Summer going into my senior year, my mom, who lives in Dayton, Ohio, came into town to tell me that she was pregnant with a baby boy. This was going to be my fourth sibling and I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. I had a sister, a step-sister, and a step brother, and now was expecting a half-brother. As time went on and she would send me texts about her doctor appointments, I grew more and more excited about this little bundle of joy. Even being almost five hours away, I felt like I got just as much say in this baby as my sisters and brother who lived with her got, if not more. It came down to name decisions, which cause a frenzy of names to be thrown around. My step-dad insisted on Dokken, a nineteen-eighty hair band him and my mom used to listen to. My step-brother, Nick, and I absolutely hated it so we were doing everything in our power to persuade then otherwise. Whether we were going to admit it or not, both of us knew things were going to be set the way they wanted it.
Dokken had a planned caesarean for February 12, 2009 scheduled. I called my mom on January 22, 2009 before I went to bed and we were talking about how she was doing and when I was going to come down to visit next. “I want to come down for the baby, but that weekend just doesn’t fit into my schedule,” I told her just to get a giggle. I was the manager at work, so it was difficult for me to get time off after the schedule was already up. “I am free this weekend so you should just have it now and get it over with.” She replied by stating “I am nowhere near ready for a baby yet,” and we shortly ended the phone conversation. I went to bed around eleven and I got a call around midnight that night. My mom was calling. She started laughing when I answered and told me her water broke and was on her way to the hospital, and of course it was entirely my fault! She was almost a month early.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
Wow that is such a cool thing to have a brother almost two centuries younger than you. I really hope they didn't name is Dokken, that's a terrible name, but if they did I know you all love him just the same. I also think that's really funny that an hour later she called and said her water broke. Your brothers life must have revolved around you more than you expected. Your connected, even being five hours away. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is so amazing that you have a little baby brother that is 17 to 18 years apart from you. I'm guessing you became the number one nanny over the summer. If you can you should put a picture of him up on your blog profile. Does he look a lot like you? I'm glad you didn't have to miss work that weekend. Good luck with the baby brother!
ReplyDeleteAshley:
ReplyDeleteOh my God, I almost forgot about Dokken! I was never a big fan, but that is a terrific, character-driven detail. Make your parents into characters that I'll feel like I've met after reading your story.
I think this memory works because it's surprising--you don't have clearly positive feelings about it--which makes it honest and meaningful. Run with that.
I think you picked a good story to tell us having a baby sibling being born isn't something many of us can relate too. Which means from your story I think we will be able to take a new opinion about ourselves or life from it. Your story has a good structure right now but when you go into rough draft start adding the details. Like were you startled when your mom called at midnight were u abrubtly awoken. Did you have a big smile on your face when she said her water broke? Just throwing out some things for your final draft if you want to elaborate on. So far excellent story!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good story! Adding more mixed feelings when you first found out about the baby will definitely help readers understand your mixed emotions. I have a brother that was born January 23, 2009, and I remember all of the feelings that came with that. It's so different to be connected to something without having a choice in the fact. Good luck writing the rest!
ReplyDelete