A little about me! ~

OK! So here we go! About me?!? My name is Jennifer Coggins. I was born and raised in West Seattle. I was the last baby to be born at West Seattle General Hospital.

Ok, well in saying that it brings up one of my favorite stories, my birth. The year was 1974. It was a snowy January day and my mom was excited to have brought a new couch home in contemplation of the many days that would be spent enjoying it with family. This is where the story begins. In an attempt to keep it short…here we go! My mother’s water broke all over the new couch. Any other 9 month pregnant women would have freaked out, but my mother proceeded to go get towels and cleaning solution to try to save the new purchase. My father on the other hand freaked out. My mother remained calm and told him that he could call the Dr., but she was not ready to go to the hospital. She had previously taken a break to cook my father so after cleaning the couch she proceeded to go back to cooking. (Oh! My poor dad! I can just see him! LOL!) When dinner was done she proceeded to give it to my father who wolfed it down in 5 minutes. While my father was eating dinner my mom proceeded to pack her bag for the hospital and then proceeded to wash the dishes. Lord knows you can’t leave the dishes in the sink. After much prompting my mother finally agreed to go to the hospital which happens to be 5 blocks North & 3 blocks east of their house. Well, after making it up the street my father realized when my mother was not answering his questions that he had left her in the driveway in the snow. After going back to get her with the neighbors laughing in their window they headed for the hospital. Like the typical man my father got lost on the way to the hospital and did not want to listen to my mom. Luckily they finally made it to the hospital where my father proceeded to park in the ER where he left the car running and both car doors open, screaming into the hospital that his wife was having a baby. Like they had never had that happen before, huh? After being informed that the area was only for ambulances they persuasion my father to move his car. In the meantime my grandparents who at the time lived in Vancouver, BC jumped in the car. As my Papa said “I was not going to miss my first grandbaby.” Needless to say on the way down his breaks went out, but he wasn’t going to miss my birth so he used the E-break the majority of his way here.

The hospital at the time was on its way to shutting down so they actually tried to turn my mother away to another hospital, but in checking her realized that she would probably not make it anywhere else.

My aunt who was a very severe alcoholic at the time showed up at the hospital to see “her niece”. She was so intoxicated that the hospital staff could not figure out if her niece was the one giving birth or the baby. She was police escorted from the hospital.

The moral of the story…West Seattle General Hospital closed after my birth. It is now Navos; a mental health facility. Guess I know full circle where I’m going to end up! LOL! ~

In saying all that I am currently working healthcare and love it. The days are usually long and often stressful, but knowing that I might be making a small dent in the world makes me happy. I have gone back to school to get my psych degree and am looking to possible get my Administrators license following that. That is why I have chosen to do my blog about healthcare issues. Some issue will be serious and hopefully somewhat educational while others I hope you will find funny yet enlightening. ~