My son, Daniel, will be forty this April 2nd, and that is how I know that it is the 40th anniversary of the accident at TMI. When the accident happened.
I lived in Harrisburg at 1909 Green Street, and I was overdue to give birth. My (then) husband and I did not want to evacuate. We were about to welcome our first child! Our doctor was going to induce labor on Monday, April 2nd unless I gave birth at the end of March.
I was having contractions, and my doctor had evacuated to Perry County.
When I was still largely pregnant on April 2nd, we followed the directions we had been given and arrived at Community General Osteopathic Hospital first thing in the morning. There was confusion when we arrived. No one seemed to know what to do with us. I was having contractions, and my doctor had evacuated to Perry County.
After a long distance phone call to this wonderful doctor, the nurses gently told us that the hospital was preparing for evacuation, and we needed to go to Carlisle Hospital, where my doctor had a colleague who would deliver our baby. We hopped into our car and drove to Carlisle, visited an obstetrician’s office where we informed that yes, we were having a baby, and then on to the hospital where Dan, weighing 6 pounds and 12 ounces, was born at about 5 p.m.
At the time, it seemed like a harrowing experience. There were so many unknowns. The threat of meltdown had everyone on edge, uncertain. We were the luckiest. We did not get the birthing experience that we had hoped for, but we did receive a healthy, adorable baby.
Sara J