27-1-75DFO NO.587

—Chap. 1: "The Birth of Baby David!"—By MO and Maria

Copyrighted August 1977 by the Children of God

(—From a tape made for the Family only two days after he was born!:)

1. WELL, PRAISE THE LORD! Here we are! Dear Maria is so shy! I told her to please try to tell you about the birth of the baby, but she said, "Oh, I can't, I can't! I'm too shy! I want you to tell it please!" So anyhow she's lying right here behind me on the bed as chirper and bright as ever‚ and she's been up and around ever since the day the baby was born!

2. WE REALLY HAD A GREAT TIME! God bless you all!—How's everybody? I trust everybody's okay and happy in the Lord and getting lots of good work done while you're waiting for your babies! God bless you all!

3. I'VE BEEN WANTING TO WRITE YOU a note, but we got caught in the middle of the mother-muddle this time and I haven't had time to get it off. But thanks for your good missives to us. I don't want to take up Maria's time on this tape with the things I want to talk to you about‚ so I better just let her tell you a little bit about the baby.

4. FIRST I'LL TELL YOU MY STORY! Maria woke me up early Saturday morning, January 25, 1975, by making a quick dash for the bathroom without her bathrobe, and I thought, "That's funny! She's sure going fast! She doesn't usually go that fast like she's in a big hurry!"

5. WELL, IT TURNED OUT HER WATER HAD JUST BROKEN and she was trying to make it to the toilet! I was still half asleep and dreamy and I wasn't sure, but I just had that feeling right then, "Uh oh! I wonder if her water's broken?"—And sure enough it had! But I thought sleepily, "Well, I'll wait until she gets back and find out." But then I thought,

6. "NOW, SHE DIDN'T PUT HER ROBE ON and she's been several minutes and she'll be cold in there‚ so I'd better turn on the light to see if she took her robe."—And I turned on her light and the robe was gone so I turned off the light and tried to doze a bit.

7. BUT AFTER ABOUT TEN MINUTES she still wasn't back and I still kept having this feeling she didn't have her robe, but I couldn't understand as the robe wasn't there. So I finally decided to get up and go see.

8. SHE WAS THE CUTEST LITTLE THING sitting there on the toilet with her notebook, no robe, cold‚ trying to be so brave and jot down everything that was happening. And I said, "Where is your robe?" She says, "It's out on the line." I said, "That's a great place for your robe to be on a night like this when you need it—out on the line!"

9. IN FACT I HAD A TERRIBLE TIME with the girls and her the night before, Friday night, telling them, "You gotta get her bag packed tonight! She's supposed to have the baby tomorrow!" But Maria kept saying, "Oh no, I'm going to wait and have it Monday when the doctor said he could be there.—He said he'd rather I had it Monday."

10. HERE SHE IS: (Maria: I said I didn't feel like I was going to have the baby. I felt so good I didn't see how it was possible!) So I ran back and grabbed my robe for her and came in and threw it around her, and then I went to the girls' room and stuck my head in the door and I told Rachel and Lydia. I said, "Good morning!"

11. (—IT WAS 4 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, by the way!) I said, "Good morning, Maria's water has broken and she may need a little help." So they scrambled around and started climbing out of bed and the furor began. Rachel went and sat in the bathroom with Maria for awhile wrapped up in a big blanket, and one time I went in there Lydia was in there with her.

12. THEN THEY WERE TRYING TO GET ME BACK IN BED, for I was running around in my undershirt because I didn't have my robe, as Maria had it, so I was trying to hold my undershirt down to be modest while running around there giving directions and telling them what to do. Lydia finally persuaded me to go back to bed, as it would be quite awhile yet, since she wasn't even having really hardly any contractions—I started to say contortions!

13. SHE NEVER DID HAVE HARDLY ANY STRONG CONTRACTIONS until way later.—And of course‚ she never did have any contortions at all,—ha! Praise God! So I decided, "Well okay, the girls can handle the situation, so if this is going to be the big day I might as well try to get a little more sleep." So I went back to bed.

14. ABOUT 7 O'CLOCK or so, between 7 and 8 somewhere, I woke up again and I thought, "Oh my Lord! It's been 3 hours! I better go and see how she's doing!" So I jumped out of bed and I didn't have my robe again‚ so I had to hold my undershirt down in front of me, running around in my undershirt with all these women around‚ but I didn't know what to do, as I didn't have anything to put on.

15. SO ANYWAY I RAN OUT THERE TO SEE HOW SHE WAS DOING and by this time she was lying out there peacefully and beautifully on the living room couch like the famous Naked Maja‚ only the Maja Vestido, the clothed one, in my robe, and Lydia was sitting beside her talking to her or reading to her, and they just looked perfectly calm and collected and there was nothing important happening at all.

16. MARIA JUST SMILED at me and looked cheerful and bright and said, "What are you doing here?" and I said, "Well what are you doing?" (Maria: I stayed there in the living room the whole time.—You called me about 7 o'clock to come back to bed, remember? But I told you I wasn't coming back, I wanted to stay out here. I told you to go back to bed and go to sleep, so I really prayed and evidently you did. So it wasn't till 10 o'clock that you woke up again.)

17. SO SHE CLAIMED HER CONTRACTIONS—I keep wanting to say contortions, but she never did have a contortion—her contractions were, oh, I think you said they were only about half-an-hour apart or something like that, 20 minutes or half-an-hour apart, but the doctor said not to worry about coming until they were about 15 minutes apart. So Maria said,

18. "I'M FINE OUT HERE. I want to be out here where I won't brother anybody. I like to be out here alone." She reminded me of some little animal that like to crawl off in the woods to have their babies. So she finally persuaded me to go back to bed. She said, "You'll need your rest and strength for later." So I said, "All right, if you're okay."—And I made sure the girls kept an eye on her. Lydia was still up and around.

19. SO I WENT BACK TO BED, and of all things, I was so dead tired I slept like a log for another three hours until 10 o'clock! Then I heard this horn outside faintly in my sleep‚ and I heard a car door slam and it sounded like a taxi drove off! I jumped out of bed and thought,

20. "THAT LITTLE RASCAL! If she's trying to pull a fast one on me and go to the hospital without me, I'm going to be so mad! It's just like something she'd do to not want to worry me and want to get off and have it without any bother!" So I jumped up in my undershirt again and ran out into the living room, and there she was lying peacefully on the couch still smiling and Lydia is sitting behind her reading to her! So I ask,

21. "WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?" (Maria: Lydia was asking me how much pressure there was. I was telling her I felt like I was going to have a B.M., and so she started to get worried but she didn't want to tell me!) So the first thing I said was,

22. "HOW FAR ARE THE PAINS APART?" And Lydia tries to calmly say, "Oh, just five minutes." I said‚ "My Lord kids, she's about to have the baby!" (Maria: They'd been five minutes apart for a long long time but the book said that in the first stage of labour they come at intervals of five to twenty minutes, so I thought that was fine.) But I said,

23. "FOR GOD'S SAKE HURRY UP AND GET HER READY and get her suitcase and I'll call the taxi! Goodness gracious, she's going to have it right here!" And Maria says, "Well, why can't I have it right here? It's so much more comfortable and convenient. Why can't I stay here and have it?" I think she was really deliberately trying to wait as long as she could to keep from having to go to the hospital! And I said,

24. "LISTEN, BABY HOSPITALS ARE MUCH BETTER EQUIPPED FOR THIS THAN WE ARE! Besides, your doctor—what would he say? He expects you there and he told you to come, an' we done paid him all that money, so what good is it if we don't go?" So I argued with her about it and said, "We've got to go to the hospital!" So I ran and got dressed quick and phoned the taxi while the girls were getting her and her things ready, and she was having pains faster and faster and said,

25. "I FEEL LIKE I NEED TO HAVE A B.M.!" Rachel looked at me kinda funny and on the side whispered, "It must be the head I think she's about to have the baby!" I said, "For God's sake‚ let's get her in that cab quick and get there as fast as we can!"

26. THESE WOMEN, YOU KNOW!—ALWAYS IN A STATE OF INDECISION! We men have to make the decisions for them! That's what we're for, so praise God boys! God bless the women, but we're supposed to be the leaders and know what to do and tell them what to do. So if there's any indecision around, boys, it's up to you to make the decision.—Ask the Lord to help you.

