My Birth Story (As told by my mother)

Guess who this cute lookin' baby is...

 As part of working on my personal history challenge, I asked my own mother to give her account of my birth story (a.k.a. what it was like when she was pregnant and gave birth to me).

Here is her account:

This is why you should keep a journal.

I'll tell you what I can remember.

When I was pregnant with you Dad was almost ready to "retire" from the Army.  We were living in North Carolina.  We lived at 24 Hunt Street, Ft. Bragg, NC.  When you retire from the military it means it is time to get a new job, so Dad started looking for airlines that were hiring.  We didn't have an answering machine and Dad talked me in to getting one.  He said if the airline called you back, and you didn't answer, they would move on to the next one on the list.  He went to interview for Comair, and before he even got back to NC he was offered the job.  So, it was time to pack up and move to Burlington, Kentucky.

We packed up our household goods and  3 kids.  Carl was 7,  Jenny was 4, and Laura just turned 2 and I was 6 months pregnant with you.  Dad started his new job July 2, 1990.  Luckily the military came and moved out our household goods.

What I remember most about being pregnant with you was that I had morning sickness almost every morning.  If I ate a soda crackers it helped.  I was very blessed because I never threw up.  I had known many ladies who were very sick when they were pregnant, some that had to be hospitalized from dehydration.  I did think I would never eat another soda cracker after you were born.  Always thought it was funny how much you love soda crackers.

When people found out I was pregnant, they kept saying, "Bet you want another boy.", since we already had 2 girls.  I told them, "No, I really want another girl.  I kni what to do with girls,"

 We drove 2 cars to Kentucky.  Dad drove the Mercedes we bought when we lived in Germany and I drove the Volvo station wagon.  We kept looking for hospitals all the way to Kentucky, just in case I went into labor,  especially since Jenny came 2 weeks early and Laura came 3 weeks early.

 Dad got a "crash pad" with some other pilots.   He drove me to Oklahoma where we visited Kathleen's family and met Carla.  Carla drove with me to Utah  to visit Grandma, since I was pregnant and had 3 little kids.   In August Dad came to Utah and we drove back to Kentucky and moved into the crash pad until could get into our house on Labor Day.  Our new address was 2955 Fawn Drive, Burlington, Kentucky 41005.

We unloaded our household goods and were hanging pictures when I went in to labor.  Grandma and Grandpa were there to help.  I kept sitting down to stop the contractions.  Hoping I could get all the pictures hung before you were born, because I knew I wouldn't have much time afterwards.

Finally we decided we better get to the hospital.  Didn't have

I had always wanted to name a girl Alisha, in fact one of my dolls was named Alisha.  Tried to name Jenny Alisha, Dad said "no". Tried to name Laura Alisha.  Dad said no.   Finally he agreed, if we could spell it with an E.

It was tricky trying to keep Carl, Jen and Laura quiet in the crash pad when the other pilots were there, so we wouldn't bother them.  Taking the laundry up and down the stairs and over to another building to do laundry being pregnant with 3 little kids was not easy.

The first time we went to church in Kentucky was at the Buttermilk Pike Building.  We drove up in the Volvo and the back was stacked to the top with clothes, toys, ect.  Sister Rhodus saw us and said she just kept seeing more and more kids come out of the car, then she saw me get out and knew I was pregnant.  She said all she could think was, "Oh, that poor lady".  I am guessing Dad was working, since most of the new pilots had to work Sundays.   We were just glad he had a job that he liked and we were soon going to be in a house.

I was standing on a chair, hanging the picture in the dining room when I decided we couldn't wait any longer.  Didn't have to wait too long once we got to St. Luke Hospital in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky.   After you were born the hospital gave the new moms and dads steak dinner with goblets for grape juice.  They have St. Luke birthing center written on them.

Since I did not know if you were the last one, I loved holding you and rocking you in the rocking chair in the "lilac" bedroom.  Often wondered if you would love horses, since I could see the horses running outside the window.  Guess Renee is the one that inherited the love for horses.

  As you have heard for years, you did not like anyone else to hold you.   If they did you would scream.  Once we got Jana Fry to babysit you while we went to a teacher appreciation dinner for Carl and his teacher.  Jana had the reputation for being the best babysitter in the ward.  She loved kids and wanted to own her own preschool.   In the middle of dinner she called and said you were "screaming your head off". And she had tried everything she knew to get you to stop, even taken you for walks outside.  We left early.

 Once I was taking Laura to preschool and you had just fallen asleep, so I left you with Dad.  When I got back he said you woke up right after I left and you had screamed for about 50 min.  He told me to never leave you again.  You were 2 years old when we were finally able to leave you with a babysitter.  Once you asked me if I thought you would be a bad teenager.  I told you "No, we have already paid our dues when you were a baby." I was right.  You were a great kid, teenager, young lady and student, maybe a bit of a drama queen, but a great kid.

When you were very young I took you to the doctor.  He took all the usual measurements.  He was worried about your head being too big.  He was concerned about hydrocephalus.  I was not worried, since I knew many of the Ogdens had large heads and I always had to get the large hats.  He said we had to do an EKG ??????.  I was really worried and scared,  since you wouldn't let anyone else hold you and you had to be put in a "tunnel" to get the scan.  They said if you didn't hold still they would have to put you under.  I felt that was very dangerous for a baby so little.  Dad gave you a Priesthood blessing and I prayed a lot about that scan that you would hold still.  We got to the hospital and put you in the "tunnel".  You held perfectly still.  Prayers were answered again.

Soon you started to have a head full of curls.  You looked a lot like Jenny when she was a baby.  Almost every time I took you out people couldn't resist coming up and running their fingers through your curls.

Oh yeah, what a charmer!