Second Born, First Son

Welcoming a second child into our family was not the same as welcoming the first. We knew the ropes, we’d been there done that, so the scary unknown was not a factor. The pregnancy was very similar to the first except that I didn’t throw up at all. I felt great most of the time and was so excited to have child number 2.

I didn’t go see a doctor right away; we had gone to Kokomo, Indiana to sell books for the summer. It was a mostly horrible summer living in a moldy (mold on the walls, really!), bee-infested old apartment with Heber’s sister Carmen and her husband Patrick. Spending the days with Carmen while Heber tried to sell books to people who had no money was the only highlight of my time there. We cooked, went for walks and even sewed.

Towards the end of the summer I flew home to my parents since Heber and I did not have any place to live at that time. He was done with school at BYU, so we decided to live in Southern California to be near my family. Heber would be there in a few weeks; I took the opportunity to look at some apartments and found one on Garfield Avenue in South Pasadena. A few other LDS families with small children lived there, so it seemed inviting and fun.

I also made an appointment to see a doctor in Pasadena; it was getting towards September and I had no prenatal care yet. Shame on me! I heard about a doctor practicing in San Gabriel, Dr. Brown, who was LDS and charged a nominal fee ($350) for poor couples like us! I switched over to Dr. Brown and loved him! He took good care of us in his grandfatherly way. My due date was set for December 31^st.

Heber found work with L.D. Harvey doing construction making a low wage but the boss was hard to work for. We knew Heber had to get his teaching certification going so he signed up for classes and looked for a new job. He considered jobs as diverse as bug exterminator, air traffic controller (good heavens!) and auto parts sales. In the meantime I worked on making our new little apartment a home and preparing for the new baby. Lisa was still a baby herself. We loved taking her to Garfield Park and also Lacy Park in San Marino. There was a group of moms who would get together for outings to the parks or Arboretum.

At one visit I asked Dr. Brown, “Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?” He said, “Yep!”

On Christmas Eve we went to my parents’ annual Christmas Eve dinner and program. I was nearing the end of my pregnancy and was huge. We had a fun evening with family and went home to get some sleep. Tomorrow was Christmas and we had a few presents for little Lisa to open.

At 5:00 AM I woke up with contractions…really??? On Christmas Day??? I got up and watched TV; the only thing on was a Shirley Temple movie. I wanted to see if this labor was for real. It was. I woke Heber up and got sleepy Lisa up, grabbed her gifts and headed for my parents’ home. We dropped her off and told them to let her open her presents when she woke up. I remember her big gift from us was a Fisher-Price record player. Heber then drove me to the hospital, the wrong hospital! We knew it was in San Gabriel on this certain avenue but we had never been there. When we went in and they told us they didn’t have a maternity ward I almost cried. Then they told us the place we wanted was Valley Vista Hospital just a few blocks down the street. So back we went in the car and found the right place.

When I was in the labor room there was one other mother in labor in an adjoining room. She was Hispanic, I assumed, and every time a contraction would hit she would yell, “I YI YI YI YI!” This went on for hours. My contractions progressed along and I was soon in the delivery room and in came Dr. Brown. I apologized for making him come in on Christmas morning but he was more than fine about it and said he’d already opened his gifts. While getting prepped for delivery (no enema today! yay!) Heber came very close to fainting, but he made it through.

Philip Grable Trunnell came into this world without a hitch. He was a handsome little baby boy and cried like a little seagull. We were so ecstatic with our second cute healthy child! Heber’s parents had over forty grandkids but Philip was the first to carry the Trunnell name. (Heber was the first son after seven daughters). Again we received many wonderful gifts from friends and relatives which were greatly appreciated. He received cards from both his great grandmothers Linnea Spjut and Carlie Shurtliff.

Philip was named after Heber’s great-grandfather Philip Grable Trunnell who was also born on Christmas Day! Heber and I both have Uncle Phil’s whom we love and admire. I so enjoyed my new baby boy and Lisa. I loved being a mom and staying home with my children. I never wanted a career and hoped to be able to stay home to raise my kids. Heber has always worked very hard so that I could do so.