Heat wave

August 1981 Baltimore had a heatwave. She was now living in a row house with no A/C in Baltimore city.  It was ridiculously hot. The dr had put her on a strict 2 week bedrest due to his growing concerns about her steady weight loss.  She could only get up to use the bathroom  Her mother brought her soup to eat. This was a good experience for the teen. Food. She was too young to understand the risk to her unborn baby. She was too young to understand any of it.  At one of her dr appointments the dr checked her blood pressure and said that with her blood pressure she should live to be 100.  She was mortified!!  No!!, she said. I don't want to live but to 30!!  She had no idea what she was saying obviously but the thought of being as old as 30 was a horrifying thought to her.  She was young and very naive...and very pregnant.

Her breasts had become so engorged with milk that they constantly hurt and were raw from leaking.  She held them when she walked so they wouldn't move. She was miserable and the baby was 2 weeks late.  She looked down into the used crib that was empty and waiting for the baby. She hadn't thought much about what was going to happen once the baby arrived.  She assumed that she would continue living with her mother. After all, a handful of times of babysitting was not enough experience to know what to do with a brand new baby. She was going to need some guidance.