Powered By Blogger

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Wednesday Memories

Why does it seem only like yesterday.
I had just finished my 5th year teaching while carry this first child. I never told anyone I was pregnant because in the early 70's I would have to leave teaching. So I used safety pins to keep my skirts and pants up and wore many large tops and sweaters. Many of my fellow teachers would remark how I was putting on weight. I would smile and say, "I just love to eat."
When the day would arrive I would have to make a decision to return to teaching or be a SAHM.
The day arrived 5 days early, my due date was August 6th. It was a warm Sunday morning and I awoke at 8am and I went to the bathroom and I had a showing, I called my Mom and told her, She said, "Go to the hosptial now", My DH called the number for my gynecologist, Dr Alvin Dirkin from Dirkin and Gendron and told the answering service that he was taking me in now. They told him this was my first child and I had plenty of time.He said "we want to be safe, her mother delivered her sister in the car on the way to the hospital."
We left for the hospital exactly at 8:15am and arrived at 8:30
I remember saying "Dear Lord, Please let Christopher John or Sherri Lynn come quickly"There were no test in the early 70's to deterninine the sex of the child. It did happen so quickly not even enough time to prep me. Our firstborn baby arrived exactly that Sunday morning, August 1, 1971at 9:30am (ONE HOUR!!)
JOHN MICHAEL CORBETT
7 pounds 11 ozs 19 inches
"WOW" I said I will have at least 5 more babies, this was a cinch."My first born child, was A BEAUTIFUL BOY, with lots of red hair and a strong cry. He was placed beside me and I was amazed that this beautiful little human being that my DH and I created with God's blessing. I was at St Joseph's Hosptal in Providence, RI. I had a private room which was possible with my teacher's insurance and my husband insurance. It allowed me to privately adore my little one. I wore a pink peignoir set, with fine lace and frills, "after all my GYN told me I was definitely having a little girl."
As a Corbett ritual I call John Michael every year on his birthday no matter where he is at 9:30am and we sing him "Happy Birthday.

Christening at St Theresa's Pawtucket, RI 8-15-71
As you can read he was named John after his father. We felt Christopher would be such a difficult long name to learn for school and the past 3 generations of Corbetts the first name was John and the middle named changed.


His father is John William, his Grandfather John Henry, his great grandfather, John Robert
Twenty-seven months later along came his sibling and our second, son Mark Alan. I was going to Rhode Island college, working on my Masters in Education. I actually carried this baby in June of 1973 to receive my degree. It was Friday, November 9th about 5:30 and I was getting sharp pangs. I felt I should check it out and headed to St Joseph's hospital in Providence. I was admitted because they felt I was ready to deliver as they timed me. I was prepped and went to the delivery room at 7:30 and left the delivery room at 8pm with no child. I was told that the activity has ceased and it was as if the baby went to sleep. I was told to remain in the hospital but it was okay for my husband to return home until tomorrow. My DH went home to be with our 27mo son and said he would be back tomorrow morning or sooner if the Doctor called.I remember having a night of little activity, no labor pains until the next morning. Mark Alan was delivered at 10:30am. I was actuallyinduced for the delivery to come quickly.

Saturday, November 10, 1973 at 10:30am MARK ALAN CORBETT was born.

7 pounds 9 oz 21 inches

As a Corbett ritual I call MARK ALAN every year on his birthday no matter where he is at 10:30am and we sing him "Happy Birthday."

Our first Christmas as a family, 2 sons, and a dog

December 25, 1973

My two sons, my life, my new career, being a Mommy and loving it.

23 comments:

George said...

What a neat post. And the pictures are wonderful memories of that time with your little ones. Why do they grow up so fast?

Chat with Kathleen said...

George,
Indeed, life must go on, but it is true those were most wonderful memories to cherish, moments in your life that you never forget. They do grow up so fast and make their own families. My firstborn, is the son who has given me two precious grandsons 2 and 4. I am now hating to see them grow so fast especially since they are 19 hours away.

Linda said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vicky said...

I absolutely love these pictures! Next time we visit...we will have to get them out again.

Unknown said...

