October 28, 1974

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I was very busy on this day, 43 years ago as evidenced by the picture above. This is my daughter's very first picture. She arrived in the world at 11:44 AM PST on a very rainy day. The night before she was born my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, her son and our small family - my husband, son, and myself - went to see a show at the Planetarium in Balboa Park in San Diego. It was only minutes after we arrived back at our apartment that my water broke and we were headed to the hospital. I had seen my doctor, Dr. Terry, the week before, and he told me not to go into labor on Monday, as it was a holiday - the US celebrated Veterans Day that year on October 28. He said he would be in the middle of the lake, fishing. Of course my daughter didn't listen, and made her debut into the world on Monday, October 28. Due to the fact my doctor wasn't immediately available, I had another doctor from his office. The bracelet they put on my wrist said Dr. Butcher - great name for a doctor, don't you think? When Dr. Terry showed up, his name was also added to the birth information. My daughter decided to give me all kinds of trouble in labor. It wasn't stable, but all over the place, so they gave me something to settle it down and get the contractions more consistent. They were also considering a C-Section, something I really didn't want. I had the unrealistic fear my daughter would die with that. I know different now. With all the trouble she was in labor, her apgar score, something they rate the baby on after birth from 1-10, was a perfect 10. Considering the battle I had in labor and delivery, of which my husband was with me through the whole, and joking with the doctor during the whole thing, she has the perfect name. While deciding on a name, my husband wanted the name Cynthia Elizabeth. I didn't. Every Cynthia I met in school was a snob, and I wasn't going to name her Cynthia. So there was a battle for her name throughout my pregnancy. Somewhere around the fifth month there was a movie on TV starring Jimmy Stewart called Shenandoah. There was the battle of Shiloh in the movie, and I knew what I wanted her name to be: Shiloh Shenandoah. Of course at that time I couldn't spell Shenandoah, which was lucky for her, so I shortened it to Shiloh Shannon. Then came that moment when my husband came in the room, sat on the bed, and said, I know you don't like the name, but. Well that kept me awake the rest of the night. At two in the morning the nurse came in and said my daughter was creating a riot in the nursery. So I told her I would take her. In my arms I looked into her precious face and I asked a very simple question. How would you like the name Shiloh Shannon Cynthia Elizabeth. She actually nodded her head. I had nothing to do with it. So I said. You got it. Of course that meant updating the birth certificate information. The nurse told me to just write the second two under the first two names. Wouldn't you know that someone in county records got her name messed up. They read down instead of across. So her birth certificate reads: Shiloh Cynthia Shannon Elizabeth. Not her baptism certificate. It reads right. So what does she go by now? Shiloh Cynthia. She still has all four names. I was very busy on this day, 43 years ago. Today she is married with a wonderful husband, three children, and two grandchildren. I am very happy that little angel in the picture is my little girl. How old are your little angels? Thanks for reading.