Jeanne O’Neil’s early memories of motherhood

Note from Kevin: Jeanne O’Neil jotted down these memories over the period of time when she was staying with her daughter Laurie right after she retired. See also the oral history she recorded in 2007. Index of memories here.

It all began on August 9, 1952, when I married Jack O’Neil. Nine months and two weeks later Laurie Jeanne was born — a little red head. But somehow I wasn’t thinking red. I was up all night and at 7 am. I woke up Jack, whose biggest concern was what to wear to the hospital. I pressed his pants and away we went to Magee Women’s Hospital.

I should mention my pregnancy here. I never kept a meal down for 8 months, but I was so naive that I thought this was normal. When I got pregnant with Kevin I mentioned to Dr. Barone that I hoped would have an easier pregnancy and he asked why. I told him my plight and he looked at my records and said “not being able to hold down any food” was not a “little bit nauseated,” which was what I had told him. Another dumb Irish Catholic girl.

Everything went as normal until July when Jack suggested that a gal from that famous TV show “The Ranch Girls” stay with us for a few weeks. The steps to our third floor apartment were open steps. In fact they looked like fire escape steps. This gal was afraid of them and would call from the bottom of the steps and I would have to go down and lead her up as her eyes would be closed. That was one of my favorite things to do.

Memorable holidays

Our first Christmas we were a little broke and had to wait until Christmas Eve to buy our tree. We got a lovely tree for $1. We also had a cat. During the night I heard what sounded like rain. It was the needles falling off the tree as the cat walked in the living room. Needless to say the tree was naked by the end of Christmas Day and we took it down.

Oh, I almost forgot about Thanksgiving. I cooked Thanksgiving turkey for Jack’s family — about 15 people. As I took the turkey out of the oven it fell on the kitchen floor. I immediately scooped up the turkey and put in on the platter. No one ever knew.

Kevin and Sean arrive; medical emergencies

We will move along one year to 1954. We moved in with Papa (Jack’s dad) because he was alone. We lived next door to Jack’s brother and his wife, Peg and Ed. At the time they had six children. I was pregnant with Kevin and my day was filled with passing out — at Peg’s — at home — crossing the street with Laurie in the stroller — in the butcher shop. I believe I had low blood pressure but of course I thought this was just a part of being pregnant. In March of 1955 we bought a half of a duplex house. Needless to say we were very excited. The day after we moved I was washing down the steps when I realized there was water spilled on the steps. When I looked down it was me — my water had broken. My Mother was with me and she said, “Get to the hospital! I don’t want to deliver any baby!” I called a cab. We were about 15 miles from the hospital and it was the cabby’s first day on the job. Needless to say he was thrilled when we finally arrived at the hospital. Kevin was born within 2 hours on March 30, 1955.

Things went along pretty normally. We had a house. Jack was working in advertising. We had the perfect family — two children. I then got pregnant with Sean. The fun began when he was born on Aug. 7, 1956. Laurie was 3. Kevin was 16 months. The day we came home from the hospital Kevin had a high fever. Jack took him to the doctor and he had a convulsion in the doctor’s office. Everything was all right for a few weeks, except Sean never slept. Oh well, I said. “He’s just a baby.” Little did I know he that he would never require much sleep. He always played in his playpen from 1 am till 5 am. What fun!

Kevin and Laurie had their tonsils out. Everything went OK. Kevin was playing with his cars 12 hours after surgery but Laurie was not very comfortable. Kevin was 18 months and Laurie was 3 years old. We brought them home from the hospital and on the third day I was dressing them to visit the doctor when Laurie spit up a clot of blood and started bleeding from the throat. I rushed her to the hospital and she was hemorrhaging. She was admitted to the hospital for three more days while they gave her Vitamin K. The reason she had this problem was her red hair and coloring. Another crisis averted.

A few weeks later Kevin stared having convulsions two or three times a week. No one could figure out what was wrong. He was not an epileptic. They could not find any reason. My Aunt Nora, who was a retired physician, came to visit me one afternoon and was appalled when she counted 30 children in my backyard under the age of 3. We had a fenced-in backyard and no one else in the neighborhood did. She said he had too much stimulation for a child that was only 20 months old. So what to do? We sold the house and moved to Wilkins Avenue. Kevin had only one more convulsion. It was worth writing a check for $100 and renting again to have Kevin OK.

