Grandma's Nursing Pin from 1922

Here is my post on How Grandma Decided to be an R.N.

My cousin came to visit from Texas and brought along a HUGE surprise for me!

My Grandma-the-Nurse's nursing pins!!!!

"ver: tot CHR: verzorging van krankzinnigen" or
 "Christian care for the insane"(per my aunt)
Grandma worked at a psychiatric hospital

She graduated in June 1922 after 4 years of training

This is the Hospital at which she trained

This is the Star of David, given to the nurses who worked at the Jewish Hospital

The back of the pin.  Notice the initial lettering on the back of one of the points

Close-up of the initials:  "G.B."
No one is really sure of what those initials stand for....

my Grandmother's Nursing Graduation photo: She is in the back row, 2nd from Left

The Bluenose!

I wish I would have posted the website sooner. I find it so fascinating.

I suppose the interest stems from all the times I skippered for my father on his  clipper years ago.

My dad on his boat

Just to get you up to speed, here is the time lapse of the rebuilding of the most recent Bluenose II:



The website can be found here. Check it out!  There are 3 different cams that show the progress of the build in real time. You can actually watch the men as they work on the ship.

Here is the condensed version of the story of this Canadian icon:

THE BLUENOSE

Designed by William Roue, the original fishing/racing schooner was built in 1921 - 90 years ago - in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, one of the Maritime Provinces.

She was made entirely of Nova Scotian wood.  The only exception were the masts, which required the tall Oregon pine.

Christened the "Bluenose" - the ship's name came from an 18th century nickname for Nova   Scotians.  Whether the the nickname was due to the color of their noses from the cold weather or simply due to their political bent.... no one is really sure.

The Bluenose was a working fishing vessel, one of the requirements to enter the Fisherman's race.   She also beat out 7 other Nova Scotian sailboats to qualify in the competition for the International Fisherman's Trophy.

Not without controversy and competitive bickering back and forth between captains, the Bluenose won each competition. 



Her record was undefeated for 18 years.



As the age of sails came to a close with the introduction of alternate means of power,  the grand schooners with their sheets and sails were no longer needed.

 Unfortunately, due to lack of funds,  the Bluenose was sold to a company for use in the West Indies where she hauled bananas until she was wrecked off the coast of Haiti.

The inspiration and memory  of such a magnificent ship captured the imagination of the whole country.




Canadian dime: wiki



A symbol of Atlantic Canada and a Legend in her time and today, there is, and has never been another sailing ship that could equal the Bluenose.

my dad in his glory....even a small
sailboat can dream it is a Bluenose!

Incubators and Preemies: How it all Began

It's an interesting and curious story: the Birth of the Incubator.

I was watching the History channel on my break on nightshift last week and a woman asked one of the researchers on the show the origins of a silver cup with her name on it.

It had an extraordinary history behind it. Some would even hazard to say bizarre.

Wiki photo: 1909, Seattle WA
Baby Incubator

***

Back in 1904, if a baby was born prematurely, more than likely it would die an early death - either from cold, disease or inability to feed.   (You remember my story of a baby my Grandmother delivered in the prairies that she set on the door of a woodstove to warm!)  Death rates in the first two weeks of life ranged between 30-40%!

The move towards trying to save these babies started in the 1870's when France's population was ravaged by famine and post-war casualties.

In an attempt to boost the French population, Dr. Tarnier, an esteemed obstetrician and a pioneer neonatologist,  decided that steps should be taken to improve the survival rate of prematurely born infants.  

His attendance at a poultry farm where chicks were raised in a warming chamber sparked an idea.  Why not develop a similar setup for human babies? 

The Zookeeper of the Paris Zoo was commissioned to build the first baby incubator for a local Paris hospital in 1880 - the first in the world.

Under Dr. Tarnier's tutelage was a Dr. Budin, who further championed the advancement of the use of incubators for neonates.    Specializing in the study of neonatology,   he wrote papers and published books on the subject. 

He introduced "nasal feedings" (oh my!-take a look!) and intermittent gavage.

He worked on the problems of infection as well, and developed strict hand washing and the isolation of sick babies and separating the infants into well baby/sick baby groupings. He addressed the problem of proper storage of milk to prevent spoilage.  

He advocated using "wet nurses" to procure human milk as this was found to produce better results.

He came up with an unusual and bizarre method to publicize his theories on Neonatology and spread the word about baby incubator use:  Baby Exhibits.

A young associate of Dr Budin was assigned to accompany an Exhibit of "a child hatchery" to Berlin.  The display was so successful, it was extended not only to England, but also into the United States.

This young associate was Dr. Martin Couney. 

He immigrated to America in 1903 and for 40 years plus,  presided over the Coney Island exhibit.

In this unlikely environment,  circus "barkers"  would shout out to the crowd to encourage them to go through the exhibit. (Interestingly enough, one of these was Cary Grant - at that time, a young actor waiting for a part on Broadway)   The incubators were lined up like little wood stoves in a row.

