Get your own Free Home Page
My pregnancy was a relatively easy one -- I had no morning sickness, and the only discomfort I had was backaches when I was in the 8th to 9th month. My son was very active throughout the pregnancy, and I remember him keeping me awake at night with his kicking.
As my pregnancy progressed, I tried more and more to reason with my parents that I did not have to give this baby up. I truly loved him and couldn't wait for him to be born so I could see him. My parents basically told me "You will not come home with a baby."
I went into labor on May 29, 1978. I had a long labor (24 hours), but it was not hard at all. I had known the day I conceived (August 30, 1977), so my due date was May 30.
When my labor was 5 minutes apart, they took me to St. Joseph's Hospital. I had a "saddle block" anesthetic, which numbed me from the waist down, but left me alert. When I got to the labor room, they took my glasses off (I'm practically blind without them). I could not see anything that was happening, and that upset me greatly, because I wanted to witness my son's birth.
He was born a little after 10 p.m. on May 30th. I stayed in the hospital three days, and could only see my son if I went to the nursery window, like a regular visitor. They refused to bring him to my room. I spent as much time as I could at that nursery window.
I shared a room with a woman who had lost her child in a stillborn delivery. The reason for this was clear -- she lost her baby to death, and I wasn't a "real mother", because my baby was being taken for adoption. When they came to fill out the birth certificate, I wanted to put down a name for him, but they wouldn't let me. The name I had chosen was Daniel Joseph Block. Instead, all it says on his original birth certificate is Baby Boy Block.
On my last day, I went to the nursery for about the 100th time. They informed me that the adoption agency had picked up my son and taken him to a foster home. I was shocked! They didn't even INFORM me that my baby was leaving, much less ask my permission! Can you imagine how I felt?
Get your own Free Home Page