Before we leave Bevan Road I must tell a few more stories — Like the day I got a salmon bone caught in my throat. It was lying crossways in my throat and it would not move. I asked Jack to call the doctor but he said he was too nervous so I called the doctor. He told me to rush to the hospital, which we did. The doctor who saw me was so fascinated by this that he called five interns in to view my throat. He then sprayed my throat to anesthetize it and pulled the bone out with a fish hook, which I thought was appropriate. I had one heck of a sore throat the next day.

There was also the day the kids went down the street to a little woody area and, surprise surprise, Sean got caught in a sewer pipe. He was about l9 months old. The start of something grand. Another day Kevin had had a convulsion and the doctor said to take him to the hospital for more tests. I called my Mother to ask her to babysit Laurie and Sean. I will never forget her words: “Jeanne, have you ever thought what kind of a Mother you are that these things happen to your children?” Just the encouragement I needed. To say the least she was blunt.

Lovely family outings

Like every mother of the 50s, I would often have cabin fever I would dress up the three kids and take a bus to downtown Pittsburgh. One time as I got one 4-year-old, a 2-year-old and a 15-month-old dressed and then dressed myself, something would happen — like the time Sean sat on the toilet and dangled his feet in the water. No problem he just wore wet shoes. It was summer. What the hey, they would dry! The best excursion was to Hornes’ basement restaurant. I ordered chicken noodle soup for Sean. He was in a high chair. The smart waitress put the bowl on the tray and he put his hand in it and got burned. I rushed them to the ladies room to put cold water on the burn and as we were entering the ladies room Kevin had a convulsion. Needless to say their wish was that I never come back there. No Pat, I didn‘t sue the restaurant. Another mistake.

Tales of Sean’s escapades

We moved in May of 1958.. Laurie was almost 5, Kevin was 3 and Sean was 20 months. The first thing we did was erect a fence around the backyard because of course I was pregnant again and I wanted to have Sean stay in the backyard. As we put the last nail in the fence Sean had already scaled the fence. Oh well such is life.

Did I mention that he walked at 7 months and was able to climb out of his crib at 7 1/2 months? We really liked our new home. It was a row house with four other houses. We had great neighbors who also had children so the kids were very happy. Mark was born on Oct. 6, 1958. The day I brought him home from the hospital, I put the kids to bed for a nap About 20 minutes later a neighbor from across the street called to advise me that Sean had climbed out on the roof and was walking on the roof carrying a big branch I called to him and after about 15 minutes he did come in. I was afraid that he would start running if I went out on the roof. Besides, I really didn’t want to do that. He wasn’t afraid but I was.

That summer the three kids were playing out back with about 10 other kids when Laurie comes running in to tell me that Sean was stuck in the chimney on our neighbors garage roof. How did this happen, you ask? Well behind the houses was a hill and the kids called it the Indian Trail. From the hill they could walk on the roof of the garage. They weren‘t allowed to do this but we won’t mention that. The chimney was very narrow and small. Sean was just 2 but had a good stomach on him and that’s what got stuck I went up on the roof — pregnant with Mark — and tried pulling him out but to no avail. We had to call the police and they sent the fire department, who of course came to our rescue.

The children all got bad coughs but were not really too sick. Then Mark got sick. He was just 2 months old. Horror of horrors, he had whopping cough. That was real fun. He took a special medicine that had to be flow in from California. The poor baby was really sick but he and I both survived. Thank God I had a brother who was a pharmacist.

We had a great Christmas that year, 1958. Jack had a good job and everything was fine. Then in February 1959 I was extremely tired and could hardly take care of the children I went to the doctor and lo and behold I had mononucleosis. Boy that was fun. I would get up and send Laurie off to kindergarten and make breakfast for the other children. Then I would lie down on the couch and hope that they would play without a crisis.