In the early days, to view the preemies - adults would pay 10 cents,  children - 5 cents.  Lines - mostly women -  would line up in droves to view the nurses at work with the babies, some of which were only one and a half pounds. 

Although based in Coney Island, occasionally Dr Couney would go out to other cities - Chicago, Portland OR, San Francisco - to oversee displays there.   The one in San Francisco alone took in over $72,000 in the 10 months it was open.

MDs from all over the country would send Dr Couney little preemies for his exhibit.  He was awarded a platinum watch in recognition of his efforts.

However, not everyone was happy with the "showmanship" of the preemies.  One nurse recalled feeling disdain, but she did concede that the infants did get very good care.  

Dr. Couney himself was disheartened to see the disconnect between the infant and the parents who, after so many months separated from their baby, would hardly come and visit and were actually reluctant to take them home when they "graduated".  He consoled himself with the fact that not one parent had to pay a penny for the care of these babies - the exhibit itself was self-supporting.

In a Canadian twist: Dr. Couney was invited to be the MD in charge of the famous Dionne Quintuplets born in Ontario, but declined because he stated that they were going to die and he didn't want to have the bad publicity that would be a fallout of a probable highly publicized failure.

As it was, these were one year's results, near the end of the era of the exhibit:

Mortality Experienced at Exhibit during New York World's Fair 1939-1940 (Medical News: New York City. JAMA 115:1648, 1940.)

Gestational Age (mo.)	Admitted	Died
6	9	0
6 1/2	18	4
7	37	6
7 1/2	9	0
8	20	0
8 1/2	1	0
Unknown	2	0
Total	96	10

By 1940 the depression had eaten away at the profits and the now 25 cents admission charge did not cover the costs.   The Health Department stepped in and continually criticized the setup.  The public were bored with the exhibit in an ever increasingly modernized world. 

The first premature infant ward opened up in Cornell's New York Hospital and the Preemie Exhibit folded.

He (Couney) told his nephew, "I made propaganda for the preemie. My work is done." Twenty years after his death a bronze tablet was placed on the wall next to the entrance of the Holiday Inn on the boardwalk in Atlantic City to mark the site of his old shows. It noted that "Dr. Couney was the first person in the United States to offer specialized care for premature infants."

A final commentary at the end of this story makes an interesting comparison to today's medicine:

"But I find it hard to ignore the resemblance between the theatrics of the side-show exhibits and the dramatic actions in present-day neonatal intensive care units. In both cases, I find a disturbing detachment from reality"
"The feeble infant is plucked up and deposited in a theatre-like setting in which superb technical experts make all-out efforts to support life. And when this has been accomplished successfully, the infant graduates. But no comparable effort is mounted to deal with the enormous problems which face the graduate at home and in the community. Future historians may look back with some fascination at the tunnel vision in the incubator-show era and in the present day. I can almost hear the comment (in French, of course, since the movement did begin in France): Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."

One thing the exhibition did - it promoted the need for earlier and improved prenatal care.

Oh - and that silver baby cup with the woman's name engraved on it mentioned at the beginning of this blogpost? It was part of a gift given to a group of "1933-34 preemie graduates" and their parents at a 1940 reunion of the Exhibition Babies from Coney Island's "Century of Progress" World's Fair.

********************

Here is a March of Dimes video showing preemies birth and the work they do. It's an ongoing fight:

Valentine's Message from Grandma to Grandpa 1925

Nurses tend to have a "different" sense of humor.  We all know that.

I suppose that would include my Grandmother.  I never really knew her to tell jokes or kid around much when I was growing up, but there were stories.

I recall looking through an old photo album at her house years ago.  I ran across a picture of my Grandpa with a bicycle in a crowd of young people.  There was a chunk missing in the middle of the photo - as if a person were cut out of it.

"What happened here?" I asked my mother, pointing to the hole in the picture, fearful that one of the little cousins had done it.

"Oh....that was a photo of Grandpa with his old girlfriend..."  Mom laughed. "I guess Grandma didn't like it that he had that photo...and cut her out of the picture..."

I looked at my mother in disbelief. What?? Grandma - jealous??? It was difficult to think of my Grandma having the same emotions as me....

So -  I can just imagine - Grandma in Holland - Grandpa in Canada - the two years they were apart and never seeing each other the entire time while engaged... waiting for Grandma to immigrate - her imagination perhaps running wild and that jealous streak rearing it's ugly head .....

It took weeks to travel from Holland to Alberta, Canada - by boat and then train - and the only trip out to see each other was going to be a permanent one.

To keep their relationship alive,  my Grandma would send letters and little gifts to prod my Grandpa's memory of their love....

Now, I know nurses can have a sick sense of humor and usually the gory stuff is shared with co-workers, not  family members.  Most people don't understand our sense of humor.....

I think that in the Harry Potter books, chocolate frogs were an item to give out -
perhaps that was a tradition way back when....??