27. SO I JUST SAID, "Lord, now I think the best place to have it is where we're supposed to, and besides the doctor didn't seem to approve of having it at home and I don't want to displease him, he's a good friend"‚ so I said,

28. "LET'S HURRY!" So the taxi came, but every minute Rachel said, "Maybe I better get my stuff ready—she could have it right here any minute!" But I said, "Well, you bring your stuff along!"—and we quickly rushed her out to the taxi and helped her in. We both supported her on both sides taking her out there‚ and she was laughing like it was all a big joke and said,

29. "WHAT ARE YOU MAKING SUCH A BIG FUSS ABOUT? Quit holding on to me! I can walk, you don't have to carry me!" She's a stubborn independent little rascal! So she was waddling out there to the taxi in between pains enough pain. But she never seemed to have enough pain to hardly even groan or grunt or anything.

30. SHE JUST KEPT GOING, "WHEW-WHEW–WHEW!" like a steam engine and never made any complaints or groans, laughing and smiling all the time between blows. But once in a while I'd notice that her blows got a little more energetic and she'd concentrate a little more on them.

31. SO WE MANAGED TO GET HER LOADED INTO THE TAXI with her head in my lap and dear Lydia holding up her feet on the other end.—Lying on the seat between us and across us, she was almost halfway onto the floor!—And Rachel got in front with the driver and away we went! (Maria: Lydia was holding up my legs so I didn't fall on the floor.) I noticed after we were halfway down to the hospital that Maria had one hand on the floor trying to keep herself from falling on the floor! It was really funny!

32. I'D BEEN RUNNING AROUND LIKE A CHICKEN WITH ITS HEAD OFF giving directions while we were trying to get the taxi, and when it came I ran out to tell the taxi man, "Momentito, por favor!—Momentito!—Mi bambino viene!—Mi bambino viene!" And he looked at me and kind of smiled in the slow calm way of the Tenerifans there:

33. "TRANQUILO, TRANQUILO!—No hay prisa"—"Don't worry, don't worry! There's no hurry." I thought‚ "Man, if you knew what a hurry there is you wouldn't be so calm! She may mess up your taxi!" But he didn't even seem to worry about that. So we got her in and then she said‚

34. "I'M SOAKING WET!—I'm soaking wet, give me a towel quick!" Thank God, Lydia had a big towel there and shoved it under her. The driver just barely casually glanced back as though, "I hope they don't get the taxi all messed up", as though it wouldn't be anything new to him to have a baby born in his cab!—And he just drove calmly down to the hospital. We drove first to the Bellevue Clinic because it was so late, as I thought, "Good night, we don't have time to go clear downtown!"

35. (MARIA: IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY, it was gorgeous, and Teide had such beautiful snow on it! I could see it through the window.) It was just the most gorgeous day, Saturday! What a beautiful day it was! It was all sunny, and yesterday too, Sunday, just like the Lord and all creation were celebrating the birth of our baby!

36. ALL THE WAY DOWN I WAS PRAYING for Maria like mad in tongues, just praying away, and I kept hearing this name in Abrahim's tongue, "David, David‚ David!", but I was too busy to even think about interpreting‚ I was so desperate and concerned about her not having the baby right there in that taxi, and praying,

37. "OH LORD, PLEASE HELP HER WAIT until we get down there!"—And you said that you hardly had any pains or contractions while in the taxi, didn't you? (Maria: Yes, they almost ceased entirely while I was in the taxi!) Isn't that something!—Just a real answer to prayer!

38. TURN THAT THING DOWN HONEY, will you?—The automatic heater just came on. Oh for goodness sake, I forgot you can't bend, Honey! I'm sorry! For goodness sake, she knelt right down on the floor and turned off the heater! I keep forgetting, she's so spry and gets around so much that I forget that she's still got to watch her step because of her stitches.

39. SO ANYWAY, THE TAXI DRIVER JUST DROVE CALMLY ALONG. I told him Bellevue Clinic. I said we don't have time. The doctor had said to go down to the Maternidad first, Emergencia Maternidad downtown Puerto, and then he said‚ "The nurse will call me when it's time for you to come up to Bellevue." But I now thought, "Well, we just don't have time to go down there! Good night! The baby's about to be born in this taxi! We've got to go straight to Bellevue! If that's where he is, we gotta get up there.

40. SO HERE WE ARE‚ Maria practically holding her breath trying to hold the baby in, and we got up to Bellevue trying to find the emergency entrance which they don't seem to have.

41. BY THIS TIME IT WAS ABOUT 11 O'CLOCK when we got to Bellevue and we'd just left the house about 10:30 or so and we ran around; looking for a doctor, a nurse, or where we should take this emergency case in quick that's about to have a baby in the taxi cab! But everybody just sauntered around unconcerned.

42. YOU ALWAYS HAVE IN THESE HOSPITALS HERE A TERRIBLE TIME FINDING ANYBODY, there's nobody around, the nurses are hiding out somewhere and the doctors aren't even there. So the little bitty nurse comes out and says, "Not here, you can't take her here!" And I'm fretting and fuming trying to get her out of the taxi‚ but Maria says‚ "No‚ no‚ no! Wait till we find out." But I was going to rush her right in if I had to carry her in. But the nurse said, "You can't have her here, no, no! You've got to take her down to Maternidad." And I was so mad, I said,

43. "WHERE'S THE DOCTOR! Where's the doctor?" She said, "The doctor's not here‚ he's gone to Santa Cruz." And, oh, my heart sank, I thought, "My Lord! Here she's about to have the baby this minute and the doctor's in Santa Cruz, he can't possibly make it!" So she says, "You'll have to take her down to Maternidad where the midwife is and they'll take care of her down there."

44. SO MY HEART SANK as we climbed back into the taxi and Maria was still in the backseat hanging on to the baby trying to hold it in. The taxi driver, like it didn't matter if he had babies born in his taxi everyday, just calmly climbed back in and drove us slowly down to Maternidad, right down there to the little emergency clinic near the Plaza Charco on the corner where the local poor go too.

45. MARIA IN THE MEANTIME SEEMED TO BE GETTING ALONG GREAT! She was just laughing and smiling with all the confusion and thinking it was really funny the way we were acting, and she was the calmest one in the bunch and hardly having any pains at all!

46. EVERY NOW AND THEN SHE'D BLOW A LITTLE BIT, but I don't think she hardly blew much in that cab all the way down. (Maria: Just maybe once or twice, but the Lord really...Well, I prayed I wouldn't have to have it in the taxi. It didn't seem like...well, the quarters were rather cramped!) You can say that again, and with the three of us in the backseat already!

47. I THINK I WAS ALMOST WORRIED MORE ABOUT MESSING UP HIS TAXI than I was about her having it in the taxi! I knew if she had it in the taxi she'd be all right‚ but I figured, "Oh my Lord, I'll have to pay to have this cab cleaned up and the poor taxi man will be upset if we mess up his cab!"

48. BUT ANYWAY, WE MANAGED TO GET DOWN THERE to Maternidad about 11:25 A.M. and we pulled her out of the taxi and she kept jerking her arm away from me saying, "I don't need so much help—I can walk myself!" She was trying to be so independent, she's such an independent little rascal‚ and wanted to show she didn't need all this help.

49. BUT ANYHOW, WE HELPED HER UP THE STEPS and she and Lydia got up there, and I don't know what happened inside, as I was outside taking care of the taxi.—What happened inside? (Maria: Oh, they just got me up on the big table...) Well first of all‚ while she was still in the taxi the girls ran in, Rachel or somebody ran in to try to find a doctor or nurse quick to come out and help and to find out where she's to go.

50. —AND THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYBODY! There was some little chit of a girl up there mopping the floor and Rachel asked her what to do, "Where's the doctor, where's the nurse, where's the midwife?" But she said, "They're not here". And Rachel said, "But we've got a woman out here about to have a baby in the taxi‚ what do we do?" She said—Well, I guess I'll have to let Rachel tell you about that. The girl said, "Bring her in"‚ or something like that.

51. SO RACHEL COMES OUT AND SAYS, "I CAN'T FIND ANYBODY! There's no one up there but a little nurse's aide, but she says to bring you in." So we helped her up the steps and they helped her into the maternity room and laid her out on the table, and this girl didn't get excited in the least bit, this little girl!

52. THE GIRL THAT WAS MOPPING THE FLOOR, mind you, she just laid down her mop and began to take care of Maria and lay her on the table and went in and began washing her hands and getting a few instruments collected. (Maria: She had her hand on my stomach for about ten minutes measuring something, I don't know, she never even looked at me or started prepping me or anything.)

53. IT TURNED OUT SHE WAS THE MADRONA‚ THE MIDWIFE AND THE NURSE and the only one up there and the doctor wasn't even there! And it was cold as a crutch in there! The windows were wide open and Maria suffered more from the cold than she did anything else, she was just freezing‚ almost shivering! So she said,

54. "PLEASE COVER ME UP", and she had somebody go get socks and so on because they had her half-naked lying on the table and there was a big cold wind blowing a draft on her head. (Maria: And the girl's hands were icy cold and she kept rubbing them all over my stomach! And then finally she got around to putting my legs up on the stirrups.

