Two birthdays in March!

My mother had 3 children born in February, that is a lot of birthdays in one month. Mine was first so I think I got all the good stuff and the other two got the short end of the stick. Adam and Troy's birthday are 6 days apart. Adam on the 20th and Troy on the 26th. Both of their births stick out to me.

Adam was born after my Dad died. I was playing on the floor with Kenneth a little while before Adam was born and I had a thought that my Dad was not going to get to know Kenneth. I then thought of Adam and how he and any children after him would have never had the chance to have met him. This was a sad moment for me and I thought about it for several days and was rather downcast about it. When Adam first popped out, and let me tell you he shot out and the Doctor had to catch him, I was excited to see him. He was a hairy little guy and had a set of lungs on him. I was standing there all excited about him and suddenly I felt bad that my dad would not be able to get to know him. At that very moment I felt my fathers presence next to me. It was so strong I turned and looked to find nobody there. It was amazing. I knew then that although he would not be there in body he would always know all of my kids and be aware of and love them. Every year on Adam's birthday I think about that.

On a lighter note, Troy's birthday though no less memorable, was quite an experience. Troy did not seem to want to come into the cold cruel world so the doctor scheduled Lisa to be induced on Monday the 27th of March 2002. Lisa wanted to have everything clean and done so her mom would not have to do anything after the baby was born. She started a load of laundry and the washing machine broke. The belt on the washer that turns the bucket had worn out and finally broken. I pulled the entire machine apart. The tub was full of clothes and out in the carport, the motor was pulled out and cleaned up, all that was left was 3 sides of the casing. It was 9:00 at night so no appliance stores were open for parts so I went to the auto part store and sized up the belt with one they had that looked to be close enough. I walked in the door and Lisa was vacuuming. The ironing was done, the dishes clean and the floor waiting to be mopped when I was done. Yes, those of you who know Lisa, that is what she does. Just as I sat down and started to put the belt on Lisa started having contractions and they were close together. I was in a panic! I needed to run her to the hospital and I had the entire washing machine in parts strewn all over the place. She insisted on a quick shower and some makeup. Again, those of you who know Lisa, that is what she does. So in 15 minutes I put that entire washing machine together. Yes folks that is a world record. It worked for several years after that and when we got a new one it was still working. Be sure to congratulate me on that some time.

We took off for the hospital and I ran a red light on the way there. It was 11:30 at night so no danger. I wish I could have got caught so that I could get a police escort but hey where are the cops when you really need them? I digress. I wanted to drop Lisa off at the doors of the emergency room as her contractions were really close. I told her that I did not want her to have the baby in the parking lot. She veminantly refused and told me to park and she would just walk over. Half way across the parking lot she had a big one hit her. I sprinted to the ER and grabbed a wheelchair amid all kinds of looks. I put lisa in the chair and when I got there they figured something like that was up so they were ready and whisked us up to labor and delivery. They put in an epidural but before it took effect out popped Troy. His ears were stuck to the side of his head. Finally after all of that the epidural kicked in. What an ordeal! Most exhausting child birth I have ever had.