But, in 1925 my Midwife RN Grandma decided that it was somehow romantic to send Grandpa a Chocolate Frog with a poem she wrote -  (and here it is - translated from Dutch to English) :

" If one wants to become a nurse, one needs to learn so much,
One sits for days studying with her nose in the books, Practical and Theory and lastly Anatomy,
In so doing we need a frog, and in bisecting it, it gets much bigger,
First under the microscope one clearly sees the movement of blood,
Then one works with the sinews, then the head is cut off to study it some more,
The blood streams between the threads,
With a needle one pricks into the backbone,
Now it's time for the heart to come out, first it must be drained,
And just as the doctor says, "A half hour yet before it stops beating"
But no, even if the heart is laying away from its body
(Even with poor eyesight you can see it constantly moving,)
The brains spill out; you'll be sure it'll be in next years' exams.
If you're a vegetarian don't eat meat, or fish,
Don't wear any fur or muffs, or leather shoes
If you come up against lice or fleas, don't kill 'em you'll pay for it
This whole story is a joke;
This frog is made of chocolate, so just enjoy eating it"

I wonder what my Grandpa thought.....??

Grandma, the Midwife - on the Prairie - 1920's

My grandmother was very busy as a Midwife in the vast Canadian prairie lands where they settled. 


As a Midwife, she would attend the deliveries of babes in the homes, and then stay with them for up to three weeks, or if they lived nearby, Grandma would make trips every day to help the new mom out – cleaning, cooking, washing clothes – anything that needed doing around the house to make things easier for the new mom so she could just concentrate on her baby.

It is interesting how things change.  When I was in Nursing school, I do remember that women would stay a week in the hospital after their delivery. I can remember, as a student nurse,  taking a woman to the bathroom the second day after giving birth – and getting in trouble from the nasty RN that was working for making the mom get up!  Even at that time, I could never understand why the new moms would be forced to stay in bed when they were quite capable of moving about on their own!


We now know that prolonged bedrest encourages DVTs which can lead to Pulmonary Embolism.

Grandma next to their horses in Alberta

When Grandma had her second baby, the same MD that didn’t make it to the December delivery was the delivering doctor.  A neighbour “consented” to help out, although didn’t feel very comfortable doing so.  It was one thing to help out in the background – but when it’s your own Midwife you are helping out/caring for....it is a whole 'nother ball of wax. 

From the way Grandma tells it - it sounded as if the woman didn’t really help out much at all, and definitely not as much as Grandma would help others.  Luckily, our family has a history of delivering babies quite easily and quickly - and recovering quickly,  and their first little baby was born in that little shack of a house the end of May - the same year and day Queen Elizabeth  was born.   Grandma was just thankful that she didn’t have to repeat that horrible hospital experience she had with her first baby.****

My grandmother would not only be busy with her Midwifery practice, but also was a big part of the workings of their own farm – helping Grampa with fixing machinery, her own little vegetable garden, plus the cooking and baking -  and by now, she had two little girls of her own!  Grampa’s brother moved from Holland to come and live with them in their small little cabin Grampa had made.  They put up a partition and laid bales of hay on the floor with a mattress on it, and that is where Om Jan slept.  

I can’t imagine having to sleep only a couple feet away from your brother-in-law and the lack of privacy. I am pretty sure that is why there was a little bit of a space of time until Gramma’s next baby.  I don’t believe he stayed very long anyways  - Grampa and he had disagreements over the way things should be done on a farm.

Grandpa planted 10 acres of wheat and more of oats.  It was a lot to do with a horse drawn plow.

A lot of purchases were actually made by bartering. Grampa traded a horse he had nursed back to health for a pig that was pregnant.  When the piglets were weaned, they slaughtered the pig for the winter and then had a dilemma.  What to do with the piglets? It would be way too cold for the winter....in the thirty to forty-below weather.  One had already died from the cold.

So the piglets were brought inside their house to live with them.  For two weeks – the smell and mess nearly did Grandma in....but they died anyway. 

It was too cold for the chickens also.... so Grampa made a hole in the wall of their tiny shack so the chickens could come in and out.  One of them became Grandma’s “pet” and in the summer they would leave the door open so she could come in and out – and she would lay an egg every day on their bed. 

While I am reading Grandma’s story – I am thinking .....I am pretty sure I could never have lived back then if that is how I had to live. I don’t think I could live with pigs or chickens having free run of the house.  Maybe I wouldn't have known any better had I lived back then.

In the Summer, Grandma would pick berries....but the problem that came with the coulee’s nearby was the mosquitoes.  They would almost eat her alive.  Her way to cope with it that made people wonder about her – was to wear Grampa’s pants and a straw hat with a netting on it.  No woman wore anything but dresses back then.

A cow was given to them as a wedding gift and after it had a calf – it started producing milk.  Grandma would separate the milk for cream and milk and then churn the butter by hand in a barrel specially made for it.  They would keep all their cream and veggies/produce/canning in the cellar under the house.  Grandma tells the story of the time a mouse fell into the cream and drowned.  Grandma felt it was a shame to throw out the cream – so she took it to market anyway – had it appraised and found out – to their surprise – that it was the first and only time the cream was considered “first grade” quality.

