It happened in the small farming-ranching town of Atkinson in the Nebraska Sandhills country and the year was 1947. No doubt about it, I was ready for this birth. However, my father had sold the family car during WWI, due to rationing and the scarcity of gasoline and tires, and even though factories had switched back to making civilian goods like automobiles, my father had not yet replaced our family car. So it was agreed that this birth would be "at home," just as the family birth had been the year before.

Assisted by the town doctor, our second "home birth" went well (being the fourth healthy child in the string of six kids). But upon delivering Jimmy, the doctor began laughing out loud – imagine the humiliation! He explained that "little Jimmy" was the biggest baby he had ever delivered, anywhere! He confirmed that upon returning the next day with a chicken scale for the official weigh-in! Sure enough, he was right about this birth being his (and our family's) record – a full 12 1/2 pounds was recorded on the birth certificate.

You'd think that mother would have quit having children after that, but she went right on to have two more, until we numbered six in all. She was 47 years old when Timmy, her youngest, was born, and finally she'd had enough!

Having started out at 12 1/2 pounds, I grew and grew, until at age 30 months the doctor put a stop to my 2 a.m. bottle of whole milk each night. Still haven't quite forgiven him for that.

Well, there it is, my "home birth" story. Thought you might like to hear about it.