"My First One!"

Clay and Ginger Bowie

My FIRST ONE! :) Ginger and her Mama

Since "my first one" did her "first one"--I thought it would be fun to do her!!! That's right Ginger Ann Ault Bowie! :)

(If you have not heard about this one--it is all about your first born! :) )

1. Was your first pregnancy planned? Yes! I had miscarried our first baby, and so we were so EXCITED to be expecting again!

2. Were you married at the time? We married June of 73. Miscarried Oct. of 73 and found out we are expecting again Feb. of 74.

3. What were your reactions? We were so grateful! Especially Grandmother Ault. This was her first grandbaby!

4. How old were you? 25 when she was born.

5. How did you find out you were pregnant? I missed my period. I made a doctor's appointment and found out that way. Back in the 70s we did not have pregnancy tests at the pharmacies. :)

6. Who did you tell first? Grandmother Ault and Grandma Ricks.

7. Did you want to find out the sex? Back in the old days you had to wait until the moment of birth to find out the sex. Robert just knew he was going to have ALL BOYS--so he was SHOCKED we had a daughter--but it did not take long for this little "papoose" to have her daddy all wrapped around her finger!

One thing that worked with all our children--our girls ALL had a fast heart beat--at least 165--and our son's heart beat was lower.....but with our grandbabies this has not always been an indicator of the correct sex. :)

8. Due Date? October 13--my Grandmother McKneely's birthday.

9. Did you have morning sickness? I felt very nauseated, but NEVER tossed up with our first little one.

10. What did you crave? I loved vanilla milk shakes--but I could not tolerate peanut butter while I was pregnant--so when our first little one was born--my sweet husband did not bring me flowers, but instead a great big jar of peanut butter! :)

11. Who/ What irritated you the most? When I was in labor--Dr. Springfield had two of us in labor at the same time and he put Robert of all people in charge of me while he went to deliver the other patient. I did not have much faith in Robert's ability to deliver our first born. Robert ran back and forth to the delivery room telling Doctor Springfield that he needed to hurry. :)

12. What was your first child's sex? A beautiufl dark eyed daughter--she was very red--that is why we called her our little "Papoose". :)

13. Did you wish you had the opposite sex of what you were getting? No Way! I wanted a brown eyed little girl and I got just what I ordered--now Robert was overheard calling Papa and Mema Lovell (some of our very dear neighbors) from the hospital saying: "We have a Stinking little girl!" Robert now comments looking back that Heavenly Father was keeping him humble with all of his girls. :)

14. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregancy? I weighed 130 before getting pregnant and I weighed 165 when I gave birth--a lot of my weight was water retention--but with all my babies I gained at least 30 pounds.

15. Did you have a baby shower? Was it a surprise or did you know? Sis. Woodbury gave me a shower in Henderson, Texas. I knew about it. We had just moved to Henderson from Dallas.

It made me feel very special and helped me to get to know all of the sisters in the branch.

16. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? Retaining water and getting my first external fibroid hemmorroid. I thought I had a tumor. I could not sit down for the pain. Grandpa Ault bought me a round blown up intertube to sit on. Dr. Springfield was out of town. When I finally got to see him--he chuckled when he told me I just had an infected hemmorroid! I did not appreciate his humor in the least bit--but I was relieved I did not have a tumor. :)

17. Where did you give birth? Henderson Memorial Hospital in Henderson, Texas

18. Who drove you to the hospital? Robert

19. Who watched you give birth? Dr. Springfield and his nurses--back then husbands were not allowed in the delivery room--Dr. Springfield had to stop one delivery because a husband had passed out and hit his head and had to have stitches. Later on with our last two births Robert was with me and what a difference it made!

20. Was it natural or C-section? She was born naturally.

21. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? A mask was put over my face and I was completely put out--I remember the worst pain I had ever felt in my life and I felt like I was spinning around and around. I did not wake up until everyone KNEW what my baby was and how my baby was. I hated it! I am so grateful that I kept having babies until I got to be awake and alert and actually got to see my baby first--not all the rest of the world. I was put to sleep right at the moment of birth. I think that was so stupid.

22. How much did your child weigh? 7 pound 6 ounces 18 1/2 inches long

23. When was your child actually born? October 3rd--I loved Dr. Springfield--but today as I look back--he was not that great of a doctor. He induced me ten days before Ginger was even due. My mom said I had more stitches than she had ever seen after giving birth--so was I really ready to be induced? Grandmother Ault said, "You will never know Ginger's real birthday because you were induced!" I thought that was pretty silly. :)

24. What did you name him or her? Ginger Ann Ault.

25. How old is your first born today? Over thirty! So if Gin is really old having an 11 year old--I wonder where that puts this Mama? :)

A Few Other Memories: I wanted so bad to nurse Ginger, but I was very modest and had never been around any one who had nursed. I remember the nurse bringing Ginger in to me with some alcohol cotton balls to clean my breasts so that I could nurse. Robert, his mother and a roommate and others were standing around looking at me like I should know what to do. I felt weak from giving birth and I started crying and asked the nurse to take Ginger back to the nursery. I remember Grandmother Ault saying "She's rejecting the baby!" I will always be grateful for Doctor Springfield for coming in and asking everyone to leave and he just talked to me like a father. He told me that I did not have to nurse my baby--that I could just snuggle with her and feed her a bottle and rock her. He said I would be a good mother. That is one regret that I have that I did not get to nurse my Ginger. When I got home from the hospital I tried to nurse her--but they had given me a shot to dry up my milk. It was too late. I loved Ginger with all my heart. I was not rejecting my child. From that time on Robert said he would always give me a private room when I gave birth to our children. He has kept that promise to me with all the births of our seven children.

Thank you Ginger for making me a mama. I love you today more than ever before. You are a beautiufl woman, mother, sister, wife, and daughter. I could not be any more proud of you.

All My Love, Mama