They would go by horse and democrat to the market to barter their butter.  The grocer didn’t like it because by the time they travelled 11 miles in the hot prairie sun – the butter would be reduced to liquid.  They would also take in their eggs and milk to barter for sugar and other groceries that they couldn’t grow or produce themselves.

Grandma would work in the garden, and when my aunt - their oldest child - was still a baby, she would take her in a big metal basin and while Grandma was busy outside, the chickens, kittens and dog would keep her company.  One time Grampa’s horses got loose from him and went galloping full speed with plow equipment in tow right toward the house – out of control -  in the direction of the baby in the basin.  Luckily the horses were stopped by the haystack but it really shook up Grandpa. He was very protective of his little girl.

What they didn’t see coming and couldn’t protect their first born from, was the health problem looming in the future.

**** It is thought that PIH is caused by an immune response of the pregnant woman to the male antigen cells.  Over time the woman can develop a protective effect if she stays with the same partner and thus PIH may not be a problem with subsequent pregnancies.  This tolerance is lost with a new partner - in otherwords, a multip may have a reocurrence of PIH after having a previous normal pregnancy.

Grandma: How she decided to be an R.N.

I don't really know why I became an RN....but I can see how my Grandmother came about making her decision. 




I took this photo when I was there in the 1970s.
You can see the Pilgrim Church clearly on the left
with the spire going out the top of the photo

  A number of the Pilgrim Fathers that left Europe for America in 1620 - originally gathered at and sailed from a little town on a canal in Holland to meet up with the Mayflower in England.  This is where my Grandmother, the Nurse Midwife was born in 1895 - "Delfshaven". 



 From her house she could see the Pilgrim Father's church that the Pilgrims built   - and she would pass by this place of worship on her way to and from school every day.   It is interesting that my Grandma would make her voyage to America almost exactly 300 years after the Pilgrim Fathers.

When she was a young girl, there was no electricity.  The Lamplighter would come around and ignite each street lamp to illuminate the cobblestone roadways every evening.  The homes that lined the canal were constructed of concrete and brick - no yards out the front - butting up next to each other in neat rows.




Delftshaven 1902 photo, the The Pilgrim Father's church to the left
behind the tree and the famous drawbridge in front, almost exact
same place as photo above.

  Boats meandered down the canals and many were used as homes for entire families.  Grandma's family owned a small store that would furnish the locals and the visiting sea vessels with vegetables, sugar, salt, bread, oranges, lemonade and beer.  It was a general store so you could also find coal, rain gear, tobacco and "Klompen". They also operated a delivery service that would sell coal and potatoes from Grandma's maternal Grandparent's farm. 

I would have thought from Grandma's reaction at the dentist's, that she would have turned away from anything medical.   I know as a young girl she was as much afraid as myself of a needle.    A toothache had her mother dragging her to an appointment with the local dentist.  As my Grandmother told it - as they stood outside the Dentist's office, ringing the bell - Grandma broke free and ran across the canal drawbridge (pictured above) as it was lifting - leaving her flustered mother to explain to the dentist that there was no longer a patient for him.

Students in Holland with a primitive "calculator"

Grandma was a good student in school.  She went Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 4:30 pm with only one hour break for lunch - as it was in those days.   For her scholastic achievements she was awarded a prize of a sewing box (still in the family) with a letter of recognition from the principal.  She graduated at Grade 6 or, age 12.

At this age most children were sent to schools for further practical education where they would learn a trade.  It was customary, though, for most girls to stop any schooling altogether, especially those from poor families.   These girls would work as live-in house maids or work in the family business.

My grandmother's older sister became homesick when sent to a house as a governess and was sent home.  The Mevrouw (Missus of the house) asked if my Grandmother would take her place?  It was agreed that she would work for this family. Grandma was only 12 at the time.  She was not permitted to leave for family birthdays or celebrations.    She was only allowed to go home on a Sunday once every four weeks - to return to her place of employ by 10 pm that same night.   At noon she would walk all the way home, which took at least 3 hours to walk the 2 1/2 miles.   Sometimes she was only home for an hour before she had to leave to go back to her place of employ.    She only stayed for one year.


"Huishoud" School early1900s

 After this year, at age 14,  Grandma attended a "Huishoud school" or a house keeping school and lived away from home.  She was taught the basics in cooking, housekeeping and any other skills that it was expected a young woman needed to know back then.   She was isolated from any of the news back at home. One time, while visiting her family,  she was told of a young neighbor, only 10 years of age that died very quickly of cancer.  My grandmother cried.  She had known this girl very well.

Graduated from the Huishoud school, she went to work in the homes of friends as governess for children and caring for sick people.   Many of her clients and patients sent messages upon their recovery and kept in touch through the years....and you can tell by these postcards (our family still has them) that there was much appreciation for the care Grandma gave to them.  She was 16 at the time.

