The Anonymous Widower

Waiting for Apollo 11 – Part 3

The Tuesday was a day of waiting.  They broke the waters in mid-morning and nothing happened.  And then in mid-afternoon, contractions started.

Now my late wife wasn’t a lady with a large frame.  Although she was nearly 5ft 5in, she was really only a size 8, so getting the baby out, when he finally arrived after midnight, was a bit of a messy business.  Our first son was also about 8lb 5oz, so he was not small and she had quite a few stitches.  Luckily, the student doctor , who was nicknamed Smooth Hugh, was very very good.

So that night I got back to Barnet about three in the morning, with mother and son doing well.

In other words exactly forty years ago.

But the time in the hospital was not without tragedy.  The lady in the next bed with the unusual ring, lost her baby.  Her son was born with a hole in the diaphragm, which meant he was unable to breathe.

But in those days of no ultrasound, it was impossible to diagnose the condition.  Six years ago, my granddaughter had the same condition.  It was diagnosed before birth and she was operated on at two days old.  She is now a bouncing ad very normal girl, with no after effects from her ordeal.

So medical science can solve our problems.

But just as my wife was helped through a difficult birth by Smooth Hugh, good surgery helped in a much worse case to enable my granddaughter to survive.

We must train our surgeons to be the best.

Later that day, Apollo 11 blasted off to the moon.  My wife told me later that evening, that everyone was gripped as they watched the huge Saturn rocket take off from Florida.

And there was still a shortage of babies in the hospital.  They’d even resorted to ringing round hospitals and the message was the same.  Everybody must be waiting for the moon landing.

July 16, 2009 - Posted by AnonW | Health, News, World | Apollo 11, Childbirth