55. BUT THE STIRRUPS WERE FREEZING COLD metal and I started actually shaking! But Rachel put another pair of socks on me which helped a little, and I had one robe over the top of me and I tried to put one on my stomach to keep me warm. I was completely bundled up but I was still shaking with the cold!)

56. SHE WAS SUFFERING MORE FROM THE COLD THAN SHE WAS FROM CONTRACTIONS, but they began to come more and more. Meanwhile I was standing right there, but they didn't exactly act like they were too enthusiastic about me being in the delivery room, so I went into the instrument room.

57. RIGHT ABOVE THE TOP OF HER HEAD THERE WAS THIS LITTLE SQUARE HOLE that you could look through, kind of like the dream about the "City of Buried Treasure." So she was my buried treasure buried in the delivery room, and the baby was buried in her and we were trying to get it out through this little hole.—Ha!

58. SO I WAS TALKING TO HER THROUGH THIS LITTLE HOLE—it was about a foot long and about six inches high right above her head. Her head was lying just on the other side of it, so she'd lift her chin up and looked at me over the top of her forehead and I'd talk to her through that hole and try to encourage her and kept talking to her and ask her what she needed.

59. SO MARIA'S THE ONE THAT STARTS GIVING THE ORDERS! She tells Rachel to do this and do that, and she says, "Lydia, you take care of David and you get him out of here and take him into the waiting room—I don't want him in here." She was afraid I was cold too and she was more worried about me that I couldn't take it than she was about herself!

60. SHE WAS WORRIED MORE ABOUT ME and about this and that and the other, instead of worrying about herself! I said‚ "All right, if it will make you any happier I'll go in the waiting room!" So we went just one room away to the waiting room and it was cold as a crutch too‚ and I had to shut the window. These local natives are fresh-air fiends and never have any heat! —But we were just freezing! We shut the window in the instrument room too, as it was blowing a gale through there, trying to warm up the place a little bit.

61. APPARENTLY JUST ABOUT NOON THEY WERE CLEANING UP before lunch and opening everything up and mopping the floors and airing everything out. They'd already had some babies that morning, and the doctor, we found out later, had waited until 11 o'clock (we should have phoned him), and we got there at 11:25, but he'd already gone to Santa Cruz for his day off! He'd said,

62. "WELL, NOBODY WILL HAVE ANY MORE BABIES NOW—they either have them in the morning or at night". Isn't that funny? But I was born at two o'clock in the afternoon on a Tuesday! Imagine all this happened in the space of only about 40 minutes from the time we got there till the baby was born!

63. SO I WENT AND SAT DOWN like a nervous fidget on the couch beside Lydia in the waiting room, and the hospital secretary—I didn't know who the woman was at first, as she looked just like some stranger who'd come in there sitting there in her street clothes and with her hat on. But she turned out to be the secretary of the hospital, and she was waiting for the doctor who was called, as they'd been on their way to lunch together!

64. THE NURSE HAD FINALLY CALLED A DOCTOR and he did finally come after we'd been there about half the time, 15 or 20 minutes. Meanwhile this little tiny pimply-faced girl was fiddling around with Maria and pushing on her tummy with her icy-cold hands—she looked like she was half-sick herself and maybe she should have been in the hospital for sure, the nurse did!

65. (MARIA: WHEN SHE FINALLY TOOK MY CLOTHES OFF Rachel saw the head coming out and the girl still hadn't shaved me, so Rachel started getting out her gloves and said, "Well, if this girl doesn't do something soon, I'm going to have to deliver it!") So that was what was going on in the delivery room while I was trying to sit there and keep my peace in the waiting room. But I finally got fed up with that and said,

66. "LYDIA, I CAN'T JUST WAIT HERE!", and I dashed back to the instrument room and talked to Maria through the hole again and everything was going fine in there. I think I was more upset than anybody. Everybody else was so calm, at least Rachel was trying to keep calm, trying to pretend she was calm, but as she saw the baby's head sticking out...(Maria: Rachel said,

67. "HE'S GOT REAL BLACK CURLY HAIR! Come and look, come and look!"—to you.) So I said, "Never mind Rachel, I'll see it when it's born!" I thought, "This is no time for me to faint," as I'd never seen a birth before, and I didn't know whether I better try to start with this one because I might be too affected. As it turned out‚ I finally took it better than the girls did!

68. RACHEL NEARLY FAINTED right on the floor of the delivery room and so did Lydia!—She had to sit down on the floor when they were stitching Maria because they were so rough! But anyway, neither Lydia, Maria nor Rachel, nobody had had a bite to eat except me! I'd drunk a cup of coffee I'd fixed at the last minute before leaving, but these stupid crazy little girls hadn't drunk or eaten anything!

69. BESIDES‚ MARIA HADN'T EATEN ANYTHING ALL NIGHT, which they said was better for her that way, and she'd had a big B.M. during the night, and they said that was all very good too, that she hadn't eaten anything and she'd already cleaned out her system and so she was in tip-top shape. Praise the Lord!

70. IN FACT, MARIA SEEMED TO BE IN BETTER SHAPE THAN THE REST OF US and was just talking away and giving directions and telling the girls, "Ouch!", or "I'm cold!" or something. By that time Rachel had been standing on her feet quite a while and she was pretty tired, she hadn't gotten too much sleep that night and had had nothing to eat at all. She'd watched a lot of births and officiated at a lot of them, but apparently she had more sympathetic pains for poor Maria than she'd had for anybody else, as she felt more for Maria for some reason.

71. SO ALL OF A SUDDEN RACHEL BEGAN TO GET WOOZY and dizzy and thought she was going to keel over right there on the floor, she was having such sympathetic birth pains, so she comes running out of the Delivery Room pale as a ghost! At this moment I happened to be sitting in the waiting room talking to the Secretary with Lydia, and Rachel comes in and sits down real quick and puts her head down between her knees‚ and I thought, "What in the world's going on here?" She said,

72. "I'M SORRY, BUT I FEEL A LITTLE FAINT and I didn't want to faint right there on the delivery room floor and cause more trouble! I don't know what's the matter with me—I guess it's 'cause I didn't eat or get enough sleep or something." But I think it was really mostly her love and sympathy for Maria!

73. POOR RACHEL HAD REALLY BEEN THROUGH IT! But Lydia by now was quite chirper, so I told Lydia to rush in there and watch Maria while I was taking care of Rachel, and Rachel seemed to improve in just a few moments‚ and then she got up and went back in again‚ God bless her!

74. WELL, IT WAS ALL A GENERAL CONFUSION! I can't tell you everything that happened, but it was funny: I kept going into the waiting room and would sit down for about a minute, then I'd run back in and talk to Maria for a minute, then run back into the waiting room and sit down a minute then run back. Rachel said everytime she needed a translator I'd pop into the instrument room again so she could ask me how do you say this, or how do you say that‚ and on it went.

75. WELL, IT DIDN'T GO ON VERY LONG, because...tell about your contraction, Honey...she never really suffered any really severe pain or sharp contractions at all hardly, until the very end. She hardly even made a noise! She was puffing and wheezing a little bit, but no groans or moans. I'd heard women in hospitals before when they're having their babies, and they were screaming and yelling and cursing!—These ungodly women, you know, they really make a fuss!

76. BUT MARIA WAS JUST LYING THERE SO CALMLY. Every once in a while she'd start puffing a little bit and Rachel would tell her, "Blow, blow, blow", and so on. Also I'm trying to talk to her and get her attention and keep her mind off it—you know‚ the more you distract their attention, they say, the better it is. So finally what happened?

77. (MARIA: WELL, BY THE TIME THE DOCTOR GOT THERE I WAS HAVING TO PUSH). The baby had almost come by the time the doctor got there!—And he wasn't even our doctor!—Ours couldn't come as he was in Santa Cruz‚ so it was some other doctor we didn't even know. (Maria: He didn't speak English either, and both the midwife and the doctor kept saying,

78. "VENGA, VENGA! MAS, MAS! Venga, Venga!"—Or, "Come, come! More‚ more!" So I had to take a big breath and just push as hard as I could, and it was pretty hard work!) The only noise Maria really made during the whole thing was when I had just run back to the waiting room one more time to sit down and try to stay set a minute, when I heard her in the other room the way I've heard her sometimes when she gets real mad at something‚ like when she's trying to move a bed or a chair or table or something:

79. SHE WENT "UUUUUUUUMPH!" She just let out a big grunt—it was more like a big giant grunt—it wasn't a groan or anything, just, "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuah!", like she was having constipation and a hard time having a B.M., and boom, out popped the baby!—When I heard that big grunt, I dashed in just in time to see them pull the baby out!