At age 18 or 19 (1913 ) Grandma was asked by her mother to work as a clerk in their store.  It was during that time Grandma realized that this was definitely not her calling.   She had had a taste of what it was to care for people who were ill, and now she turned her ambitions to nursing.


Nursing class outside Bloemendaal
Hospital, Loosduinen

At age 23 my Grandmother started her four years nurses' training at  "Bloemendaal" Hospital in Loosduinen on the coast, south of the Hague.... 1918 to 1922.  Her diploma says she graduated on June 9th 1922 - Registered Nurse No. 1429.

The hospital she trained at is still there.  It was a gorgeous building, surrounded by mature evergreens, paths meandering  through acres of flower gardens and lily padded lagoons....swans floating by.    There was a stone chapel on the grounds....which at that time was set in a sea of bluebell flowers.





Ambulance from my Grandma's era

When she graduated, Grandma went to work at a Jewish Hospital in Amsterdam. She loved her new job where she worked from 1922 to 1926.    She had lots of fun with the other staff and doctors.....singing in the choir, going to the beach close by -  and in the winter - skating on the canal.  She doted on her patients and they often sent her cards and letters which my aunt still has....

" To Nurse D.  Greetings to all your colleagues who served with thankfulness; shall remember the devotion of the nurses, even though the time in Loosduinen set me back" 1922

"To Sister D at the Jewish Hospital Amsterdam "Beste D, As you can see, I'm in Durban.  End of May I'll be in Amstdm but first Antwerm, Rotterdm and Hamburg. Willy" July 10, 1925



Grandpa in the Dutch Army
circa1918

 The head Nurse from Bloemendaal Hospital kept in touch with my Grandmother.   She invited my Grandmother to her house to help celebrate her 25th wedding anniversary and have her sing a song, accompanied by a gentleman on the organ.  Both having wonderful voices, they ended up singing a duet.



This gentleman was my Grandfather.  

Within 6 weeks they were engaged.  For many of those days in their courtship, Grampa would wait for Grandma's shift to end, waiting on the steps of the nurses quarters.   It was shortly after that my Grandfather moved to Canada.  They would be apart for  two years before my Grandmother could follow him to Canada. 


One of her poems in a letter to him** that she obviously wrote during one of her night shifts (if this were today - she would have been furiously emailing!):

August 24, 1924

"It is night and as I write this my work goes on,

I may not forget my responsibilities, 

I insist on that as you know. 

At a 25th anniversary Cupid brought us together,

However even without sudden unexpected meeting we had such a "gezellig" (sociable) evening together;

We had some problems arising, but we wanted to reach our goal;

First we tidied everything up without ignoring a thing;

One thing is too bad it is true, but not for long - That we are apart from one another,

You in a far away land, separated by sea and sand;

And although it will be awhile, we will be true to each other
And soon enough I will be your wife. D"



**Translated from Dutch to English

Toxemia : 1920s : A Horrible Hospital Stay


   Grandma and Grandpa were married in 1926,  and in 1927 they had their first baby.

Granum, Alberta

The marriage ceremony (one of the several!) was delayed for the funeral of the area's midwife.  She passed away right when Grandma moved to the area.  As she stated in her memoirs ....

 "People thought it natural that I would start with this work" - meaning, she would be the area's next "midwife".

The first baby she helped deliver  was September 1926 - the Roos family's second baby - a boy.  Grampa helped the father in the field while Grandma helped with the delivery and the baby.  "I stayed there for about 3 weeks, did mother and baby and all the work, housework and washing and I remember I burned two diapers by warming them at the top of the stove" she wrote in 1958.



Courtesy: Sharon Strand Sigfuson

 Most houses did not have water.  I know that G&G's house didn't.  Grandpa had to haul water by driving the democrat down to the river - into the river - then fill a great barrel.  I can't imagine what they would do in the winter.  I suppose there was enough snow to gather and melt, so they wouldn't have to make that dangerous and freezing trek to the frozen river very often.



Her story continues.  "From there I went to Mrs. Bosch who was blessed with a pair of twins, a girl and a boy.  After a couple of weeks I went home again and could do some work in my garden."  She grew vegetables for the fall harvest and got milk from their cow which they separated and then churned themselves to make butter.

 They took the butter into town and along with the eggs from their chickens - traded it for other necessities such as sugar.   The trek into town to do their shopping was 11 miles away, which is not far for us and our vehicles - but for them was an all day trip - packing their lunch for a picnic along the way.  In the summer it was so hot the butter melted, in the winter it was so cold it was unbearable...even the blankets and the hot water bottle they took along with them couldn't keep them warm.

Courtesy: Valerie Hinz painting

 That winter, besides delivering another two babies after the twins, Grandma actually helped Grandpa finish the interior of the little house- ceiling and walls, buying what lumber and beaverboard they could in town and hauling it home.  She also told of how she helped Grandpa with the machinery repairs. 

