Challenges of a New Mom - Decisions, Decisions

It was on the way home from the hospital with this new little life in my arms (no car seats were required. In fact, they were probably still just a thought on someones creative mind) that reality set in. I was a mom!!! Jim and I would be responsible not only for the health and well being of this little person but for what she would become. That thought was so overwhelming for a very young twenty year old. I was so inexperienced and I didn't have a mom to check with to make sure I was doing things right. I would have to depend on "mother's intuition" if such a thing existed. It wasn't long before I realized that it actually did.

Since there was no one to be with me that first week, I just jumped in to all my new responsibilities...being up two or three times every night to feed and comfort a crying baby, rinsing and washing what seemed to me an endless stream of dirty diapers (no disposables), sterilizing bottles (a "must" back then), and taking drives - sometimes even in the middle of the night- to soothe a crying baby who would be comforted no other way. Jeanie was a colicky baby and cried a lot. Thank goodness for paregoric which was used to treat colic in the early days before it was discovered it had some bad side effects (I never saw any) and is now a "no, no".

For the first few months our little Jeanie slept in a cradle which was made for my sisters and me when we were babies. I had painted it and made a new liner and mattress cover for it. I don't know what ever happened to that cradle, and I wish I did. I only remember that she was the only one who slept in it. We later bought a crib, a cheap one, that only lasted through our first three babies and then literally fell apart. But when we bought it, it was all we could afford and we thought it was wonderful.

Besides bragging about our new little daughter, Jim's and my discussions now turned to our future plans. Jim's commitment to the Air Force was drawing to a close and we needed to decide whether to re-enlist for another four years or pursue another career which would require going back to school. Re-enlisting was very tempting because it would include a $4,000 bonus. That was a LOT of money which could buy a LOT of things back then. And we could have government housing which was cheap, full medical coverage, and reduced-priced shopping at the commissary and PX. And even being able to travel to other countries sounded exciting to me. But I knew Jim had always talked about getting a college degree. His brother, Jesse, had try to instill the importance of education to Jim and his siblings whom he raised. Jesse had given up his own education in order to raise these brothers and sisters. No one so far in his whole family had ever gone on to college. Maybe part of Jim's desire to be the "one" to go on was his way showing his brother his gratitude for all he had sacrificed for him.

It was July before we decided to forgo the $4,000, retire from the military, and take on the challenge of getting an electrical engineering degree at the University of Utah. We knew the only way this would be possible was if Jim worked full time to support the family and went to school full time if he was to graduate in four years. Because he would be a war-time veteran the government would contribute $165.00 a month toward his education. That would help, but would certainly not cover even the school expenses. Since Jim's formal release time wouldn't be until the first of September and fall semester at the university began just a few days after that, we had to begin soon to find a place to live, secure a job for Jim, get registered at the university, and sign up for classes.

After much searching we found a small apartment in the basement of some one's home. It was in the neighborhood where I lived when we were married. It was old, kind of dark and dreary and not the best designed place we had seen, but it was what we could afford. Jim found a job at the LDS Hospital in the housekeeping department which meant mopping floors and cleaning up messes that no one else wanted to touch. For that he would be paid $1.00 an hour. Yes, that was ONE DOLLAR an hour, minimum wage. But the hours would work with his school schedule. He had been accepted at the University of Utah, and his classes on most days would be from 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 or 2:00 p.m. His work schedule was from 3:00 to 11:00 p.m.
Somewhere in there he would have to find time to study. We both knew that the next four years were going to be a challenge. But we were young and optimistic that together we could make the necessary sacrifices to reach this new goal we had set. We knew it would be difficult for both of us, but especially for Jim. He had always been a hard worker, but this would be the ultimate test of his strength and endurance. We were about to begin the next important phase of our lives that would in many ways affect the future of our family. Were we up to the challenge?