. . . [It] was an ordinary Monday. We were living in Harlingen, Texas, having arrived there a couple of months previously. Vince was working as a dentist in the United States Air Force, and we were renting a little house on a dusty road not too far from the base. I had taken him to work so I would have the car to get to my dr.’s appointment later in the day. I washed the clothes and hung them out to dry – which didn’t take too long in the Texas heat.
At 4:30 I went back to pick up Vince from work. The colonel’s wife (she was called Dinky) said to me, “Verla, you look like you are going to pop!” I had no signs of approaching delivery, though the dr. had predicted it could be August 23; but with the first one, one never knows. Dinky also suggested I go home and sprinkle the clothes for ironing – (you know, those khaki uniforms that had to be heavily starched?) – that will bring the baby for sure, she said. Well, I did go home and sprinkle the clothes so they would be ready to iron in the morning.
But about 6:30 I woke Vince – his usual was to take a nap when he got home from work – and told him that we had better eat supper because I was beginning to think that we would be going to the hospital. We did eat supper, I packed a small suitcase while Vince put away the supper things and we were off.
I went to the local Ob-Gyn instead of the military one, and so we headed for the local hospital. I suppose it was about 7:30 when we got there; the nurse prepped me and then was going to put me in the labor room so Vince could wait with me for further developments. However, with my utterance of a groan, she told Vince never mind, called the dr. and took me to the delivery room. He gave me a spinal block so I was aware of all the goings on (in hindsight, it was rather an unnecessary thing to do) and when I heard the first cry, I looked up at the clock - it was 8:28 p.m. Dawn Marie was here!
I’m thinking Vince had that name picked out before I even met him though I’m sure we talked about it since Marie was Mom’s middle name, too.
(So I was in the hospital and what was to be done with those clothes I had sprinkled? Vince hired a lady from down the road to come in and iron them for me.)
Mark Didrik Williams (31 Mar 1959)
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| Verla holds Mark while Dawn gives him a kiss. |
This continued for an hour, pains, walk, back to bed. But then from other signs I decided to wake Vince and tell him I thought maybe I should call the dr. We didn’t have his number, so we gathered Dawn and headed for the base hospital.
I looked at the clock as we walked in the emergency room door and it was now 2:15 a.m. The orderly pointed us down the hall to the OB Ward, and I told Vince I wasn’t going to make it – he said, “Yes, you are, it is only a few more steps.” As he opened the door so we could go in, the nurse came and told Vince he couldn’t come in with that little girl. So I went in alone.
The nurse told me to climb up on the bed so she could time the pains. I tried but I couldn’t make it so she said maybe you’d better get on the delivery table. Then the nurse hollered, "Get the MOD! (medic on duty)" and pretty soon the dr. on call walked in. He said to me, "Don’t worry – I’m a pediatrician and I’ve delivered a couple hundred babies."
I wasn’t worried – let’s just get this over with. I did ask for a shot of Demerol and he told me it wouldn’t have time to take effect soon enough, so I think they gave me something to breathe to help me relax. It wasn’t long before I heard a baby’s cry, and I asked if he was all right (I knew the baby was going to be a boy – not from ultra sound, they didn’t do that then – I just knew).
The dr. replied, "Yes, everything is here." And I looked up at the clock and it was 2:40 a.m. The Ob-Gyn doctor came in then, having missed the whole thing. He did get to stitch the episiotomy which was done routinely. The next morning (actually just later that morning) the dr. came into my room and greeted me with "Hi, Speedy!"
Arik Michael Williams (19 Mar 1964)
. . . a Thursday, probably was a busy day. My memories begin with sitting at the supper table, enjoying the meal and looking forward to going to a meeting of the Hospital Auxiliary unit to which I belonged.
Vince was going to visit with a building contractor to plan the addition of an extra bedroom to the house – he was coming by at 7:30 p.m. After all, with a boy and a girl already and another baby due to arrive the first of April, we needed more than 2 bedrooms.
At about 6:30, I felt or heard a strange “pop” and then began to wonder if I would be going to that meeting. Of course, soon followed other manifestations of a coming baby. We waited for the contractor to come, and then Vince asked him if he would stay with Dawn and Mark, while we went to the hospital. Vince said he wouldn’t be long. So he babysat, and had his consultation with Vince about 9:30 p.m.
The nurse asked me how far apart my pains were – I didn’t know. I told her I had one while waiting for Vince to back the car out of the garage, and another one just as we were arriving at the hospital (which was probably 10 or 12 blocks away – Decorah is small).
So we prepared for the delivery. I don’t remember having to wait for Dr. Bullard. We must have called him from home. I’m sure I had told him the history of my deliveries, so he probably came pronto. And at 9:13 p.m. a 7 lb.1 oz. bouncing baby boy, Arik Michael, was born. And Vince hurried home!
I remember the next evening when Vince came to see Arik and me, he remarked to the nurse that Arik had better color, than he had had the night before. And the nurse said that’s because he was born with the cord around his neck. Uffda!
We had spelled his name Erik, but some said it sounded like earache, so we changed it to Arik. Now I’ve been told that spelling it Arik is the really Old Norse way.
Jené Rachele Williams (2 Jun 1966)
. . . [T]oday . . . we put the finishing touches on installing paneling on the living and dining rooms in our house. At about 11 p.m., I finished hanging the last curtain and decided to go to bed. About one a.m. I woke up and wondered what had awakened me. I listened to see if I heard Arik cry, but there was no sound.
And then in three or four minutes, I knew what had awakened me. Jené was expected on the fourth of June, but she wasn’t waiting. I soon called Dr. Bullard and announced to him that I was ready to go to the hospital, was he? If I remember correctly we called Norma to come over and stay with the other kids.
Upon arriving at the hospital, the nurse greeted me with, "We’ve been waiting for you all day." I said that I didn’t know I was coming in until about an hour before. Well, it seems Dr. Bullard usually spent his Wednesday afternoons at the Golf Course, and he had told them, "If Mrs. Williams calls, get hold of me right away," so they figured he knew I was in labor and would be coming in.
The baby tried arriving face down, so Dr. Bullard said he would have to wait until the next pain so he could turn her a little. And a few minutes after three a.m., Jené was here in just as much a hurry as her three siblings.
Vince had the name Jené picked out, if it was a girl, long before she came – he had heard it and liked it. I said that was okay – it was going to be a boy anyway. But Jené it was. I picked the second name and first spelled it Rochelle, but later amended the birth certificate to Rachele.