All this she did while pregnant with her own baby. 

The First December baby, she delivered on her own.  The next December baby, she did all the work during and after...and stayed with the family for several weeks once again.  In her own words: 

Tom Hamp Photographer - Granum, Alberta

 " It was harder for me because I was expecting my own first baby.  I was there over Christmas and New Year, and I was supposed to go to the next party [meaning next baby delivery], Mrs Howard who was expecting, but then I could [not] do my work any more.  I had swollen ankles and I didn't feel so good, so I had to see the Dr in Clairsholm and the Dr told me to stay right away in the hospital.  I didn't like it but the Dr told me that he wouldn't help me if I didn't wanted to stay and I had still 2 month to go yet. The hospital was 22 mile from home and this days was not so easy to go by car, and the buggie with horse took to long, we went by train."

So my grandmother was coerced into staying at the hospital with 8 more weeks left in her pregnancy.  And what did the hospital do for her? 

"I stayed in the hospital and I've got treatments hot steam baths every day and medicine*** and milk, no salted food at all for 5 weeks.  That took so long, in the first place I didn't feel sick, second so far from home, no visitors, and no English (Grandma didn't speak English at this point).  I was in a room of 3 or 4 lady's, they just came, get their babys and went again."



some of the old medicines used long ago

  Put into a room with laboring moms who came and went...it must have been discouraging to be stuck, not only in a hospital far away from family and friends....but also, not able to communicate with anyone.  I suppose some people at this point would say - "so learn English - you are in your New Country"...well it isn't that easy.  

Having just arrived  8 months previous from a country that spoke Dutch (nowadays there are plenty of people who speak English in the Netherlands)...and having a husband that spoke very little English also - because they lived in a community of mostly Dutch immigrants....how do you go about learning English in the space of a few months?  I suppose this is why I have a little more compassion for those immigrants that do not speak English very well...or at all.  I am sure, given the choice - they would give anything to be able to communicate their needs. It certainly isn't because they are stupid or ignorant......

"Some ladys try to talk with me but I didn't not a word.  Pop (Grandpa) brought me the English-Dutch dictionary but that wouldn't help.   If I wanted to ask something I took the wrong word with another meaning.  Once I asked a lady if this door was before and the other door after instead of front and back, the lady never knew what I meant so she shook her head."

Courtesy: Sharon Strand Sigfuson

  Grandpa did get to visit a couple times, but only for a very short visit and only when he could hitch a ride in with a neighbour on their way in to town for supplies.  One time the Domine (pronounced Doh-min-ay, meaning 'minister' in Dutch) came to visit her to tell her that her marriage wasn't legal.  I suppose he must have felt sorry for her in the hospital for so long - and after Grandma adamantly told him she wasn't doing the marriage over again, already having gone through it three times already....a fine of $2 was levied against the minister and it was allowed - "but with a stern warning".  

I can see why my Grandmother was frustrated.   I have taken care of women in the hospital for periods of time with PIH and preterm labor - and it isn't fun for them.  Plus -  life does go on at home - and it is difficult to maintain bed rest in the hospital - away from everyone.   But I suspect much of Grandma's problem was due to the extensive work she did around the farm, the edema was exacerbated by constantly being on her feet.   I can just imagine how swollen her poor ankles were at the point of admission to hospital.

Ten days after her baby was born, she was allowed to go home.  Ten days!  So Grandpa accompanied a neighbour with a car to pick Grandma up.....and the car broke down and had to be fixed.  Grandma was waiting and waiting all day for him to arrive......and no Grandpa.  She was frantic with worry.



Thanks to the City of Claresholm's website.  



"I couldn't understand why they didn't come, and so I asked the nurses please phone home,  I said question!  question! instead of ask what the matter was.  O I could cry!  At last the nurse told me about the car trouble and they would come the next day.  The next day came and there was Pop to bring me home, with our baby.  It was 22 miles, Pop was proud of his first daughter, so he carried her all the time.  On the way we stopped at some friends place  in Granum, so it was late in the day before we got home.  When we came home Mrs Bosch and Mrs Kroll were there to clean up the house before I came, but they were surprised that everything was so clean and tidy already.  Pop did it all by himself, before he came to pick me up.   So when at last we came home, they made coffee and stayed for a while"




How things have changed!  And to think that my Grandmother went through 5 more pregnancies, including one set of twins! 

Courtesy: cowboyup.ca

There is still more to my Grandparent's story.......

*** treatment of the day: possibly anticonvulsants/sedatives [morphine] which have been used for >80 yrs, purgatives and bowel washes-chloral and bromide per rectum.  Milk was also a "treatment" because of the calcium which was thought to help.

Starry Nights - 1926 - Grandma's Television

Yes. Those were the days.  We don't really know or realize what the new settlers went through - just to live - a mere 100 years ago.   We take a lot for granted....and sometimes I wonder what it would have been like living in that dusty prairie town in Alberta....as a new immigrant - just like my Grandparents. 

