Bob, Oh Boy, Oh Boy (July 9, 1971)

 Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy

After giving birth to our first son who was three week’s early (Michael) and our second son (David) who was either 3-7 weeks late (that’s a whole other story), we weren’t really sure what to expect with the birth of our third child.  In 1971, the ability to determine the sex of a child was not invented yet.  And, so, besides not knowing when the birth would come, we didn’t know whether we were having a John or a Catherine.

I just knew that it better be soon.  I was HUGE – bigger than I was with David.  My OB-GYN, Dr. Aksoy, assured me that while my baby was big, it did weigh less-than-ten pounds!  Nice assurance, huh?  At eight months, my doctor appointments were scheduled every week.  But, every week, Dr. Aksoy would say that I was no where near ready and to just “hang in there.”  Easy for him to say….. I couldn’t even see my feet any more.

Well, my due date came and went.  So did the 4^th of July.  Finally, at my appointment on the 7^th of July, I was told that I would be induced the following day.  Wow!  I had time to clean the house, pack the suitcases for Michael and David to go to grandma and grandpa’s house in Forest Lake, get my suitcase packed, and shop for groceries. 

But….. the weather did not cooperate.  The next morning, we had a rain storm.  Yes, rain.  A storm that contained not only pouring down rain, but wind, and hail.  So much rain that storm drains were overflowing and there was flooding in the streets.  Yards were soaked!  We basically couldn’t leave our house to go to the hospital.  So, we called Dr. Aksoy’s office and they said, “No problem.  Just come to Mount Sinai Hospital on Friday, the 9^th at 8:00 AM and we’ll induce you then.

At 4:00 AM, tiny contractions woke me up.  I tried timing them and by 4:30, decided to wake Norm up and we waited until they were five minutes apart.  Why?  Don’t know.  I was only in labor for 1-1/2 hours with David, so I don’t really know why we didn’t just go into the hospital right away.  We waited.  Good thing my parents had picked up the boys on Wednesday.  At least we didn’t have to find someone to take them that early in the morning!

Anyway, we got to the hospital around 7:30.  While Norm was parking the car, I was examined by the nurse.  No time to wait for Norm to join me.  I was wheeled into the delivery room.  Norm did join me as the nurse was getting ready to call the doctor on call.  Then, Dr. Aksoy, who thought he was early to induce me, walked in.  Just in time to deliver John Norbert McGraw at 7:50 AM.  I guess John thought, “No one was going to tell me what to do…. I’ll just arrive on my own time!”

Dr. Aksoy placed John in my arms and said, “You’ve got a ten-pounder there!”  I immediately said to him, “What? You promised me he wasn’t going to weigh as much as my last one.”  He just laughed.

Actually, he was right the first time.  John weighed 9 lbs., 13-1/2 ounces and measured 22-1/2 inches.  About as close to 10 pounds as one could get!  John was named after his great grandpa, John Lehecka (grandma Elsie Vogel’s dad).  His middle name came from his grandpa (my dad), Norbert Vogel.

John was very healthy and just the cutest baby I had ever seen.  In fact, I looked at Norm as he was cutting the umbilical cord and said, “Now, that’s a cute one!”  

This was the first time Norm was allowed in the delivery room of one of our children.  The rules had finally changed from when Michael and David were born.  After Norm watched John get his first bath and I was placed in the recovery room, he decided to go home and get some sleep.  He first stopped at the restaurant in Woolworth’s in Spring Lake Park and ordered scrambled eggs.  After leaving, he immediately threw up outside the building!  Guess he was excited about having another boy after all!