Do not copy any of my artwork, poetry or photography without my permission.

Do not copy any of my artwork, poetry or photography without my permission.
....carpe diem. The Daylily. "Be like the flower, turn your face to the sun." Khalil Gibran. She gives her all for just one day then bows her head to God and fades away to nourish the next generation. God I pray I may give my all each day to honor you and bow my head at the end to nourish the next generation. Peggy Jones. NOTE............ Please folks do not copy any of my art or photos on my blog without my permission. Thank you for your good manners.

Blogs full of blessings

Friday, January 1, 2016

Starting a New Year full of optimism. Soulful Life





A Soulful Life meme
is about stopping to reflect on something that
Is very meaningful in one's life.

This week being New Year's weekend I could not help remembering all the wonderful time we have had at New Years parties, dances, etc.
We went out a lot in our young days.

Many times I made my evening gown to wear for
New Years Eve.

But our very first New Years Eve together is the one I always think about this time of year.

 
The christening gown represents
our 6 children born and baptized and are
great adults today.
The two cherubs in the side picture represent
our twin daughters who the following story 
is about. 


We were married in April 1960,
by July I was expecting our first child.

I was the oldest grandchild on both sides of my family
and everyone was so excited.

I was very sick the entire time I was expecting.
On Dec. 27, 1960 I went into labor after carrying the child only 5 months.

I had gained 56 pounds.

After several hours of labor and loss of a lot of fluid, my
M.D. ordered an x-ray.

 There was no ultrasound or monitors, etc back then.

X-ray showed twins, with both heads down.

We were expecting a stillbirth. 

I can remember, with all the fluid gone, 2 little lumps remained in my abdomen.

This is called polyhydramnios pregnancy.
This is not uncommon for multiple pregnancies.

They were born that night with two of my trusted nurse friends and my M.D. present.

I was sedated. I never saw my two daughters.
They were born live.
Everyone involved promised me they had all their toes and fingers and dark hair and their fingernails.
Neither twin weighed 1 pound.
They lived 30 minutes.
My nurses told me since they were born alive birth certificates would be needed.
In fact since it was so close to the end of the year, the
hospital staff told me with birth certificates, we could
claim them as dependents for the year 1960 on our
taxes. 
Birth Certificates and Death Certificates dated the same day.
My dear nurses wrapped them in cotton and prepared them in one shoe box.
Because they were born at 5 months gestation, they were not considered old enough for burial by the funeral home.
My nurse friends at the hospital baptized them.


 My husband was instructed to take them to an appointed spot, per the funeral home, in the church cemetery and dig a hole and bury them. 

He said the ground was frozen and it was snowing.

After he left the hospital that night he went to the club where all our friends were gathered and they all cried together.

We ultimately had 6 more children all born nice sized and healthy.

I do not dwell on this as we feel blessed to have twin angels with dark hair looking over us in heaven. 

This is true but for some reason it seems as if it happened to someone else.
I think that is because I did not see them personally.

After I became a nurse, years later and worked in Labor and Delivery I would never allow a deceased baby to leave the hospital without tucky it up in a warm blanket and wrapping the baby snuggly just so mom and/or dad could see that baby.

I have had grandparents beg me not to show that baby to the mother but I never gave in.
I have even baptized a few in the delivery room.

Dancing in the rain, a metaphor for excepting whatever happens and moving on in life.


Linking up with Suzy Mae
here





















3 comments:

Friko said...

O Peggy, this reminded me so much of my own sister, who was born before me and whom I never knew. My dad had to take the tiny corpse to the cemetery and because she wasn't christened they wouldn’t let her into hallowed ground. My dad had to rush back to hospital to see to my mum who was very ill and handed the baby over to a gravedigger who simply made a hole and laid her in. We never even knew where afterwards, so mum and dad couldn’t even grieve over her resting place.

Those were horrible times.

Oliva Ohlson said...

Thank you so much for sharing this post...I'm so very sorry for your loss...I'm in tears...I never had the joy to become pregnant much less give birth to a baby. Thank you for being there to those parents who lost their babies. Oliva

Peggy said...

Oh, Peggy, this is so similar to our daughter's experience just 3 1/2 years ago. Her twins, named Emme and Piper, were born at just 20 weeks (not quite 5 months), and lived about an hour. It was one of the most heartbreaking days we ever experienced. But in this day and age, children born are acknowledged and there was so much support from the hospital staff, including a blessing by the pastor there, and even information for the grandparents to help them work through their grief. And the funeral home people were so very, very kind. I'm so sorry that your experience was so harsh. Thank you for sharing.