80. RACHEL SAYS THAT THE BABY'S HEAD WAS ALREADY OUT and they were starting to pull the rest of it out when Maria says, "I don't thing I can push any more". Rachel just laughed and said, "You don't have to, Honey, it's already born!" (Maria: I had to give one more push to get the body out, but after that it came out pretty easy.)

81. SO ANYHOW, HE WAS BORN!—And much to my surprise, instead of the girl that I thought we were going to have, we had a little black-haired, curly-haired boy as pretty as a girl and as big as could be—7.7 lbs! 7.7 lbs, can you imagine that!—That's more than 7-1/2 lbs!—That's about 7 pounds and 12 ounces!—7 Lbs. & 12 oz.! But anyhow we thought it was funny be cause he was 7.7 Lbs, or 3-1/2 kilos, 7.7 lbs, and I weigh 77 kilos!

82. OH, I FORGOT!—JUST BEFORE HE WAS BORN I had gone back into the waiting room again—I just kept wearing a groove between the waiting room and the instrument room—and I sat down there when I heard the church bells chime 12 o'clock! I thought‚ "Wow, Lord!" I just felt like there was something significant about it, and I thought‚ "Wow, Lord! That would be something if he was born at noon on the seventh day of the week!" So I thought, "I better run back and see‚ "and I ran back in there and just in a few minutes‚

83. AT 12:10 PM EXACTLY HE WAS BORN! I had just left her again while they were there for her final pushes and so on, and I went back into the waiting room and sat down a minute, when I heard her give that mighty push, and almost instantly—they didn't have to pick the baby up and spank it or make it cry or anything!—but instantly he began yelling his head off!

84. HE COMES RIGHT OUT WITH AN IMMEDIATE BIG BELLOW, and I thought to myself, "That doesn't sound like any girl to me! That sounds like a boy's voice, a big mighty boom!" And sure enough, I rushed in there and sure enough it was a boy! Oh, wait, I've got to tell you first: Before I could get in there, Lydia comes rushing out the minute it was born and she says,

85. "IT'S A GIRL, IT'S A GIRL! It's a girl, it's David‚ it's David, it's gotta be David!" She's telling everybody, "It's David, David!" And I said, "What, Lydia?—If it's a girl‚ how can it be David?" But she carried on, "It's a girl! I mean it's a boy, I mean it's David, it's David, it's gotta be David, it's gotta be David!"—

86. POOR LYDIA WAS SO EXCITED and all mixed up she couldn't say boy for the life of her! She kept saying, "It's a girl, it's a girl—oh, I mean it's a boy!" I bet it was at least one full minute before I got the facts! I said, "Now wait a minute, Lydia, calm down!—Is it a girl or is it a boy?" She said,

87. "IT'S GIRL—I MEAN IT'S A BOY, A BOY, A BOY!—IT'S DAVID!" I thought, "If it is a girl‚ that's a funny name to call a girl!" So I started to say to Lydia, "Well, we'll have to call it Davida or Davida or something like that if it's a girl." And then I thought, "Well, I'm going to go see for myself just to make sure." So I dashed in there, and sure enough it was a boy! There he was in the doctor's hands and there was the cord stringing out and I could see it was a boy.

88. —AND HE WAS ALL BOY! You never could have disguised him with girl's clothes ever in this world! I had told the girls before, "Well, if it turns out to be a boy, why, it doesn't matter if we got pink clothes—they won't know the difference when he's got a diaper on!" But I'll tell you, you'll never mistake this guy for a girl!—He's all boy!—All you have to do is take one look at his little face and head and see he is a boy!

89. SO, ANYWAY, I WAS RUSHING BACK AND FORTH and trying to take care of Lydia and whatnot. So I went then back to the delivery room and Rachel had taken the baby into another little ante–room where she was bathing and dressing him and he was lying out there on the counter stark naked and he was definitely a boy!—I never saw such a big one on a baby! Good night! Seven pounds and 12 ounces, think of that, 7.7 lbs!—And he was still letting it be known he had arrived.

90. BUT AS RACHEL BEGAN TO DRESS HIM and talk to him—he stopped crying and just rolled his eyes around, looking all around.—And it's the funniest thing! He's so black-headed and he looks so Spanish, that I don't know why I did it, but I immediately started talking to him in Spanish, and I said,

91. "THIS IS YOUR PAPA, this is your Father—Are you a little cold?", and so on-all in Spanish! "Poco frio? Poco frio?—Yo soy tu Papa!"—And he stopped and listened and he turned his head and looked at me! It's the funniest thing, he looks all around‚ he's like he's weeks old already!

92. YOU KNOW THEY SAY AQUARIANS ARE BORN OLD. He turns his head and he looks around at anybody that talks, his little black curly head! You know our Deborah, when she was born she had long black hair just black as could be‚ so you never can tell by the first hair what colour it's going to be. But anyway‚ he calmed down and he never cried again for the next three hours, till after we left! He never cried again until after we left‚ he so calmed down.

93. THEN THEY MOVED US ALL INTO ANOTHER ROOM after getting Maria cleaned up and sewed up and everything. She said the hardest part of the whole thing was not having the baby or the birth or anything else, but the way they pushed on her stomach and sewed her up so rough! Rachel was kind of mad because the guy let her tear a little bit, didn't lubricate her properly or stretch her—and it was probably partly Maria's fault for wanting to have it, get it, make it come so quick, that she gave one mighty push and shoved it out!

94. (MARIA: WE PRAYED IT WOULDN'T HAPPEN, THAT I WOULDN'T TEAR, BUT IT HAPPENED, but I feel so good otherwise that I guess the Lord let it happen to keep me from overdoing and keep reminding me of my condition.) Yeah, she'd have been up running the whole house and typing letters and everything else the minute we got home if she hadn't had a little extra affliction to keep her humble! So anyway‚ to finish the tale‚ not of woe but of joy, praise God, hallelujah!

95. I WATCHED THIS DOCTOR SEWING HER through this little hole, I watched him sew her. I couldn't see everything that was happening, but it was the funniest thing the way he was pulling the threads, it reminded me of the way you lace up a football! He was sticking the needle in and then he'd pull it way up like this and give it an extra jerk, and Maria would wince a little bit and say, "Ouch!" She said,

96. "THIS IS WORSE THAN HAVING THE BABY!" And then they pushed on her tummy to try to get the afterbirth all out and everything. They're so used to having babies there, they have so many of them that it's just nothing to them‚ they don't worry about all the little fineries and niceties, courtesies or say, "May I please" or anything—they just go ahead and do it— boom, boom‚ boom! But don't be afraid, it was all over in nothing flat.

97. SOON THEY WERE WHEELING HER OUT OF THE DELIVERY ROOM ALL SMILES and glowing, and she was just so radiant and so happy, I couldn't believe it! I thought, "Good night! She didn't even faint, nothing!" She looked like she was happier than any of us and like she was in better shape than the rest of us! The girls had almost fainted and I was rushing around like a chicken with his head off! Maria said I was the funniest thing there and they kept laughing at me!

98. THEN THEY WHEELED HER INTO THIS NICE LITTLE PRIVATE CORNER ROOM, it was really a pretty little corner room, the sun was shining through the window, and it was just beautiful, everything was so pretty, just like the Lord was really blessing us and encouraging us that day!—And she was lying there on the bed so radiant and just smiling and her eyes glowing!

99. THEY IMMEDIATELY BROUGHT THE BABY RIGHT IN and laid it down in the cutest little crib, it was made up so sweet‚ it was so cute, right beside her!—And all of us were standing in there, all the family and everything, me and the girls and all, but nobody seemed to mind the least little bit that we were still hanging around and butting into everything.

100. IT WAS JUST ALL KIND OF A FAMILY AFFAIR AND VERY INFORMAL AND NOTHING LIKE THOSE HORRIBLE AMERICAN HOSPITALS where they won't even let you get near and you're ward-blocks away or you're down in the basement while they're up on the top floor or something, and you don't know what's going on and you worry more. Fathers and mothers both worry about being separated like that, more about each other‚ and it's more of a worry about what's going on and not knowing what's happening, than when you're right there to watch everything that's happening.

101. I THINK IT WAS GREAT! I wouldn't mind going through another one now at all! But next time I think I'll take a closer look. But I stood up at her head this time just to play it safe. These hospitals here are terrific! You can just be right there for everything and mill around and everybody rushing back and forth and so on.

102. THEN WE ALL LINED UP IN THE HOSPITAL ROOM, in her bedroom, and sat down and tried to begin to catch our breath! While little old David, he was just lying there with his eyes wide open looking around and listening, and he'd turn his head and he'd look over this way and turn his head and look over that way.—He never shut his eyes almost the whole time we were there!

