This is my post for #freewriters Monday prompt hair bow hosted by @mariannewest
Even though you might think it is a minor thing, the words that you say to a child can have a negative effect on them. My Dad remarried when I was 10 years old. My stepmother's reply to me when I had any kind of pain from anything was, "if you think this hurts, just wait until you have a child". This had me terrified of childbirth.
I had my first child when I was still a child at age 17 and her words came to me every day. So when it came time to give birth, I told the doctor that I wanted to be knocked out with the gas. I do not remember what they called it but in my mind, they would give it to you then you gave birth. That is not what happens. I gave birth, I heard the doctor say it was a girl, then they gave me the gas before I could see her.
When I woke I was so upset, the doctor should have told me that I would have the baby then they will give me the gas and I was upset at my stepmom because it was not as bad as she had built it up to be in my mind. I was only in labor for 4 hours and only felt pressure and mild back pain.
So the next child was a boy, I had the epidural which went ok but I did not like having to lay flat for 12 hours afterward. No one back then had natural childbirth.
The next one another boy, I decided that women for thousands of years had natural births so I was going to do it, too. No Lamaze classes, I had not even heard the word Lamaze back then. Again it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.
My last was a girl, I had her going down the hallway to the delivery room. This happened because the nurse was arguing with me about it was not time for me to deliver, when she finally checked me, she tried to hold my knees together until I kicked her. A young nurse who had never been on the delivery floor delivered my daughter.
The two boys were born with lots of black hair and the longest eyelashes that boys can have. My last daughter's hair was blond and so fine that you could not see it, she looked bald and her eyelashes were the same. I had to tape a hair bow to the top of her head. She was 3 before you could tell that she actually had hair.
photo is mine