Brian's Big Day

Hello Friends,

Here is Trudy, age 28, ready to head to Willis-Knighton Hospital to give birth for the second time in her life. It's 7:30 Saturday morning, January 26, 1980. We sure hoped the doctors and nurses would be on duty in those magical moments of anticipation...and nervousness. I couldn't help but notice that the furnishings visible in this picture remain fixtures in our bedroom now...31 years later (I guess it pays to buy good stuff)!

Trudy was totally ready for this day. At Trudy's funeral, son-in-law, Kirk spoke of her as being perpetually "giddy." Meaning that she found excitement in every good thing she experienced...and giving birth was a phenomenally, magnificently great thing! She was feeling "on top of the world" as she hustled around getting things together, reminding me of calls I needed to make, and getting three-year old big sister ready to spend the day at Aunt Jo's house. I mean, you'd a thought we were going Disney World for all the fun we were having. Labor? No problem! We had both completed a course in "Natural Child Birth" and she knew what to do...and she had her "coach" right by her side. That's right, Coach Husband was going to be with her in the delivery room. I was already practicing: "shallow breath, shallow breath, deep breath...PUSH...PUSH! I had a nice rhythm and cadence thing that I just knew she'd be pleased with. Not sure why she told me to "can it," but I complied.

We drove up Pines Road till we got to Aunt Jo and Uncle Luke's house on Medallion Circle. Aunt Jo is the most uplifting person I've ever known. She was so glad for us and so glad to help with Wendy. She reminded me to call her as soon as the baby was born and asked if I had some dimes for the pay phone! I assured her that I had a pocket full of coins and her number would be the first call I made...so I could tell Wendy!

At Willis-Knighton, we knew the ropes, and headed to the second floor maternity ward to get Trudy settled in. We were pleased to see Nurse Adkins! She was the very same nurse who helped in Wendy's birth, three years earlier. We were in the ward just after 8:00 am. We had our natural child birth certifications and affirmed that Trudy desired to give birth naturally and receive no pain meds (don't ask me...I can't remember why that was so important to us). The labor went slow for a good long time, but about 1:00pm, the pains got pretty intense and Coach Robert was warming up to step in to really participate. As the moment of birth neared, I quickly realized that Trudy was undergoing unspeakable pain and that she was fully concentrating on my every word and instruction. She looked only and intently into my eyes as she concentrated fully on keeping that pain under control. Trudy was amazing and she did her job perfectly. At 3:13pm, the final push produced the birth of Brian Thomas Daniel...all nine pounds, five and a half ounces, and 22 inches...of all boy! He was perfect and healthy and his parents were happy, tired, and relieved all at the same time. There was a few minutes when child and mother were being cleaned up that I could go make some calls. I called Aunt Jo's number and believe it or not, Wendy knew it was me and she answered the phone. I told her she had a brother! She squealed with delight. We had his name picked out: "Brian" was a name that we liked that no one in our families had used, and "Thomas" was a commonly used name within my family, including my granddad James Thomas Daniel. What a great day for our burgeoning little family.

Mrs. Benoit, or Granny, as she was now known; came to our house for a week or so to help out with taking care of baby and mommy. My mother-in-law is the greatest. She simply handled everything with ease. I am blessed.

As the slide show to the right illustrates, Brian soon met all the family and enjoyed a wide range of experiences. One picture not in this group shows Brian's unique talent in crawling. He would not use his arms but would put his head down on the floor and crawl "on his head." I think it was the first evidence of a kid with a great sense of humor...always looking to get a laugh out of people.

Next time, the crazy move to Oklahoma City.

Blessings,
Robert

Brian, my only begotten son, your mother has loved you (in the best and purest possible sense) as only a mother could. There was NEVER a time when she lost sight of her unconditional, uncompromising motherly love for her son. She was so proud of the man, the husband, the father that you have become. You have seen the twinkle in her eyes as she doted on Meredith...I saw those same eyes,..sparkling and clear at those same stages of your life. My son, you and I have been blessed among men...by the love of our moms and our wives.

Trudy and Robert prayed for a son, inspired by the biblical story of Hannah and Samuel: So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him” (1 Samuel 1:20)