103. I TOOK A LOT OF PICTURES AFTER, but we were too excited to take pictures during the delivery or anything like that. I probably couldn't have taken 'em, I don't know. But by the time we got to the bedroom we took a whole bunch of pictures of the mama and the baby, and mama and girls‚ mama and baby and girls‚ mama and papa, mama and papa and baby, and I think we took almost two whole rolls of film just in the bedroom!

104. WE SPENT UNTIL NEARLY THREE O'CLOCK JUST SITTING WITH MARIA While she was talking as excitedly as anybody about everything that happened, and the girls were all excited and everybody was discussing what had happened, and it was a scream—you'd have thought it was nothing!

105. MARIA WAS JUST AS STRONG AND CHIRPER AND TALKING AWAY, but finally I could tell she was getting a little tired, so I said, "Well, we've just got to go! If we don't go she won't stop talking and she won't sleep." So we left Lydia there to take care of Maria and the baby.—And they said the baby never did go to sleep until after we left! I guess we kept him awake with all our jabbering!

106. MARIA DIDN'T GO TO SLEEP EITHER UNTIL AFTER WE LEFT. Then I think you took a little nap, didn't you? (Maria: No, not for five hours!) She never went to sleep for five hours after the birth!—Can you imagine? She was so excited and talking and whatnot! So you didn't go to sleep until about two hours after we left, huh? What were you doing all that time? (Maria: Just talking to Lydia.)—Oh, those little rascals!

107. MEANWHILE LITTLE DAVID'S LYING IN HIS CRIB LOOKING ALL AROUND—When did he go to sleep? (Maria: Well, he didn't go to sleep for a long long time either until about the time I went to sleep.) Okay, well, he was a wide awake little fellow anyway, but he never let out a peep. What he'd try to keep doing was sucking on his fists and making little kissing sounds.

108. OH‚ I FORGOT TO TELL YOU!—I was telling you how I was praying for Maria all the way down in the taxi and Abrahim kept saying this name "David, David"—and I though he was praying for me! I remember thinking, "Well, that's funny he's talking about me so much this time when he ought to be talking about Maria and praying for her instead of just keep talking about me." He did say something about "Papa" several times‚ but he kept saying this name "David"! Well, now we know!

109. ABRAHIM WAS PRAYING FOR THE BABY! Oh me, how dumb can we get! I thought sure we were going to have a girl because of something I saw some time ago, but I guess that's going to come next. I thought that was going to be this time, but I guess we'll have to postpone her until next time, God willing.

110. SO WE LEFT TO GO HOME and get a little rest, as Maria insisted, so we could come back and take care of things later. The doctor was supposed to be in in the afternoon. While we were gone he did come in, and what happened? (Maria: First Stephen knocked at the door and popped in.)

111. WAIT A MINUTE, CAN YOU HEAR THAT? Can you hear the baby? He's crying in the next room! Oh I'm sorry, it's time for you to nurse him. I'll tell the rest while you go nurse him. Have her bring him in. Here comes the baby! Here comes the little king, here comes the little prince! Rachel's bringing him in. Okay boy‚ speak up! What have you got to say for yourself? Oh what a face! (Baby cries!) He's trying to nurse the microphone!

112. HE'S SO MAD because they're not feeding him. This little rascal's been waiting to eat for about a half an hour while we were finishing this tape‚ so he's gotta do it now.—So here you go, pal—hear him smacking his lips and chewing on his fist? How would you like to suck on the microphone? Want to try a little bit of mike?

113. OH IS HE ALL BOY AND IS HE MAD! "Where is my lunch!—It's already almost one o'clock and I haven't had lunch yet!" Come on bring him over and let him nurse, Honey. So you're getting in on the first scenes here. Thought I'd let you hear all about it so you could enjoy it with us. Praise the Lord! Now Rachel's laying little David right down beside Maria and they're getting everything ready.

114. WHILE WE WERE GONE FROM THE HOSPITAL ANYHOW, OUR DOCTOR CAME, and what did the doctor say? (Maria: The doctor was amazed! He said, "This doctor was amazed! He said‚ "This is fantastic! Why are you so happy?" Lydia has better notes on it than I do. He said, "And such a short first delivery—only 20 or 30 minutes!" I guess he'd gotten the story even more fantastic than it really was!) He said‚

115. "WE HAVEN'T HAD A FIRST DELIVERY THAT QUICK IN A YEAR-AND–A–HALF HERE!" Good night, and they have dozens of babies almost everyday! So he said, "I couldn't believe it!" But I'd told him it was going to be the 25. I said, "I figured it out, and that's the 280th day, and that's God's time table and so it's going to be the 25th!" He'd said, "Well of course we could possibly hold her off to the 27th and it'd be more convenient‚ because I have to go to Santa Cruz on the weekend"‚ and so on.

116. HE HAS OTHER CLINICS there and some kind of classes on the weekend. So he had waited at the Clinic until 11 o'clock, but we got there a little after 11. He phoned back in about an hour or so later and they told him the baby had already been born! He said, "I thought I'd phoned in plenty of time so I could drive back in 20 minutes if necessary—I thought I'd surely get there in time." He was apologising and apologising for not being able to make it, because he never dreamed it would be so quick! He said, "That's the quickest first one we've had in a year-and-a-half!—And the first baby too, first baby!"

117. LITTLE DAVID LIKES TO HEAR MY VOICE, huh? You like to hear me talking? He looks right at you! That's the most amazing thing I ever saw! He looks up at his mommy and then he looks over at me and he just looks right at you! He's got the prettiest little hands with his tiny little fingernails!

118. YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO CUT THOSE FINGERNAILS so he doesn't scratch himself. Now he's looking right at his mommy's face. Now he looks right straight over at me and the microphone. That's the most amazing thing I ever saw!

119. HE'S LIKE HE'S A MONTH OLD ALREADY! Here comes Lucy with the equipment‚ God bless her‚ she's been such a blessing—all the girls have! They've really been a blessing! I told them you better get a day or two rest now before the rest of the pregnant girls come, because you're going to be busy again, on duty again in a couple of days when the other girls have theirs.

120. SO THE DOCTOR CAME AND APOLOGISED for not being able to make it. Just after we left he came in and talked to Lydia and Maria. He looked at Lydia and said, "Oh, another one!"

121. OH, HE SMILED!—I'm talking about little David's smile, not the doctor—but the doctor smiled too! He makes the funniest little faces!—Little David, I mean. He's got such an expressive little face‚ it's a scream! Oh‚ he's getting that agonized look again like he's getting awful hungry! That's funny!—Because of the soothing sound of my voice or something‚ he must have gone back to sleep, he's shut his eyes again now.

122. WELL ANYWAY, THE DOCTOR APOLOGISED for not making it. He looked at Lydia like‚ "Well, another pretty girl! What's she doing here?"—All these girls we're having here, and all of them having babies and everything!

123. HE COULDN'T BELIEVE THAT LYDIA HAD FOUR CHILDREN and that she was a midwife and had delivered about 20 babies, so he looked at her and asked her a few questions like he was testing her to find out. Later when she showed him the picture of her four kids he could hardly believe it. Then later we brought Lucy down in the evening to take her turn on watch.—And the next day when he came Rachel and Lucy were both there, and he said,

124. "HOW MANY PRETTY GIRLS HAVE YOU GOT?" (Maria: He said, "This is quite something, one on the 25th, one on the 30th, one on the 31st and now another one! And these two midwives!—What are you doing anyway?") He's wondering what kind of thing we're running! So we're going to keep him busy, amen?

125. GOD BLESS THE GIRLS! Lucy is standing here looking so sweet and pretty and so precious, she's been such a blessing! The first night Little David only woke up two or three times. At first he was a little fussy and we were afraid he was going to have a hard night because Maria doesn't have any milk yet.

126. BUT MOTHER SAID HE'S SO ADVANCED he looks like he's a week old already and he's probably really hungry, he's probably not going to be satisfied with just a little colostrum. So they agreed that we'd better feed him a little formula to keep him going because he's such a big husky boy! He keeps shutting his eyes—he doesn't like that light in his eyes, so he keeps making faces. He is the cutest little thing you ever did see!

127. I NEVER SAW SUCH A CUTE LITTLE BABY! I had four little babies and they were all so funny when they were born and they all looked all wrinkled and shriveled, but he looks like he's been around a long time! You've been sleeping with Daddy for a long time haven't you? You're used to hearing your daddy's voice aren't you? He's puckering his little mouth.

