30 Years of Motherhood

Jonathan, age 4 weeks, Easter 1982

Thirty years ago today, my life changed. It wasn't a surprise that it changed, as we had many months warning, yet at the same time, the impact couldn't be predicted. 30 years ago today, I became a mother.

Jonathan Keith Creasy was born March 12, 1982 and our lives were forever changed. Our focus shifted and everything else was insignificant.


His due date was March 17 and I thought it might be nice to name him Patrick, but that was rejected as being too "cute."  Many names were rejected, including "Johann," which ironically, was later given to him as a nickname in high school by his choir teacher. The idea of naming him after Keith was also rejected, so we went into the hospital knowing he'd either be a Jonathan or an Elizabeth, but weren't sure of anything else.

Jonathan made a speedy trip into the world - as a matter of fact, the doctor almost missed it. Although the doctor "knew" he wouldn't be born so soon, he barely made it there in time to catch his exit from the womb! So it seemed rather fitting that Jonathan peed on the doctor before he was even completely born. <LOL> You know how babies are "supposed" to be all sleepy when they're born? Jonathan hadn't read that book. He was craning his neck around looking towards us as they cleaned him up.

When the nurse handed us our son, we both cried. Keith said, "I guess I wouldn't mind too much if we used my name as part of his name. As they turned off the bright lights, Jonathan Keith Creasy popped his eyes open and looked around, always curious from the start.  At a day old, when the other babies were either sleeping or crying in the nursery, he was trying to hold his head up to see what was going on.

We laughed at our efforts to dress him to come home wearing a newborn sized sleeper. It was huge on him and we just wrapped the arms and legs around him like a mummy outfit! In the picture, he's wearing a Preemie size outfit at a month old. I wanted to hold and cuddle my baby, but he made it clear from the very beginning that his favorite location was on a blanket on the floor where he could see things. He learned to crawl quickly, mostly because he wanted to get places.

Happy Birthday, Jonathan! It's been 30 years and you've taught us a lot.