by Elsie Swagerty Burton
After several months the Hackmans, friends of my family were away for a month on their summer vacation and Harry and I were asked to house sit. While staying there we decided we would start our family. That nesting instinct is so strong. We knew we had no business taking on that responsibility just then, but we did it anyway. In fact, I felt we were being punished because we could allow or prevent my pregnancy. We looked around us and found that others in even worse circumstances than we were having babies. We finally determined that we would manage somehow. I wanted a baby at that time so badly.
We found an upper flat down the street from his folks on Delmas Street. It was declared unsuitable when the doctor advised against stair climbing. Within a month we found a little hovel on Park Avenue. We were still living there when Richard was born.
Until then we had only the washing machine to lug around when we moved, now we added baby furniture. We purchased a second hand crib and high chair. Father Burton got an unpainted chest of drawers and set about painting all three a beautiful baby blue. He was a perfectionist and he sanded down three coats of paint before he was satisfied.
At the Aldrich Christmas family gathering, a baby shower was given for me. Harry’s family gave me a large one later in the spring. There was never a child more wanted than that child. There was never a child whose mother wanted more to whatever it took to have a healthy baby. I took all the pills; I took all the rest; I took all the walks recommended. I refrained from long uninterrupted rides. I was careful of my diet. Whatever it took I was willing to do.
I covered a bassinet; I made little gowns; I hemmed diapers and made crib sheets and blankets and hoped for a boy. As the time drew near for its coming I was afraid lest it not be a boy. His father was so certain it would be. I was afraid the disappointment would be too great should it be a girl. I was apprehensive lest it have an effect upon his relationship with the child. I knew how it had been with my father.
On the morning of the baby’s arrival, I was awakened at 4:00 A.M. with “the water breaking.” It flowed and flowed. We had no phone. Harry got up and went a block and a half to ask advice of his parents They told Harry to get me to the hospital right away. He went to the nearest phone which was next door, at the bakery, to phone the doctor. The doctor also told him to get me to the hospital.
Harry had gone to such pains to have our car in good working order for that trip – – well, gassed and all; so off we went on our run for San Jose Hospital. We got down to Second and San Carlos Streets when the car stopped. Harry was frantic. He called a taxi and told the driver to take it easy. But I think my shape and the destination we asked for made him anxious because we went like heck over the bumpy streets The only other hard part of that delivery was waiting for the doctor to arrive. Richard Harry Burton was born at 8:22 A.M. He weighed 8 pounds, 22 ounces and 22 inches long. His father was so concerned, he had to awakened in order to be informed that he was a father.
I was assured that the baby was sound and healthy but when I saw him I was not at all sure. The child’s head came to a peek toward the left of his head. I was informed it would straighten out very soon but I was still very concerned. Harry persuaded his mother to go see Dr. Fox, my obstetrician, to double check the report. Dr. Fox assured her that everything was just fine. Much to the relief of us all, it did straighten out as predicted in a day or two. He was a healthy, well regulated baby that regulated to my preconceived idea of a schedule for babies. He thrived and was beautiful.
To commemorate the occasion of Richard’s birth, my father wrote a poem. Richard was my parent’s first grandchild, so it was an earth shaking event for them also.
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