Basekamp Laundry Mountain

I live in the year 2011 with 3 surviving preemies. Yes, my kids have their ongoing challenges, but we have the benefit of the technology & scientific knowledge of many, many years of medical advancement in the treatment of babies born too soon. My kids benefit everyday from these developments.

November 4 1935, my grandmother gave birth to a premature baby at about 7 months along. The stories told are about the 4 pound baby arriving ahead of his cousin due much before his expected arrival. Grammy wrapped this tiny bundle in a tea towel & nested him in a bread pan, placing it on the warming shelf at the back of the wood cookstove they used for much of their heat.

Bundled in a tea towel, warmed by a woodstove, my grandmother’s oldest child benefited immeasurably from being delivered into the care of a trained nurse. He grew from his few pound origin, through a childhood as the oldest of 4, to be a 6′ tall retired Lieutenant Colonel from the Army & professional engineer. My amazing grandmother raised a preemie from an early beginning into the successful adult my father later became. She was just incredible.