128. HE'S GOT THE PRETTIEST LITTLE CUPID-BOW MOUTH you ever saw, and he's got the funniest little nose just about like Aaron's, and he's got the most gorgeous eyebrows—they look like they're painted on! Now he's opening his mouth looking around for it. Isn't he a doll! He's trying to open his eyes‚ but that light's too bright‚ he doesn't want to open them, it's just too bright. So I guess that's about the most of it.

129. ANYWAY, I'LL TELL YOU HOW WE GOT HER HOME. He's being a good boy now listening to his daddy, Do you care to add anything to the tape, David? No, he's totally disinterested now, he's shut his eyes and almost gone back to sleep.

130. HE SEEMS TO LIKE THE SOUND OF MY VOICE for some reason, every time! When I came in to the room where Rachel was dressing him right after the delivery, the minute I started talking to him he stopped crying and he never cried again for five hours before he went to sleep! He never cried again, never made a whimper, nothing! We could hardly make him bat an eye when we were taking pictures and everything. He just kept his eyes staring wide open looking all around.

131. THAT LIGHT'S NOT GOING TO HURT HIM any, Honey. Maria's trying to shield him from the light. He's got to get used to this big hard cold cruel world and all its bright lights and noises. He's beautiful, isn't he! Maria said before he was born, "If he causes too much trouble we're going to stick him out in the bananas!"

132. OH, AND THE FUNNIEST THING HAPPENED LAST NIGHT during the night! I'm getting all ahead of my story. Anyhow, he was having little stomach pains from all that food he ate—100 cm. of formula, the rascal! He's eating like a little pig‚ first meal, and he downed nearly half a bottle! I mean it's ridiculous how much he ate, I think she said over a quarter of a bottle! He should have had a stomach ache after eating all that!

133. SO I THINK HE HAD A FEW LITTLE GAS PAINS or something and he was fussy. So we were worrying about having a hard night last night, the first night home. Yesterday was the first day home and last might was the first night. So I guess I was kind of sensitive and tuned to his voice.

134. HE'S GOT THE FUNNIEST LITTLE SQUEAL! When he doesn't really cry real loud he just sort of squeals a little and squeaks like he's lost his voice, like his voice is changing already, and when he cries‚ at first he squeals and then he squawks!

135. SO HE WAS SQUEALING A LITTLE BIT when we went to bed last night, and once or twice during the night I kept waking up thinking, "Is that him squealing?" He was sleeping in the next room with Lucy.—And guess what I heard last night that kept waking me up?—It wasn't him at all! After we prayed for him his stomach settled down and he seemed just fine. Look at him! Look at the face he's making, he's sticking his tongue out, isn't he a scream?

136. GUESS WHAT I HEARD?—IT WAS A LITTLE GOAT BLEATING out there in the bananas someplace! That little goat kept walking me up, and the funny part about it was that it sounded so much like him! Just like Rachel said, he sounds just like a little baby goat, just like a little kid when he cries, he sort of bleats like a little sheep! And so it wasn't David at all that woke me up, it was a little goat out there in the bananas someplace!

137. OH HE'S SMILING A BIG SMILE‚ you ought to see it!—It's the first time I've ever seen him smile, it's so cute, he's smiling! His face is so expressive! He wants me to keep talking. As long as I keep talking he keeps sleeping. Now he's puckering, he almost smiled in his sleep!—He smiles a lot in his sleep.

138. HE'S THE FUNNIEST LITTLE THING! He's got a little red spot between his brows. You don't see it until he cries, but when he cries real hard and gets real strained his little brown spot gets a little red like he's really mad! He's still trying to look around. I never saw a little baby that opened his eyes so much and looked around so much! He's really aware of the world and what's going on.

139. SO WHERE WERE WE? (Maria: I don't know—you were still bragging about him as usual!—Ha!—Proud father!) Oh, I'm sorry, I can't help it. I've had four children and I don't remember any of them being this cute or this pretty or this big‚ but I suppose they all were.

140. I WAS 11 POUNDS WHEN I WAS BORN—I was a real heavy! I my was a whopper! I don't know how my poor mother ever stood it! And they said she had so much milk it was running out all over the bed! Anyway, so before he lets out another yelp here and makes us sign off‚ you want to hear the rest of the story?—Okay. Where were we? Well‚ the doctor came to visit while we were gone.

141. WE CAME HOME AND RESTED AND CAME BACK THAT NIGHT. I couldn't believe it when I came in that night about 9!—She was sitting up and just glowing and her colour had all come back and she looked better than she'd looked for 2 weeks! Her eyes were just sparkling and little David was lying over there snoozing away in his crib finally asleep.

142. WE'RE GOING TO CALL HIM LITTLE DAVID, okay?—Or call him The Spanish "Daveed" so we won't confuse him with me, please—Big David, Little David. He looks so cute, he is just a doll! He doesn't like that bright light in his eyes though, he keeps frowning, wrinkling his little eyebrows. Now he's chewing on his fist again.

143. WELL, I SUPPOSE EVERY PROUD FATHER THINKS HIS IS THE CUTEST LITTLE BABY IN THE WORLD—and mama too! And I'm sure yours will be the cutest in the world too, God bless you girls! Uh oh, he's tuning up for another squeal—first he squeals and then he squawks! So we visited for a while with Maria and Lucy, and Lydia changed places so that Lucy could spend the night.

144. HERE HE COMES! He's been pretty patient, waited a long time, he's not saying on schedule very much, Lord forgive us! Rachel's stickler for a schedule, but I said‚ "Did Adam and Eve have a schedule, and in all those thousands of years before they had clocks, did they have schedules? I think they just went by the need and the cry.

145. IS EVERYTHING READY? Maria's got to get up and get wiped off and so on—they have to wipe the titties so they'll be nice and clean and a nice sugary mouthful! He's so cute! He seems to know his mama's turning around ready to give it‚ 'cause he's beginning to mutter. Anyway, praise the Lord! I'm making this too long, I know.

146. WE LEFT LUCY WITH MARIA THAT FIRST NIGHT and they had a good night they said, a very good night, and he was as good as gold! In Maria's room she had the only bed, but there was bed-chair that opens out, a hide-a-bed that opens out into a bed, so Lucy was able to lie down and sleep.

147. THAT NIGHT MOM AND STEVE WERE HERE for all the excitement, and we spent till about one o'clock in the morning excitedly telling them everything that happened. I wish you could hear these little sounds he's making. Can you hear them? Anyway, I got to thinking after we came home, you know what?

148. HE WAS BORN ON THE 7TH DAY OF THE WEEK AND HE WEIGHED 7.7 lbs.—And I was lying here thinking, what else was seven? Well, it's 1975 of course. And then it just dawned on me he was born in the 7th hour of the 7th day according to Bible time, Biblical Jewish time. He was born in the 7th hour of the day just after noon! From 6 o'clock in the morning until 12 o'clock noon are the first six one-hour watches of the day, according to Bible time you know.—And then the 7th hour begins at noon.—The seventh hour!

149. SO HE WAS BORN ON THE SEVENTH HOUR OF THE SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK and the 25th of the month. I said to Mom and them, "Well, I don't see how we can get a seven out of that!" But she said, "Well‚ 2 and 5 is 7—the 25th! So there are a lot of God's numbers in there about his birth, so naturally we were very pleased and excited. (—And we've just recently discovered he was born in the 7th Division of Aquarius!)

150. SO THE LORD'S BEEN GOOD TO US AND HE'S A GOOD BABY, THANK THE LORD! And very good‚ and Mama's having a little time getting her milk coming, but I told her, well, maybe he may have to be a bottle-baby after all. Of course she's only had a day or two and it takes two or three days sometimes, but maybe nursing would keep her away from her work too much or interrupted too much. So it might have to be, we'll see.

151. HOW'S HE DOING KID? (HE REALLY SUCKS!) She says he really tries hard in spite of the fact he doesn't get much, he really sucks. You know some babies are kind of lazy and they don't suck very much, but he really goes after it, but he can't get anything yet and he gets so mad! Anyway, he's been a pretty good boy.

152. SO THAT NIGHT WE LEFT and came home, the night of the birth, Saturday, and Rachel said "I'm going down first thing in the morning to see her", and I said, "Okay, I'll be down in the afternoon."—And I said, "Now listen, she's talking about coming home tomorrow, Sunday‚ but don't you dare let her out of that bed if you have to hold her down!" Well‚ of course you know what happened!

153. NEXT DAY‚ SUNDAY, I get a phone call from Rachel about 12 or 1 o'clock and she says, "Well, she's just insisting on coming home, I can't hold her down. She says the doctors said she could come home‚ so she wants to come home!" Then Rachel gives me a nice sales talk and she says, "Well, it is kind of difficult here, it's awful noisy, and the trash truck comes by at 4 o'clock in the morning, and so I think she'd rest better at home, I think she'd be better at home. We've got her all packed and the doctor said she can go and the bill's paid and she's ready to go out the door!"