Let’s move along to Easter 1959. Easter Saturday I was doing the dishes in the kitchen when all of a sudden water started to pour down through the ceiling. The pipes under the bathroom floor burst. We could not find the water turn off and the water poured down for about 15 minutes. The kids thought this was great fun. I was mopping up water all day. Luckily the landlord was able to get a plumber over that day so we could turn the water back on after the pipes were fixed.

Fun at Kennywood Park

June came and it was School Picnic Day at Kennywood. So I packed the kids on the bus and away we went looking forward to a day in Kiddie Land. We had a great time until I needed to go the ladies room. I was about 3 months pregnant and I realized I was spotting. As I came out of the stall I realized Kevin was missing. I gathered the other three together and advised a guard that my 3 year old was missing. He told me to go to the office. I did and luckily he was there. Thank God.

But now I had the other problem. We left the park on a bus and when I arrived home I called Dr. Barone who told me to go to bed and rest completely. Oh sure, I can do that! The next morning I realized I better get to the hospital because I was really bleeding. We went and they admitted me. Within 2 hours I had miscarried. I was lying in the bed when I got so dizzy that I called the nurse, who immediately called Dr. Barone. I was hemorrhaging pretty badly and he ordered blood for me. He said they didn‘t have time to take me to the operating room and he started to work on me right there. The intern and nurses were pumping the blood into me with a syringe. They had the bottom of the bed pumped up and put bricks under the legs of the bed. I heard one of the interns tell the doctor that my blood pressure was 30/0 and I figured that when it got down to 0/0 I would die. Oh well, that’s the way it goes. I really did feel myself rise above the bed and I could see everything they were doing and it was not a pretty sight. I had 4 pints of blood and lived to see many more days. Thank you God!

I came home from the hospital after about seven days and Maureen and Peggy (daughters of Peg and Ed) came to help me with the kids. They were about 11 and 12. The second day the landlord was having a dead tree cut down in the back of the houses. Remember, we lived in a row of houses. All of a sudden they had us evacuate the houses because the tree was starting to fall on the houses. The fire department came and solved the problem. The fire department got to know us pretty well. This was the second time in a year that they had to rescue the O’Neils.

Point Breeze neighbors

In September 1959, Laurie started first grade at St. Bede’s. Jack had a good job and I was feeling fine. Things went along just fine. We had nice neighbors on Wilkens Avenue. Next door lived Buzz and Mary Lou Wagner. Buzz owned two shoe stores. Mary Lou was pregnant with her second child and they had a boy 2 years old. Her Mother stopped by every day and was more than willing to give advice to everyone on everything. Mary Lou also had a cat named Evelyn after her Mother that was great at catching birds and bringing them in the house. Many a day I had to go over and beat Evelyn with the broom until she would release the bird. Then it was my pleasure to dispose of the dead bird. Mary Lou had a problem tackling another dirty job. On the other side of us lived the Tottens, a family with four children who of course were perfect — unlike the 0’Neils. Then there were the McCues. This was a family of his, hers, and ours. Six children all told. In the next row were the other Totten family. Virginia had four children — a daughter about 23, two sons (21 and 19) and a little girl who was Laurie’s age. There older daughter also had a daughter Laurie’s age. Virginia could be seen hanging out her laundry with her purse hanging over her shoulder. Her boys stole from her so her purse was never out of sight. This will give you an idea of our neighborhood.

One day Laurie came home for lunch and I sent her off to her afternoon session. In a short while the school called and said she never arrived at school. I walked down the street and found her sitting on a neighbor’s front steps crying. When I asked her why, she said she didn‘t know the spelling words and therefore she was afraid to return to school, She returned and passed the spelling test. She always knew she was going to fail every test. It continues to this day.

We had a great Christmas — pith helmets for the boys, Laurie got a great doll, a wagon, the whole shabang. Jack was doing well at Goldman and Shoop and the future looked bright. Everything went well the whole year. The neighbors were great. The kids had many friends, and my cabin fever dissipated. Jerry McCue put in a new lawn and showed all the children in the neighborhood how important it was that they stay off the grass until it was a full grown lawn. They all stood there and nodded their heads in agreement. Jerry felt he had to express his feelings to Sean. He said, “Stay the hell off the grass, Sean!” And he understood too.