All I Want for Christmas... by Debby Myers

 

At my age I’ve seen many holiday seasons. However, I have one that will forever stand out in my memories. It was December 1989.

During this particular Christmas season, I found myself uncomfortable, unbearable, and unable to really enjoy it. I was nine months pregnant with my son, whose due date was Christmas day.

To give you some background, my oldest daughter was due on February 18^th, but by March 18^th when she hadn’t come, and I could barely get up out of a chair, my doctor induced my labor. Forty hours later she arrived--March 22^nd.  My next daughter was due on June 20^th, but she came early on May 13^th after only two hours of labor. This time I felt like with my son, he’d arrive right on time. However, as all women who’ve had a child know, babies are very unpredictable.

Back then not much Christmas shopping was done online. I found myself miserable every time I went. I guess I was fortunate the girls were just six and three, and I knew they wouldn’t notice that I just couldn’t get in the spirit. Or that they didn’t get much that year.

Another tradition I’d had with them was putting up the tree and helping them hang up the ornaments. That December, it was my husband who put the tree up, and it sat undecorated for a week before I finally got out the ornaments and put them on myself one at a time, very slowly, one night while the girls slept.

There was no decorating the front porch or baking Christmas cookies. I couldn’t even bring myself to do anything more than get the wrapping paper on the presents, when I usually enjoyed decorating each one. I kept thinking it was the worst Christmas ever for me and my girls.

I went to my oldest daughter Tiffany’s Christmas program at school. There was no way I could get my huge body on the bleachers, so I stood with my back hurting and my feet swelling, hanging onto my younger daughter’s hand. One of the teachers saw me and offered to bring me a chair, but the truth was, the only chair I fit in was the huge recliner in my living room.

On Christmas eve, I managed to travel with my husband and two young daughters to celebrate with my mother’s side of the family at her home. When everyone else ate, I was too nauseous. As everyone opened gifts, I found myself in her bathroom stripping down and getting into a hot bath to soak my aching tailbone. As my daughters waited in anticipation to open gifts, I waited in anticipation for this baby to exit my body.

Christmas day, his due date, came and went. I found myself crying all evening. On the 26^th when he didn’t come, I didn’t get out of bed much and the tears came again. Why was I so emotional? I knew he was healthy and had flipped in the birth canal. I knew it wouldn’t be much longer, but gee whiz, little guy, you’ve got to hurry up!

On the morning of 27^th of December, I was lying down on the sofa watching the girls playing with their Cabbage Patch dolls and Puff-a-Lumps. As I watched and saw their smiles and heard their giggles, my heart swelled with love. Having my children is, no doubt, one of the most fulfilling experiences in life. I think it was those two little girls that kept my tears away that day.

My husband left for work at 3 pm. I waddled around making the girls dinner, getting them bathed, and tucked them in at 8 pm. I went back to the sofa to watch TV. I ended up falling asleep too.

At 9:15 I jolted straight up as the first labor pain startled me awake. Then another at 9:21. It was finally happening! I called my mother-in-law. She rushed over, woke up the girls, called my husband, and drove me to the hospital. The contractions were now four minutes apart.

I’ll skip all the details and get right to it. Derek Jordan was born at 10:25 am on December 28^th, weighing in at 8 lbs, 3 oz. The nurse joked with me that I’d gotten him in just in time to claim him on our taxes! Even though it was the 28^th, I still consider him my Christmas baby.

Being born just three days after, we still celebrate his birthday when all the family is together at Christmastime. When he was five, he asked me “Mama, why don’t I ever get balloons on my birthday like my sisters?” It was one of the negatives about his birthday. No birthday parties with friends because they were all out of school on Christmas break. And balloons at Christmas?  But that year, we filled his room with 18 balloons. Three for that year and three for every year we’d missed.

In conclusion, even when we sometimes feel like it’s one of our worst times, it can quickly become one of the best. Derek is the reason why the Christmas of ’89 is one I’ll remember as being the best for the rest of my life!

Debby Myers has enjoyed writing since she was a little girl. She has just completed her third novel, the last installment of “The Vee Trilogy.”

In her spare time she directs plays for Ole Olsen Memorial Theater. She is a member of the Indiana Thespians judging high school theater competitions. Debby’s favorite pastime of all is spending time with her nine grandchildren.

Her books are all available now on Amazon or get a signed copy directly from her by contacting her on her Facebook page “The Vee Trilogy.” 

Debby Myers