JUNE 1972
Jennifer Arrives
Barbara called me on June 29th in Chico where I was taking summer classes at CSU Chico. She thought the baby would arrive shortly, so I drove as fast as I could to Yuba City. The doctor at Fremont Hospital sent us home because this was Barbara's first baby and would take a while to be born. He was wrong. I tried all of the Lamaze techniques we had practiced to keep Barbara from delivering the baby as we raced back to the hospital. As soon as we arrived, she went to the delivery room. Dads weren't allowed to be there in those days. A few minutes later, the doctor came to the waiting room with the news that we had a baby girl. We had already chosen a name: Jennifer Marie. The celebration began.
Back home, we were clueless about what to do with a baby although we had read a few books. Barbara's mom, Ruth, shared her experience from having four babies. Within a few days, we knew the basics. Barbara's sister, Colette, helped rock Jennifer and painted a few pictures for the nursery. Monica met her new cousin. My mom and dad visited with my sister, Zoe. Everyone wanted to hold the new baby and give advice.
