. I called my sister, Lisa, to come down, but within 5 minutes, I knew I couldn't wait. So, I called my neighbor, and I just remember seeing her, and walking out the door. She told me later that she knew it was bad b/c I didn't say anything--I just walked out the door.

When I got to the hospital, it was really bad. But this time, I knew what I wanted. I wanted an epidural. I actually got an epidural, but the doctor decided, he later told me, that I "could do it", and turned the epidural off during the pushing part. I was mad, but I guess that is the point--there is nothing you can do about it once the baby is here!

Timmy was born on October 4, 1999, at 10:15 p.m. Unlike his two older siblings, Timmy was not an easy baby. In fact, he was incredibly difficult. While I was on the table, I had Chris go over and check on him because his scream was so piercing and so shrieking, that I figured there had to be something wrong with him. I soon learned that that was the only noise Timmy made for almost 4 months--nonstop, high pitched shrieking! Up until then, I had never really believed colic existed---I just thought it was parents who couldn't figure out how to take care of a newborn. I learned colic does exist, and it almost always goes away after 3-4 months.

As we went through those first 4 months of screaming, many people told me that it is the colicky babies who grow up to be the most pleasant, and I can remember just smiling. Boy, were they right. Today, Timmy is just the nicest kid--always with a smile, pleasant, easy-going, a peace-maker, my most helpful child. But I am still mad at him about those first 4 months!