Читать книгу Seeking Silver - Karen Y. Barnstable - Страница 17

Chapter 6

Overwhelmed

I stared in awe at the tiny pointy-headed creature that had been placed in my arms. The birth, long and severely painful, left me doubting if my body would ever function normally again. All those books I read had not prepared me for this experience.

No one told me it would feel like this. Maybe I should have waited longer, or maybe I would never have been ready.

It was our plan from the beginning to wait five years before we started a family, and we stuck to the plan. Five busy but fulfilling years passed by like a movie scene in fast-forward. Kim was working long hours farming and playing competitive fastball most weekends. I was enjoying my teaching career and my contract work with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education, writing curriculum and training new French teachers. We weren’t at all sure that we were ready, but soon after our fifth anniversary, I became pregnant.

The pregnancy passed without sickness or any other issues. I was blessed with good health the full nine months despite being very tired with the demands of full-time teaching. I didn’t have a lot of time to think about the huge change coming to our lives, which was probably for the best.

On May 23, 1987, our son Kolby Corray was born. His first name was the favourite of all the names we considered that started with “K.” His middle name was a combination of the names Cornie, from my dad, and Ray, from Kim’s dad. Despite the challenging circumstances around Kolby’s birth, I will never forget the feeling of euphoria that I had as I first held my son.

During the pregnancy, I secretly hoped that my first child would be a boy. Kolby was a wish come true. He was a strong, masculine little dude from day one. His head was pointy for a few days due to the stress of the birth, but shortly thereafter a normal rounded shape returned. His body measured longer than most babies, with long legs to match. His feet were oversized for his little body, resembling his father right from the start.