My Birth
ME: Do you have a cherished memory of the two of us together?
MOM: I want to say your life started out very intensely for me, because of the fact of your birth size and the length of the birth [I was 11 pounds and 13 ounces and 25.5 inches long] the actual birth process is something we shared. And the miracle is that I was able to birth you without a Caesarean. I was also aware that this was the only time I was going to have with you without William. And I cherished it. We were in Grace-New Haven Hospital where we had rooming in. So you were with me the whole time. And I just remember that being a very blessed time, and then I had a kidney infection, so they kept me in the hospital two extra days, while I was on antibiotics. And I was very grateful for that, because I knew the world was going to change radically when we got home. And similarly, I have to say I know I indulged you in nighttime nursing because I was with you alone then also. The daytime, the business of feeding you in the daytime with a two-year-old wandering loose was not easy. So those nighttime feeds were something that I think went along much longer than probably I would’ve trained you out of it sooner.
Photo: Me Cold and Happy
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About Tom Matlack
Vocalyze
I loved this interview. My mother’s parents were Presbyterian missionaries to Cuba. When I was 9, my family lived In Mexico and I remember my mother putting Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth in my hand and telling me how much she identified with her, for the love of adventure, the giving to others, the religious background, and the fact that both were adoptive mothers.
And about your mother–she sounds like a fascinating woman and it’s remarkable what she accomplished given the fact that she often felt depressed and isolated. Thanks for sharing her with us.
Very cool Pauline. Thanks for reading. Glad we have that Presbyterian missionarie blood in common…
A nice article.
We are the same age, Tom. My mother did not join the feminist movement and revolutions of the 60s. My father was dean of a law school and very establishment-oriented, and she devoted herself to support of his career. Instead she subconsciously channeled her objections to the patriarchal system through me – and my father made me his intellectual ally and friend because my mother could not – or would not – relate to him on that level.
So I see some parallels in growing up in revolutionary times, which in some sense continue today.
I too have suffered from isolation and depression, and I have no doubt that both my parents did as well, although it was never diagnosed.
Great work you and others at the GMP are doing in getting the realities of these personal subconsciouses and the collective subconsciouses on the table so we can all deal with them and not be driven by them any more – including children having experiences with their parents that lead to the depressions and isolations in adulthood.