It must have been painful for G&G to leave family behind, especially since - when they said their goodbyes - it may very will be the last time they saw any family again, as it was no easy feat to travel to Europe and back without a lot of planning and a month or two of time.   Trying to comfort her, my Grandmother's mama told her " Just look at the stars at night.  I will be looking at the same sky...."

There is nothing more breathtaking than the expansive vault of heaven filled with twinkling lights.   My Grandmother wrote of it in her memoirs.   Often she would beckon her new husband out to the porch to watch the night sky.  No tv.  No radio.  No telephone or cell phone.  Just the painful quietness and the sparkling celestial diamonds adorning the black curtain of nature surrounding them.

And - every summer they could see the spectacular colourful show of nature - the Northern Lights - as they danced across the expansive night sky - rolling along - fading - just to flash in multi-colours above their head.  It was awe-inspiring.   Better than any movie!

Whenever I hear this song....I think of my grandparents out on the prairie, living in that tiny 16ft by 26 ft  shack my Grandfather built himself....


Halley's Comet: When it came around in 1986 - I remember clearly seeing it's tail fly across the sky. Nineteen eighty-six was also the year my Grandmother died -  at age 91.

 The one thing she wanted  was to die at home with her husband by her side - and a view of that starry sky.  I was willing to stay with them in their apartment until the end.  As a fellow Nurse and, most importantly, her Granddaughter, I thought it the least I could do.

 The MD said there was no way he could "accommodate" this.  Dying at home was only just coming into "vogue" - and was still discouraged in most medical circles.  The cold four walls of the hospital was all she saw as she left this earth.

 It was at that moment that I realized that, with all the progress of medicine,   compassion was somehow lost along the way.

 On another note, if I live to see the next time Halley's comes around....I will be 110.
I am not holding my breath.

****

Halley Came To Jackson (lyrics)
Songwriter: Mary Chapin-Carpenter


Late one night when the wind was still
Daddy brought the baby to the window sill
To see a bit of heaven shoot across the sky
The one and only time Daddy saw it fly


It came from the east just as bright as a torch
The neighbors had a party on their porch
Daddy rocked the baby, Mother said "amen"
When Halley came to visit in nineteen ten


Now back then Jackson was a real small town
And it's not every night a comet comes around
It was almost eighty years since its last time through
So I bet your mother would've said "amen" too


As its tail stretched out like a stardust streak
The papers wrote about it every day for a week
They wondered where it's going and where it's been
When Halley came to Jackson in 1910


Now Daddy told the baby sleeping in his arms
To dream a little dream of a comet's charms
And he made a little wish as she slept so sound
In nineteen eighty-six that wish came 'round


It came from the east, just as bright as a torch
She saw it in the sky from her daddy's porch
As heavenly sent as it was back then
When Halley came to Jackson in nineteen ten
Late one night when the wind was still

A Midwife's Tale...... Unbelievable....



 On May 17 of this year,  I drove to my parent's place to look after my mom at home post op.  Having a B&B, they get all kinds of folks come knocking on their door from all over the world.   This is a story about one of their "visitors".

I always knew my Grandmother was an RN.   I had heard she had delivered some babies when they first moved to Canada....Alberta to be exact.  But until that day - up at my parents - I hadn't heard in detail  the stories of my Grandma as a Midwife in rural Alberta.  

 My cousin, who is also an R.N. - and Grandma's namesake -  was staying with me for a week.   She just left to go home a couple hours ago - back home to Texas.  I showed her this story - Our Grandma the Midwife -  and she was as amazed as myself - when I had first heard it.  


She just happens to have Grandma's old nursing pin from the 1920s.   I am hoping she sends me a photo of it.....because I have never seen it.   :)

Here is my blog entry for Monday, May 17, 2010:

Grandma R.N, or It's In the Genes.....

So I have arrived at my folks' house to help my mother around their place .....since she is only 2 weeks post operative Hip Replacement. My mother had an interesting story for me when I arrived.

My Grandparent's Engagement photo

I think I have already mentioned that my Grandparents immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands, my Grandmother following my Grandfather to this new Land of Opportunities by freighter (no planes) in May 1926. They were engaged in Holland and Grandma moved here two years after Grandpa - deciding to marry in their new country.

They visited the local courthouse to obtain their marriage license. Not understanding English, and not knowing the laws or customs, they didn't realize that not only were they handed their license, but the barrister threw in the marriage ceremony also (#1). Having not a clue that they were already wed, they made arrangements for an American Dutch minister to perform their marriage ceremony. They actually had two ceremonies at that time...one in Dutch in the Reformed Church(#2) and a second one at the Presbyterian church(#3).

A year and one baby later they discovered the marriage was invalid because the American minister was not allowed to legally marry anyone in Canada (and was fined $2!). Still not understanding that they actually were already married - in the courthouse, they arranged for another wedding....this time with a Canadian Minister(#4).

