Welcome to the world, Kaleia. That was quite an entrance you made on April 15 this year. A real one in a million shot.
You weren’t due until April 26th, but when your mom’s water broke at 1 p.m. on the 14th and she went into labor on her way to the hospital, the odds went out the window.
You were about to join a very exclusive club. Your grandma Jackie Gamez was born on April 15, 1966, and your mom Annie Urrutia was born on April 15, 1998.
And, here you came along after a hard day’s night of labor at 10 a.m. on April 15, 2024 to join their birthday party. Three generations born on the same day. No C-sections or induced labor. All natural childbirths.
“I said to my daughter back in August when she told me she was pregnant that the baby would be born on the 15th,” Jackie said. “Annie said, ‘no way, mom. That would be just too crazy.’
“After her water broke on the 14th and she began to have labor pains as we rushed her to the hospital, I prayed she would make it past midnight before having the baby. My prayers were answered.”
Her prayers might have been answered, but what about her daughter’s prayers as the contractions began to come faster and faster with more pain with each push.
Her prayers were having a healthy baby and getting you out as fast as she could, Kaleia. Somewhere around 12:01 a.m. on the 15th would have been nice.
“Did you know the Titanic sank on the 15th?” Jackie asked me. “Our birthday is a historic day.”
Yes, it is. It’s also the deadline for paying Uncle Sam his due.
The day President Abraham Lincoln died, after being shot on April 14 at Ford’s Theatre.
On another historical note, it’s also the day Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald’s franchise.
Richelle Forato, head nurse on the delivery team at Memorial Care Miller’s Children and Women’s Hospital in Long Beach, arrived for work on the 15th, and found the night shift nurses setting up birthday balloons and banners in the delivery room.
That’s nice, Richelle thought. They’re having a birthday party for the baby.
“The night nurse told me no. It was for the grandmother, the mother, AND the baby,” Richelle said. “They were all in the same room. We celebrated with mom, grandma and daddy.
“This was a first for us. We’ve had two generations born on the same day, but never three,” she said. “I told them they should start playing the lottery using their birthday numbers. What a sweet family they were, so excited and loving.”
And now, Kaleia, your mom is going to feel all the things your grandma did all those years the family was living in Van Nuys before moving to Long Beach.
You’re going to get spoiled rotten, sweetheart. All the attention and presents will be lavished on you while your mom and grandma settle for Hallmark cards and a piece of cake.
That’s just the way it goes.
One thing is for sure, honey, your grandma told me. When next April 15 rolls around, they’re going to have to rent a hall for all your birthday parties.
And, while they’re at it, buy a lot of lottery tickets with the combinations 4, 15, 19, 66, 98, 20, and 24 on them.
Dennis McCarthy’s column runs on Sunday. He can be reached at dmccarthynews@gmail.com.
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