My name is Sheilah. I have a great and supportive husband and we have five wonderful kids, three boys, 9,7, and 5 and two girls, 2 1/2 and 10 months.
My background:
I was born in a small town in central New York, USA. My mom had a stroke a month later and my grandma took care of me for the next six months while my mom was recouperating and the rest of the family was working.
I’m the youngest of five children and have three sisters and one brother.
I grew up on a dairy farm. I wasn’t to thrilled with it as a kid, but I was so glad of it in college (I still don’t know of any other girls that can change a radiator hose to fix their car) and I’m still glad of it now. I wouldn’t ever want to be a dairy farmer, it’s rough, even for the successful ones. I would like for us to be more self-sustaining though. Growing up on the farm taught me a lot about survival and nature. We did what we did to get by. We didn’t lead extravagant lives. We never vacationed, didn’t go to the movies or eat out much. And of course, I got to see and learn about lots of wild life. We had cows calving every spring and throughout the year, cats having kittens, and even a dog that had her puppies in our hay mow. When I was smaller we had chickens, which I could never figure out why they ran away from me all the time.
I ran through meadows, walked through woods picked and ate lots of wild berries and foraged through Grandma’s garden where I could get green beans and flowers in the same place to take back home to my folks.
I hold many interests including but not limited to music, sports, theater, art, travel, and of course family.
I’d do almost anything for my family.
I’ve always been a people person.
My grandma gave me piano lessons starting when I was about 8 or 9 and up until I could figure the rest on my own. I miss having a piano now, but I’ll have one again soon so I can continue to play. It’s just something I find relaxing, I don’t do it for anyone but me really.
In highschool I played cello and/or french horn in the orchestra, french horn and/or trumpet in the band and jazz band and I sang in the choir and jazz choir. I participated in field hockey, volleyball, track, the school play, drama club, SADD, and the yearbook committee.
When I graduated highschool, I went to a state university. Nothing exciting, but a typical college party town, which happened to be close to home where my dad wanted me. To this day we still live close to my folks.
While in college I held different jobs, most related to food service. I met my husband for the first time at the restaurant where I was waitressing. Then again, we were introduced by a mutual friend, who he was dating at the time. And then I met him a couple years later on an evening outing with some of my friends. That third time cynched it for me. You know what they say, “Three times a charm.”
He barbecued me a delicious steak for breakfast, and the rest is history. I had never had steak for breakfast, and also, Russell was the only guy besides my dad who would butter my toast all the way to the edges, something my dad taught me when I was a little girl was very important for a tasty peice of toast.
Well, there is more to that story too, but for another time perhaps…
Ever since we’ve been together, we haven’t necessarily done things in the “right” order, but it’s worked out for us anyway. I guess that what love will do.
We have also done almost everything together. We have hardly been apart since we first got together. Russell is truely my partner in life.
Baby encounters:
Here is where I started to learn about babies, caring for them, and when I was older, having them myself. Birth is a beautiful thing, but you should be comfortable with the end result to help you prepare for the event itself.
I think my first real experience with a baby, besides having been one myself, was my first nephew, Andy. I was 9 at the time he was born with Cerebral Palsey. Other than that, he was okay, but having CP made life more difficult, and luckily my sister was fine. Doctors aren’t really sure why he was born with CP, they made a speculation after my sister had her second child, Carolyn, by cesarian, that perhaps Andy’s umbilical cord was off center and separated during birth.
Anyway, I loved Andy (and still do) with all my heart. Whenever I could, I’d carry him around or nap with him. Just to hold him and be with him was so amazing to me. I remember one time when I was carrying him in a shopping center near my sister’s. We were all out Christmas shopping, and I was so young and he was still so small, this group of college girls in the food court were surprised when he moved and made a noise. He had been so content with me they thought I was carrying a doll, not a real baby. Andy is still easy to please, and he’s an incredibly hard worker.
A few years later, Carolyn was born. She was laying sideways in the womb so they had to do a cesarian which is when they noticed the umbilical cord being off center and made the speculation of the possiblilty of the same with Andy’s birth.
The first time I saw Carolyn was still in the hospital. Her head looked so tiny, round and bright pink, like a little apple. Once again, I became enamored. As she grew, I’d lay on my back, sit her on my belly and look up at her and call her a little Buddah baby. She was so round and perfect. Although not round anymore, (she’s taller, leaner, etc.) she’s still a wonderful young lady and she’s still into music.
Then there was my nephew Devin, who was born closer to home so I got to see him more than the others. He was also born with CP due to complications during birth, which I wouldn’t mind discussing, but 19 years later, it’s still a sensitive topic, so I’ll leave it at that.
I got to spend a lot of time with Devin since he was close to home and both my brother and Devin’s mom worked on the farm. It was fun to watch him grow and develope. Meet challenges and overcome many of them. To this day he still has sensitivity and a great sense of humor.
After Devin there came Roy. He’s a senior in highschool now, doing well, enjoying sports and so on. I didn’t really spend as much time with Roy because when he was first born, his big sister was so shocked by his presense that she came running back to me. After that, well, he wanted his Mommy much more than his aunt.
I have another niece, Sienna, and a nephew, Aviv, who live much farther away, so I don’t get to see them much. They are also about the same age as William and Anna, respectively.
To fill the gap between my niece and nephews and my own children, I had many baby sitting jobs here and there. (Remember, we lived in a rural area so the jobs were spread out and not centralized in say “down town” or “the east side,” or whatever.)
In 1998, I had Johnthan, followed by William in 2000, Bo in 2002, Anna in 2005 and Jeannie in 2007. Notice the spacing? In 2004 I had my ectopic pregnancy. I tell each of those stories elsewhere.
For now, that’s a quick run down about me and my “baby experiences.”
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