The local Dutch community and other assorted neighbors travelled from far and wide to congregate at the little shack G&G called home....no more than four walls put together by Grandpa - 2 by 4s and unfinished inside....but did they have a Wedding Celebration that apparently carried on until 4 am! (I was reading this from my Grandma's story that she handwritten herself in 1959) Three or Four Weddings. We all laughed about this years later- a family joke, but it accentuates the problems immigrants encounter adjusting to a new country and sets the scene for the story I am about to relate.

Back to present day.

Nine thirty this morning there was a knock on the door. Mom wondered.....who could be wanting to visit at this early hour? It still takes a good hour or so to get mobile in the morning with the still-mending hip ....so early morning visits are a little inconvenient, to say the least.

Strangers.

 An elderly man and his wife introduced themselves. He asked if he could come in and visit. My mother recognized the name and *thought* she might have met him 40 years ago when my Grandma and Grandpa brought them to visit when we owned the resort by the Lake. Anyone that was Dutch would be introduced around to the family. That was G&G's way.

This particular gentleman had an interesting story to tell. The story goes like this:

It was December 13, 1926 in Rural Alberta. A blizzard had blown in and most of the roads were impassible. Farms were widely spaced and the only method of transportation at that time was horse and buggy on the gravel and dirt - and now snowdrifted - roads, if you could even call them that. A harsh winter, forty below with the snow whipping around, visibility zero....made it difficult to go anywhere.

In this setting a Dutch woman goes into labor. the Doctor was sent for but the probability of him even finding the house never mind being able to get out of his own drive - was remote. The Doctor had to travel by horse buggy all the way from the next town (by the way, I have attempted, in the past, to go by horseback 5 miles to the "next town" from my place - and after one hour I gave up!) and eleven miles meant an all night trip. It was going to take hours and hours.

Someone at the laboring woman's house decides that the next best thing to the Doctor would be - a nurse! ....and since my newlywed grandparents lived next door (well, it was a little bit further than that - for creative license we will say "next door". Anyway - let's just say she lived a lot closer than the Doc - within walking distance) - and everyone knew she was an RN.  The local midwife had died, so by attrition, my Grandmother was expected to step into her shoes.   A family member was dispatched to fetch my Grandmother The Nurse (practising without a license, oh my!).

Grandma and Grandpa had only been married 7 months. There was no such thing as a reliable birth control method so Grandma had gotten pregnant right away. Not that they wanted to wait anyway since they were both in their 30s. She was 6 months along with her first baby when the knock came at their door to beg Grandma's Midwifery services.

I am pretty sure that even though Grandma had only worked in a psychiatric hospital in Holland, she must have taken some type of obstetrical training and had some sort of experience delivering a baby at some point. Nursing courses weren't quite as complicated back then. No such thing as care plans or a lot of classroom work. It was mostly practical training - or slave labor really. So, it makes sense that Grandma would have probably had a grasp on what having babies was all about.

Grandma-back row, second from left - Her Nursing Graduation picture

The labor must have been fairly easy ( easy as opposed to the difficult types I have seen- shoulder dystocia, malpresentations and the like - really - no birth is "easy" for the mother!) because the baby delivered at 4:30 am by a coal oil lamp held by one of the family -  before the MD got there at 8 am ( or perhaps the blizzard was worse than we thought).    Water boiled, cord tied, placenta delivered..... the baby was carefully dried off and placed in a box lined with blankets and set on the open oven door of the blazing wood stove - the only source of heat in the house. ***

At this point my Grandmother wrote in her diary:  "When the Dr came everything was in order mother and son the first baby were all well.  The Dr stayed for breakfast had nothing to do, but took just the same delivery money.   We slept at home and every morning I went to help mother and baby and made the meals and work inside the house washing etc.  I was there about 14 days...." (interesting to note that back then my grandmother complained about the same thing I did many years later - I did the delivery, the MD collected the money for showing up!)

Back to the elderly gentleman standing at my mother's door.

This gentleman who presented to my parent's house - was that very same baby. Eighty- four years ago - my Grandmother had delivered him - early that am in the middle of a wintry blizzard!!

My mother and father had a delightful visit with the couple before they wandered off down the road.

 Darn.

 I was sorry to have just missed him.....there were all kinds of questions I wanted to ask. And I will probably never get to meet him - The Man my Grandmother Delivered.



***(At this point of the story my mother giggles: "I wanted to comment to him that the baby went from one oven to another - but I didn't know how he would take that" )
Posted by A NURSE at 6:45 PM

Once again, thankful that the comments were saved for this blog posting:

4 comments:

newnurseinthehood said...
I don't have much to say other than- this story freaking rules.
May 18, 2010 6:20 AM

A NURSE said...
Hey thanks! I was so sad to find out I missed the guy. I love old people....maybe I hang around them too much but.....it sure is interesting........ :^S
May 18, 2010 9:10 AM

Rachedy said...
That is an awesome story!!
May 18, 2010 12:20 PM