Lynda Loveland: BIRTHday flashback

Nine years ago last week, my son was born and it hasn’t gotten any easier. Oh, I’m just kidding! No I’m not. Wait, yes I am. Sorta!

There are just some kids who can be a little more difficult than others. He’s an affectionate, funny boy and I love him dearly, but there have been times when he’s pushed me to the brink! If he wasn’t such a cutie puh-tutie, I’d sold him to the gypsies years ago. Ha!

He was due on April Fool’s Day. I was determined to NOT let that happen. I wanted to do whatever I could to eliminate any potential teasing from his peers down the road. April 1 came and, sure enough, I started having contractions while I was doing the Noon News.

I even started writing down the times. I think I made poor Bill Leslie nervous. Delivering babies wasn’t in his contract!

I knew being dehydrated could cause contractions, so I did the opposite. I started two fisting water all day. The contractions subsided somewhat but picked back up in the evening.

By bedtime, I was in the throes of labor. I told my husband to try and get some sleep while I was writhing next to him doing some sort of rocking, yoga move to deal with the pain. It was still about three hours from April 2 and I wasn’t going to the hospital until I had to!

Randall couldn’t sleep ‘cause he was freaking out, afraid I was going to have the baby right there! I finally agreed to go around midnight. Glad I didn’t wait any longer! I barely had time for an epidural before he was born!

The second night home from the hospital we went BACK to the hospital because Caiden didn’t stop crying. Couldn’t find anything wrong. He cried for days! Randall and I switched off in one hour shifts at night so the other could get a little sleep. We almost lost our minds.

We think it was colic. It got a little better when I started eating only chicken and rice, because I was breastfeeding. And I mean ONLY chicken and rice. I eliminated everything. We finally turned the corner around the six month point. The crying tapered off and I could have chocolate again!

Fast forward eight and a half years and he’s been ALL boy! Keeping me on my toes, he is, although I think we’ve turned another corner.

That child can make me smile quicker than anyone else! I’m blessed to be his mother.