Sorry Kathleen - the delete was me - I was logged in as my mom (helping her with something)...anyway...here is what I said the first time! :)

Your little boys (not so little anymore) are so cute. I love reading birth stories and I enjoyed yours. Your first little red head did come extremely fast for a first born - WOW! Mine only took about 3 days. Ugh!

Thanks for sharing today. I enjoyed your blog.
Lynnette

SaraG said...

Great post and pictures!! They grow up so quickly and are so much fun!!
Thanks for sharing and thank you for commenting on my blog!!
Take care

Julie said...

Great post! I love reading birth stories! What cuties!!

Chat with Kathleen said...

Vicky,
I love these pictures of my sons infant,toddler years. Doesn't the one of John Michael in the nautical outfit look so much like Braydon? Amazing look a like!
Thanks for stopping by
BTW, become my follower, see sidebar (I added new widget)

Chat with Kathleen said...

Lynette,
Thanks for creating this blog that we can express, display and share our memories. So much fun!
My first born's red hair lasted only until October'71 His great grandfather, my maternal Poppy was so impressed with his new great grandson that had the color of his hair (only one in the family) After Poppy died a few months later our son's hair changed to blondish brown and remained. How God works his blessings!

Chat with Kathleen said...

Hello Sara,
I appreciate your visits and thank you for becoming my follower.

Jamimania said...

That is precious. I didn't realize that you couldn't keep your job as a teacher back then. That's pretty crazy. I think it's fantastic that you call your boys at their birth time on their birthdays. I'm sure they feel special and loved. The outfits in these photos look much like those in my photo albums. :) Gotta love those 70's clothes. ha ha. Your boys are grown, but I can tell that their momma still adores them. :) Thanks for sharing!

Chat with Kathleen said...

Thanks Julie for stopping by today on your birthday, have a super fastastic memorable day. Happy Birthday, loved your Wednesday Memory LOL

Kristin said...

Great stories! I guess I never thought about them not having the technology back then to tell what the sex was. I love that you call them every year.....they will treasure those memories, I'm sure!

Abigail Kraft said...

Your little boys were so cute! I think it's a great tradition to call your boys every year on their birthdays at the time that they were born. That wouldn't work for most of the kids in my family because lots of us were born in the middle of the night. :)

Thanks for sharing this story with us...it was a lot of fun to read! :)

In His arms,
--Abigail

Chat with Kathleen said...

Jami, Thanks for stopping by. East Providence, RI where I taught in the early 70's did not get a maternity leave in its contract until 1978. I probably would have returned to teaching after the leave if I had that option, because I loved being a teacher.
You are so right "this momma LOVES HER SONS.

Chat with Kathleen said...

Kristen, thank you for visiting, if there had been ultrasound in the early 70's and I had known the sex beforehand I probably would not have relied on my GYN quess and would have receved less pink gifts and dolls.LOL

Chat with Kathleen said...

Abigail,
Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. I can imagine how it would be difficult to call during the middle of the night or early mornings and disturbing their sleep. The time 9:30am and 10:30am is convenient for me.

Anonymous said...

Great story! Motherhood is really a wonderful journey...it's a good thing you were able to keep all those wonderful photos to look back to.

Connie said...

Your family memories are great. I love photos of all sorts. I can look mine and others for hours! Time marches on! I love the ritual of calling your boys at a certain time on their birthday every year!

Rosezilla (Tracie Walker) said...

What beautiful, precious boys! Good thing they weren't born at 3 a.m., lol! Our first two boys were 13 mths apart. It was hard but a lot of fun having them so close.

Chat with Kathleen said...

Sassy reporter, thanks for commenting, I do love motherhood. I have always loved taking pictures. I started at age 10 when my parents gave me a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera, been taking pictures ever since and putting them in photo albums.

I love the new way of using a digital camera and posting on blogs to capture the memories of my family past present and the future ones to come.

Chat with Kathleen said...

Connie,
I appreciate your visits, I just added your blog to follow.
I do that ritual every year that my sons expect the call and usually will be waiting so I don't have to leave a message. Love them:)

Chat with Kathleen said...

Rosezilla,
13 months apart must have been so much work. My 27months seems just right, I did not have 2 in diapers at the same time, that was most welcomed.
Calling them at 9:30am or 10:30am is a good time to make morning Birthday calls. LOL