154. THE BILL WAS ONLY 7,000 PESETAS TOO (ABOUT $100)—ANOTHER SEVEN! It's about twice that much up at the Bellevue Clinic. So girls, don't worry about this little Maternidad down there—it was really pretty, wasn't it Maria? (Maria: Oh yes, I loved it, I was so glad! I wanted to go there in the first place. I really didn't want to go to Bellevue, but David said, "Oh yes, you should have the best and I want you to go there", and we tried our best at the end, but it turned out the Lord wanted us to see how the poor people have their babies I guess.) Amen.

155. THERE WAS NO ROOM IN THE INN, SO WE HAD TO GO DOWN TO THE STABLE! Hallelujah! Bellevue wouldn't take us in, the rich hospital, so she landed down at the little old poor folk's clinic after all and had her baby there! They had the cutest little room‚ it was so sweet, bright and pretty and clean, and the sun streaming in the window and their own private bath—well not exactly private—it was an adjoining bath with another girl in the next room.

156. —AND THE ROOM WAS WARM! They had aired out the other places after their operations and whatnot, but the room itself was quite warm and sunny and just lovely‚ and the bed was comfortable—one of those beds you can screw up or screw down you know. Oh, look at the milk go down, or the colostrum! Well, he seems to be happy, it satisfies him for a little while anyway.

157. AND THERE WAS ALSO THIS NICE COMFORTABLE IN-A-CHAIR-BED that our girls could sleep on like a little short couch loveseat that two people could sit on in the day, and then one sleep on at night‚ and there were a couple more chairs. So they're quite comfortable accommodations down at the little Maternidad, very comfortable.

158. BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE EVERYTHING WITH YOU, because it's like the hotels in this part of the world—they don't even furnish soap or anything. They did have some soap in there‚ but you've got to have all your baby blankets, sheets, linens, towels and everything for the baby. They did furnish the sheets on the baby's bed though, but they were kind of aggravated because Rachel didn't have a baby blanket and all that stuff along, receiving blankets and everything which the hospitals in the U.S. usually furnish.—And a baby towel, she didn't have a baby towel.

159. (MARIA: THEY GIVE THE MOTHER HER MEALS, but for the others you need to take a few little snacks along.) Oh yeah, right away Maria hadn't had any breakfast or anything to eat all night, so they brought in lunch right away and it really looked good—some of this real good thick Canarian soup, you know‚ with little bits of meat and fish and everything in it, and she just drank down the whole bowl! She went to town on eating right away and seemed to feel real strong and good! I'm trying to tell you girls all this to encourage you about everything that happened so you'll know what to expect.

160. SO THE VERY NEXT DAY AFTER THE BIRTH, SUNDAY‚ RACHEL CALLS ME ON THE PHONE THAT MARIA'S INSISTING ON COMING HOME, "She's insisting and we're ready to go out the door!" So I said, "All right, pack her in a taxi and bring her home!" So we had about 20 minutes to rush around the house real fast like mad to try to get her room in shape, as we'd thought we had another whole day to get things ready. We were trying to get the baby's bed made and everything cleaned and ready, and we just barely made it when they came walking in the door!

161. WELL, THEY DROVE UP OUTSIDE, and I was so mad because the taxi driver didn't stop right at the gate where there would be a shorter walk for her. Now she's laying him over here on Daddy's chest because she's got to nurse him out of this other one over here.

162. ISN'T THIS NICE, THESE NICE LITTLE BREAST FACTORIES, milk factories, so convenient, right up front‚ so handy! Hear his little gurgles? He's trying to get more out of it, but it won't come. Her breasts were just a little sore, so we're using breast shields temporarily until her breasts get toughened up more.

163. I SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THEM TOUGHENED UP before hand, but I forgot it—the husband's supposed to massage them or suck them regularly every day. Oh‚ there it goes, he's really getting the stuff out! I wish I could get a picture!

164. COME ON BUDDY BOY, DON'T GO TO SLEEP AT THE SWITCH! Come on! He's already had one, so he's about to go to sleep on this one. Come on. Come on. Come on David. Obey your Daddy, suck! Well, praise God anyhow!

165. SO THAT'S THE STORY! So they came home and lived happily ever after! Anyway he came in and he's been a good boy and she's trying to nurse him a little colostrum till the milk comes.

166. LAST NIGHT WE HAD A LOVELY FAMILY DINNER ALL TOGETHER! Mom cooked a nice fat duck she bought. She bought it at the store and didn't know it was a duck, but thought it was a chicken till she got it home and discovered it was a duck! So we had a duck dinner and she brought the duck! It was a good family dinner, we were all around the table and it looked so homey and I was so happy!

167. MARIA CAME OUT AND LAY RIGHT BY US ON THE COUCH with little David in the carriage right beside her, and everybody was happy and it was a good dinner. Then we had a nice little session afterwards in the livingroom around the fire which dear Stephen built, although it was already hot as Hades from baking that duck! I said‚ "Steve, nest time leave the fire till afterward please—not while they're cooking!" But he was trying to make everything nice you know, and to look pretty for everybody.

168. SO WE HAD A LITTLE SESSION AFTERWARDS after Little David was in bed and Lucy was taking care of him, a little chat about the family and I gave them a little lecture which we won't go into now.

169. BUT ANYWAY, DAVID WAS KIND OF FUSSY and he didn't seem to want to go to sleep‚ he was too hungry. So they did give him some formula and he drank a lot and I think he got a tummyache from it, but he finally got to sleep.

170. HE'S SNORING LIKE HIS DADDY ALREADY! Can you hear him snore? Come on buddy, wake up and get busy! But we prayed for him, we all went in and laid hands on him, because I thought he had a little colic form the tummyache, and he went right to sleep, thank the Lord!—And we all had a good night's sleep! He only woke up a couple times that first night home and Lucy took care of him so Maria could rest up.

171. IT WAS HER FIRST REAL GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP. She didn't sleep much the night before, she said, because she was too excited! (Maria: 'Cause I wasn't with you!) She says she can't sleep when I'm not there. (Maria: I had a good nap when I came home yesterday too.)—The minute she got home and got in here and away from all the excitement.

172. SHE NEVER GOES TO SLEEP ANYWHERE EXCEPT WITH HER HEAD ON MY SHOULDER, so I put her head on my shoulder and I figured I'd have to get in bed with her to make her go to sleep. She's still talking so much and so excited and trying to tell everybody everything. She went right to sleep and had a good long nap‚ and last night she slept good all night.

173. LITTLE DAVID SAYS‚ "I'M HAPPY TOO, EVERYTHING'S FINE!" and he loves you all and hopes you get to see him sometime and maybe pay us a visit or something, or we'll pay you a visit when he gets old enough to get around. When are you going to walk over and see the others, huh? He says, "I don't know." He says, "I'm too tired now, I just got through eating."

174. SO THAT'S THE STORY, praise the Lord, and here we are today! What's that David? I think he wants to burp, he's blowing now. I think the Lord wanted to show Maria that her duties were not over just because she had a baby, because I had this terrific dream just before I woke up, it's really a wonderful revelation and directional dream about the things we're to do with names and everything. It was really something, it was really so vivid!

175. I HAD THIS DREAM JUST BEFORE I WOKE UP THIS MORNING, and so I was telling her about it and she wrote it all down in her notebook and we were getting out the tape recorder now just before we got up for her to tape it for you, 'cause I can't read her notes!

176. HOLD HIS HEAD! SHE TREATS HIM LIKE HE'S A YEAR OLD! He's sure got a red face! I think he's gruntin', he's maybe having a B.M. He's already had one huge big B.M. after that big bottle last night. He's grunting right now. Hold him out where he can breathe a little bit. Oh‚ let me take him, I'll burp him!—

177. GOT A LITTLE WORD FOR THE FAMILY‚ SON? How 'bout a little word for the folks? He said, "It was a tough fight kids‚ but I won! Pretty hard on Mom too, but we made it." Relax pal—oh here it comes! I thought we were going to get a bellow that time! He's just sort of still patiently looking for it.

178. HI DAVID! Oh, he's found his fist, now he's going to start sucking on his fist. He's got the most gorgeous little fingernails! His hands look like they've been manicured, they are just absolutely beautiful!

179. HE JUST WADS UP HIS LITTLE FIST, he really gets mad when he can't find it, he gets mad! I think we better cover up your little fist because you're apt to scratch yourself. Where is it? He's looking around for it. Got a word for the folks? Got a word for the Family? Would you like to say a word for the press? Have you got a statement to make? Huh?

