March 26, 1974

My birth as described by my mom, “...This doctor appointment (March 25) turned out to be a happy one, for the doctor said that I was ready to have the baby.  If it didn’t come that day, he would induce labor the next day.  I was so excited and got everything ready.  Grandma and Grandpa Julien were visiting and ready to take over for me with the other two babies.  

Later that day I started feeling the labor pains and so, about 8:00 PM, we went to the hospital.  They confirmed the fact that yes, I would have a baby by morning.  But, in the night, all the pains stopped and I slept.  Early in the morning the doctor came by and started the labor again.  At 11:00 he came back by and looked very worried, broke my water and walked back to his office.  He barely got there when Shannon was ready to come, so he ran back, put on one glove, cut the episiotomy with one hand and caught Shannon with the other.  She was born at 11:50 and I was so delighted to have a little girl to go along with her fifteen month old sister at home.  She was a beautiful baby but the doctor had cut her on the top of her head during the delivery and I was very worried.


It felt good to have her in the daytime.  She was so precious and I daydreamed about how nice it was going to be for the two sisters.  I kept having terrible abdominal pains and later found out that part of the placenta had remained inside.  


Shannon was 7 lbs. 13 oz when born.  On the second day she became very jaundiced and had to be put under lights.  She then didn’t want to eat anything.  They would bring her to me and she would just sleep in my arms and not eat anything.  I stayed in the hospital five days with her and then she stayed 2 more days and I went back and forth to the hospital to feed her.  She was very sick and almost had a transfusion.  It hurt my feelings to have to leave my baby in the hospital and not bring her home with me.  So, when we were able to bring her home, we were so excited. She had lost a pound in the hospital, so she was very little.  


When I got home, my mother wanted to come from California (we lived in Reno). Shannon wasn’t a very easy newborn.  She always had trouble eating and cried a lot.  We loved her anyway.”


I have no recollection of my life at 36 Martin Street in Reno, Nevada.  I was born at St. Mary’s hospital.  My dad, who had been waiting patiently for me to arrive, didn’t get to be in the delivery room for my birth because when I decided to come, I burst into life and he didn’t have time to get “scrubbed in.”  I'm told that during my first few weeks of life, I slept like a baby.  I woke up crying every few hours. At 6 weeks old, my mom fed me a bottle and I started sleeping through the night.

 

When I was just five weeks old we moved to Huntsville, Alabama.  My dad was in medical school and my mom, who was studying to be a teacher, started student teaching. My first year of life was spent in the care of many baby sitters, including a woman named Beulah. I got my first tooth at 6 months and started walking at 11 months.  

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