Happy Birthday, Torrey Beth!

Twenty-eight years ago as of this moment I was in the process of being induced, quite sure that if I wasn't, I would be pregnant forever. Due on the Fourth of July, and dilated to 3 cm as of the 20th of June, this seemed to be the only way out -- rather, this seemed to be HER only way out!

We were the first to use what would become the hospital's "birthing room" -- made so by the addition of about 3 posters that I taped to the walls. Torrey was supposed to actually be our first birthing center baby, but the birthing center was still 5 months away from opening, and truly I didn't think I could hang on quite THAT long!

Labor progressed rapidly -- and I'll spare the details -- suffice it to say that she was born to the 1812 Overture (which was a first for the hospital staff), and at 2:05 in the afternoon we had our precious baby girl. I do remember thinking at one point that perhaps I'd just as soon go home and do this another day -- of course since I was about 9 cm at the time, it probably wasn't a good idea.

They let Bob down at the business end of things to help with the delivery, which, as it turned out was providential....more on that when we do Tim's birthday story!

Another clear memory -- oh, how the memories of our babies' births stand out more than anything else in our lives -- was the beyond ecstatic feeling I had after I was holding her in my arms. It felt as though there was a huge balloon inside of me that was getting bigger by the moment. "I wish," I said to Bob, "that you could be me for just five minutes to feel how I'm feeling right now!" Part of it, of course, was having accomplished a completely natural delivery -- no meds, no epidural (and I lived to tell the tale -- can you believe it?) -- and the other part was having a new baby to love and to nurture.

There have been lots of birthdays for Torrey since then -- seemingly always on the hottest day in July. This year I was with her and Christopher in Indy to celebrate last week after doing a conference in Batesville, IN. Chris announced that my visit and our trip to Bonefish Grill for dinner commenced the "Week of Torrey!" He has surprises planned for every day this week.

But the best birthday was the one in 1978 when I became a mother for the second time.

And the next bit of music we played was the Hallelujah Chorus!