Little Ralph~The boy with nine lives

The swift arrival

It was a cold, crisp, winter's day in February 1936 when little Ralph came into the world, he was 3 weeks early & waiting for no-one..

Annie was blissfully enjoying a very rare Sunday morning lie in, while 3 year old William played happily with his toys next to her. William was a very content child who loved storytelling as he played, giving parts to his toys, his parents, other family members & even his unborn sibling, he was patiently counting down the sleeps until he could finally meet his baby brother or sister, he talked non stop about all the fun they would have. These moments with William were precious to Annie as she knew soon there would be a newborn to look after too, meaning less one to one time for them both.  As she laid there musing how her & her husband, Reggie, were going to manage having 2 children under 4 whilst also running a public house together, she felt a sharp twinge in her abdomen, she was familiar with Braxton Hicks contractions so didn't worry too much when the twinges continued, she simply made herself more comfortable & continued her part in William's story.

Thirty minutes of fun, laughter & vivid storytelling later & it was time for breakfast in bed, courtesy of Reggie, he had always looked after Annie well but today he was adamant to pamper her, he was worried about the toll this pregnancy was taking on her lately & wanted her to rest more, however, usually it fell on deaf ears but today he was having none of it. After breakfast was eaten, Reggie brought a bowl of warm water with added lavender & peppermint so she could have a relaxing foot soak & foot massage. Annie, feeling thoroughly pampered & relaxed as Reggie started massaging her feet, let out a contented hum, whilst closing her eyes & resting her head back against the cosy armchair she was now sat in. Pleased that what he was doing was having the required effect, he started working his way up her calves & thoroughly massaged those too, today was all about Annie he thought to himself, she deserved this, she's always looking after everyone else, even while being almost fully pregnant.

This was absolute bliss, she could get used to this she thought as she smiled softly to herself. Trying her best to ignore the fact that her Braxton Hicks were a lot more painful this time around, she focussed more on the glorious feeling of her calf muscles relaxing. She decided that this should be a Sunday treat from now on & said so to Reggie, she giggled as he mock glared at her & he smiled lovingly at her, he had always thought she was beautiful but the pregnancy glow made her even more beautiful to him, each time, if possible. He was lost in his thoughts & she was relaxing when all of a sudden an almighty pain & whooshing release of water took her by complete surprise & she moaned out in pain, Reggie's eyes grew wide & he could see Annie panicking, knowing she was most definitely in labour & they didn't have anything ready, he made Annie comfortable whilst calmly soothing her.

Home births were quite normal so there was always a family member or friend that knew how to assist in the delivery, thankfully one of their live in staff, Eleanor, had been a ward sister & had training, plus they had a close knit family so every female within a miles radius was on hand to help with whatever was needed. While the female relatives looked after William & helped while Reggie was getting what Eleanor needed to help bring their little bundle safely into the world, the Elder men were already cracking open a celebratory bottle of the finest bourbon, kept in the pub cellar for such moments. It all happened so quickly, that chaos ensued, there was excited & nervous yelling, orders being given, things being passed back and fore, words of encouragement & the sounds of Annie crying out as she was bearing down, and then after only 15 minutes of pushing, a beautiful baby boy came into the world, with big green eyes, a head full of dark hair & very healthy set of lungs, needless to say everyone was besotted with him, William especially, he was now a proud big brother! And that, was how Little Ralph made his entrance into the world, swiftly!