My first Born

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? No. I got pregnant after being jumped on by a heifer in heat. Yes, really. Long story. I still have physical trauma, pain, and repercussions of this accident.

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? No

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Fear, apprehension, desperation, despair, confusion, and joy

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 20 at conception, 21 at the birth

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Actually, my son's grandmother knew before I did. I had instant morning sickness, and another sign that I shan't go into here.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes. And I did.

9. DUE DATE? August 27, 1986

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Horribly. I had to learn to eat around the morning sickness, which lasted all day, throughout the pregnancy.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Quarter-Pounder's with Cheese (Most of the time, I was living hundreds of miles from a McDonald's.)

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Turkey breasts, food cooking, my son's grandmother

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Male

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? At the time, yes

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 7

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? No

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? N/A

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Yes ~ repercussions from the heifer-jumping incident, sciatica, pre-term labor, cerclage, asthma, baby was 3 weeks late, failure to progress beyond 2cm, ceasarean, infection, wound issues...

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Hôpital de Carhaix, Carhaix-Plouguer, Finistère, Brittany, France

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 27 hours

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Marie-Noëlle Cloarec, my son’s godmother

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? The OB/GYN and OR crew

23. WAS IT VAGINAL OR C-SECTION? C-section

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 3 kg, 250 g

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? September 16, 1986, at 8:30 PM

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Mikaël Antoine (Mikaël is the male, Breton version of my sister’s name, Michèle, and Antoine is my son’s father’s middle name.)