My First Baby

My First Baby
Wally and I had never had children. Melanie was our first baby and we were both scared to death. My mother stayed with us for a week and things went very smoothly. Mom seemed to know every thing that was to know about taking care of a baby and a new mom. Well one day my dad decided that he wanted her to come home. Wally and I showed no outward nervousness and hugged and thanked and waved to my parents as they went down the street.
We both went into the nursery and looked down at the week old baby girl and looked at each other and said, “Now what do we do?” Wally said, “Well you’re the mother,” and I said, “Well you’re a lot older and came from a family with a whole slew of kids.” Melanie continued to nap for about fifteen minutes. Just long enough for me to tidy up the kitchen. Then the wailing started. I wanted to join her. There are no handbooks for babies, no motherly instincts that tell you just what to do. I was nursing, I didn’t like it. I wanted to sleep through the night, she wouldn’t let me. It was about a week later that I thought about sending her back, but couldn’t figure out how to do that. The thing about having a new baby and having a husband that has a lot of brothers and sister-in-laws close by is that you do have a lot of company and suggestions. However, one day I sneaked in a shower, had a robe on and wet hair and there was a knocking at the door. I went to answer it, thinking how terrible I looked. It was an elderly lady with a gift for the new baby. I welcomed her, made coffee and apologized for my appearance. She said not to be silly she had had babies and remembered that when the baby slept you needed to either sleep too or did things you couldn’t when the baby was awake. We chatted for a couple of hours. She had not given me a clue to her name or her address. I asked Wally who she could be, I asked everyone I could think of. The mystery lady never got a thank you note, which to this day I feel badly about. I learned my lesson that day, even if it embarrasses me to death, I ask people what their name is. People that are close to me are on to me though, if I forget their names, I will say, “Well, hi kiddo!” I think that just about covers it.
Well, Melanie was our experimental baby and she turned out fairly well. Wally thought a couple of times I was trying to kill her. I couldn’t seem to get it through my head she could turn over. She fell off the couch and changing table. He always seemed to be home when things like that happened. He did raise his voice at me once, with something like, “Are you trying to kill that kid?” Nah, just a new mom. Sorry, Melanie.
The picture that you see is a new Uncle watching me mix “y-ugly” stuff for Melanie to eat. Wow we both look really young don’t we, maybe nineteen and twenty three?