180. OH‚ THAT'S ANOTHER FUNNY THING THAT HAPPENED on the way back form the hospital! I was talking to the taxi driver all about how excited I was to have my new boy, the baby and all, and he said, "There must be somebody very important in town because the police are all over the place!"

181. WHEN ANYBODY VERY IMPORTANT COMES TO TOWN THERE'S POLICE EVERYWHERE! I said, "Well of course, my little boy was just born, he just came to town!" And he laughed, the taxi driver just laughed and laughed at that, he said that was so funny!

182. OKAY DAVE, TAKE A LOOK AROUND! Oh, here comes a big yawn!—And a cough! First he squeals, then he squawks! He knows right where it is and he's trying to turn toward it. Poor thing, poor thing. We gotta record one of your first big bellows here, come on, get up a good one‚ there comes a squeal! Come on, now we gotta have a squawk‚ come on, where's your squawk?

183. HE'S SO CUTE, HE'S TRYING TO BE SO PATIENT. "Oh, these mean cruel people won't give me anything to eat!" I guess you better give him some formula. The minute I called Lucy he settled down. He's still looking for it. Did you like that bell? You like to hear the bell? Pretty bell? He stopped crying when he heard the bell. Lucy!

184. WELL, I GUESS YOU MIGHT AS WELL HEAR ALL THE COMMOTION. You've heard some of his first little lusty cries, and he's now safely tucked away with Lucy in the next room getting a real meal. She's not able to give him any milk yet, but she's giving him formula, praise God.

185. I HOPE ONE OF YOU GIRLS HAS A LOT OF MILK so we can kind of pass you around a little bit maybe in case we need you! I told Lucy she could let him suck her a little if he got too lonesome, and Maria says I said last night you can give him a little bit of wine if he gets too fussy, but I guess the Lord had him settle down before we got him drunk, so praise God! So Maria is just as chirper as can be lying right here laughing!

186. (MARIA: HERE I AM, FOLKS, ALL SAFE AND SOUND! It was really a thrilling experience—I wouldn't have missed it fir anything! The only thing wrong with me is I'm just a little sore in the bottom, but that's natural since he had to do the stitches, but I feel great, thank the Lord!) She says,

187. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY!"—What else can you say? You only had a baby‚ but there's nothing to say‚ nothing to talk about, nothing but having a baby, that's all!—What's that! Say something! She's busy drinking her milk.

188. YOU OUGHT TO TANK UP ON A LOT OF MILK, GIRLS‚ so you'll be sure to have lots of milk yourself. I don't see how it works that way, but anyhow, that's what they say. Well, praise God! Praise the Lord! Let me get my papers.

189. UH OH, SHE'S TRYING TO JUMP OUT OF BED AGAIN to get the papers for me—she is absolutely something!—I have to hold her down by force! She wants to jump up every minute and run and get something or do this or do that, and she just jumps right out of bed and I can't hold her down, but I'm trying hard, praise the Lord.

190. SHE SEEMS TO BE JUST AS STRONG AND BOUNCY AS EVER‚ and she's just as beautiful as ever and just as radiant as ever, and her eyes are sparkling and her teeth are shining and she's smiling away! (Maria:—And I love you just as much as ever—even more!) Hmmmmm! I thought you'd like to hear that—sounds of love! She's kissing me and she's hugging me and she acts like she still loves me in spite of having a baby, in spite of all that trouble I caused her.

191. (MARIA: THE LORD SAID THE BABY WAS A LOVE GIFT TO HIS FATHER.) Praise the Lord, hallelujah, amen! Well, I don't think I ever enjoyed a baby as much as I have enjoyed this one. I don't think I had time to pay as much attention to any of the others—I was too young and too busy and too scared or something.

192. BUT THIS ONE! We felt every move and every bulge, and everytime he would stir inside I'd put my hand on him to see what he was doing. We really had a time with this one, we really enjoyed every minute of it, and the birth was even easier, much easier.

193. WE DID PRAY FOR A SHORT LABOUR AND A QUICK DELIVERY, and it was certainly a miracle! God really answered prayer! It was a very short labour, almost no labour at all as far as intense pains or severe contractions. (Maria: No‚ no, it didn't seem like I had anything very strong, nothing that I got all upset about and couldn't handle.

194. WE PRAYED WE'D BE A GOOD TESTIMONY TO THE DOCTOR, TOO‚ and it was. When he asked how we did it and how it was so short I just said, "Lots of prayer!" He seemed to be duly impressed, so I think our witness to him is really good and it can continue with you girls being a witness to him too.) Amen, praise the Lord!

195. SO HE'S EXPECTING YOU TO BE AS BRAVE as she was and as cooperative and as energetic and as trusting and as faithful—not fearful.—Just trust the lord and don't be afraid and cooperate all you can with your nurses and doctor and especially your own helpers who will tell you what to do.

196. OUR GIRLS WILL HELP and the midwives will help and tell you how to breathe and all. They'll be standing right over you praying for you and we will too, really praying the Lord will bless and keep you, and we know He will.

197. (MARIA: DON'T WORRY IF YOU HAVEN'T PRACTICED THE EXERCISES as much as you were supposed to.) Yeah, Maria never practiced either! (Maria: I knew enough about it and they just showed me once and I knew pretty much what to do, so it's fairly simple, and just trust the Lord.) As long as the girls are right there to tell you what to do, you don't have to worry about a thing.

198. (MARIA: THE BREATHING WAS QUITE SIMPLE—it's not half as complicated as they make it sound in the books, how you have to go from this stage to that stage. As the pains get more intense you can just start panting a little more, so it's really no big problem.)

199. THEY TRY TO MAKE IT SOUND DIFFICULT just to get your mind off your pains or something, but you never did seem to have any really severe pains, did you Honey? (Maria: No‚ it didn't seem that way to me. I breathed almost all one way. It seemed like the Lord really let me escape part of the labour.)

200. WE GOT THE VERSE: "BEFORE SHE TRAVAILETH SHE SHALL BRING FORTH" and He'd "not let her suffer more than she would be able to bear" (Isa.66:7 and 1Cor.10:13)—and really‚ before she really travailed hard at all the baby was born! So it was a miracle, really a miracle!

201. THE LORD REALLY DID BLESS and answer our prayers! 'Cause you know she's kind of weak and small and little and I was a little worried about how she could take such a big exercise, but she just came through with flying colours!

202. SHE WAS THE BRAVEST ONE IN THE BUNCH! She was more cheerful and laughing and smiling and talking and with her little bright eyes shining all the way through the whole thing! She really did great! I'm so proud of her! As Rachel said, she was a real little trooper! She said, "I've never saw anybody so brave! She was so brave, she was just a real little soldier!"—And of course she always is.

203. AFTER ALL, SHE'S HAD THE BIGGEST BABY IN THE WORLD for a long time, which is her biggest problem and a lot more trouble than any little babies!: Me!—Ha! So she was well prepared! She took this little one in easy stride. She's lying here kissing her big one—me!

204. WELL ANYHOW, I WANTED A GIRL, but I guess the Lord didn't want me to worry nine months about not having a girl‚ so He made us think we were going to have a girl for sure. Well‚ we are supposed to have one, God willing, but it didn't happen to be this one! But anyhow, praise God! (Maria: The doctor, whom we'd told we were expecting a girl, said how wonderful it was, but suddenly after the birth he pointed his finger at me in triumph and said,

205. "BUT IT'S A BOY!" I'd already told the doctor I was certain it was going to be a girl and we'd had dreams about it‚ so he said, "But it's a boy!" So I said, "Oh well, we just got our times mixed up—the next one's going to be the girl.")

206. WELL‚ YOU KNOW‚ HERE BOYS ARE EVERYTHING. They're almost oriental in that business about how you must have a boy first‚ and boys are what's really important. They call them "barones!" Like a baron. A baron! Ah, they stiffen up with such pride When they say their first one was a baron!

207. "I HAVE A BARON!" You're of course supposed to have a boy first, and that's what everybody's supposed to be praying for and expecting and hoping, that they'll first have a boy. (Maria: The Lord gives most of them boys, too—I guess 'cause that's what they want, and they please Him by having babies, so He gives them the boys first!)

208. BUT IF THEIR FIRST ONE IS A GIRL THEY SEEM SO DISAPPOINTED, their face falls when you ask them about it, and they say ruefully, "We had a girl," like it's such a shame, so sad. They really like boys here and they really like their first one to be a boy.

209. I THINK I'M GOING TO HAVE TO BUY A DRINK FOR EVERY WAITER IN TOWN because all of them were betting me that it was going to be a boy, they were positive it was going to be a boy. But I kept saying, "No, no.—It'll be a girl."—Ha! Some Prophet!

210. —IT'S A BOY!—AND WHATTA BOY! Praise the Lord!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family