This is Boris Solis interviewing for Creative Push on December 15th 2016
at 11:30 a.m. Ok. Can you say your name and your date of birth or your age
? I am uh 50.
Was it 52? And uh my name is Jolene Martinez. It's spelled Joelene.
Uh It's not spelled like everybody else's Jolene. Is that a family name?
Uh No, my uh grandmother picked it out. So, um can you tell us a little
bit of your family history? Are you from around the area? Yeah. Uh All my
family is around from down south um Tome uh Las Unas around the area and
uh farther back, my, my mother's side goes from farther south to Roswell
and so far so forth over there. And then um my father's side is uh located
from uh Los Uno also just around the area. Do you have brothers and
sisters? I have two sisters. Uh I am the oldest and um the youngest one is
uh uh 49. She is suffering from multiple sclerosis. So we take care of her.
My mother is still alive. My dad passed away three years ago uh from a
blood disorder. Um uh we are all girls in the family so we all kind of
watch each other. We take care of her. So, do you know anything about how
you were born? I was born in Berlin and uh it was a small little hospital.
Um,
it's now a not a hospital, it's just a school building, you know, just the
office building right now for the schools. But uh it wasn't, that was
Belem was the only hospital around. So uh they couldn't transfer to
Albuquerque. It was just too far. So Belem was the only closest area where
I was born. Do you know um how your mother was born?
Um No, not really. She did not really did say anything about it but I
think she was born at home but I'm not sure just like uh all my other
aunts, aunts and uncles, they were mainly born at home too, right? Um It
was, she was born until May. Um and she had, let's see, 1234 brothers and
one sister. Um she only has two brothers that are living right now. So
everybody's passed away. Did family members then help with the births at
home or was there a midwife? Yeah, they all helped each other. Um There
was uh the area where my mom grew up was all kind of constituted with
family all the way around where there was cousins and stuff like that.
Everybody walked to their houses across the street or within a half a
mile radius, kind of thing. So, everybody kind of walked everywhere.
That's wonderful. So, there was a good family support. Yeah. My mom's side.
Yes, because that's where I kind of grew up on that side. So I knew all
the, what was going on. I stayed a lot with my grandmother at that time
when I was younger. So I grew up with her. Um, at that time they didn't
even have indoor plumbing, but they had a house when I was growing up,
what, till I was maybe 1213.
So, um, so I kind of grew up on that old world kind of situation. I even
enjoyed it. Um, how did you meet the father of your child? Um, through
work. Uh, I work with, uh, somebody, uh, at a place of, uh, at a company
and his brother is where I met my son's father and, uh, we weren't married
just something that just happened. But, um, it was just meant to be this
way. I look at it because he was with me while I was growing up also since
I had him when I was 21. So, um, I worked, um, at the post office through
the whole time. So I work graveyard and, uh, it worked well with my mom
taking care of him while I was working and he was sleeping. So it just
worked that way. So, um, how was the pregnancy? It was,
um,
an experience it normal pregnancy the whole bit, it was, uh, no problems
and, uh, labor was, uh, the problem, but through the whole the pregnancy
was good. Did you give birth in the hospital? Yes, I did. I, in fact I was
, had him when I in Belen also. So, um, the new hospital in be, uh, went
over there had him, but it took, uh, I was in labor for 36 hours. And then
after that, he turned around, he was born breached. So I had to go to
Cesarean. So, so it took a long time. So I had top of long labor. I went
through surgery, had a Cesarean. But uh, and then complications after that
, I had developed an infection and they found that my son had a kidney
problem. His ureters weren't working. So they had to, um, um transferring
from Ben all the way up here to Albuquerque. So I had complications. I had
to stay in Berlin. He had to come to Albuquerque. So my mom, my mom and
dad uh came with him and stayed with him at the out while I was down there.
That must have been a really challenging, hard experience. It was I was
by myself there because everybody was with the baby and um, he had to have
surgery uh the first week of his life. So they had to uh get his implant
them into his kidneys, his bladder. So, um, so that went well. Um, but he
healed really quick and stuff like that. So the babies bounce back faster
than we do. So, um, how was your, your recovery in the hospital then? It
must have been difficult. Yeah, it was, I was after, I was there for about
, I guess seven days. It was after that I had, uh, Cesarean,
uh, that was, went, all right. Um, developed the tear when they were
taking him out. So it was longer than what it was healing wise. Uh The
infection set in. So I was there until the fever broke and it stayed uh
stable. So, after they let me or released me, I came back to Albuquerque
and I stayed with my son. He was in the hospital for, um, about 2.5,
almost three weeks. You definitely weren't nursing that. No, no. Uh,
there's no way I could have done that. Uh, but he healed well. Um, and
then he developed uh hernias after that, the one about a month after that.
So they corrected that too. So, uh, he all, all in, all his health was a
little compromised, but he healed quite well and he has no problem today.
When you look back on that experience. It, it must, I mean, that's like
traumatic.
Uh Yeah. Um, none of my, well, nobody's ever gone through that kind of, uh
, experience in my family. Um, but my sister, the youngest one that has MS
, right. Now, when she had, when she was pregnant, she had her son, uh, he
didn't make it. He would, he had a heart problem when he was born, half
his heart wasn't developed. So they had to send him into surgery. He never
made it out. So he died on the table, uh, within a week of his life. So
that was more of a traumatic thing than anybody else ever had. So, when I
went through that situation,
it didn't be compared to what my sister did. So it's interesting that, you
know, you view your experience in re, in reference to a different, to your
sister's experience. Yeah. Yeah, it was just, uh, something that, uh, I'm
glad that the doctors caught what, you know, what they needed to do, there
was, uh, available doctors that could treat that without any problems. So
, uh, just, uh, being away when he was a surgeon while I was down there,
that was the, probably the hardest part on me besides the surgery and
stuff like that. And when the, when you finally saw him, did you feel
bonded with him or did the time, the time away impact your feelings at all
? Um, no, it just brought me closer because I didn't want to leave him
after that. So I stayed with him while he was in the hospital. Um, they
made a room, you know, the bed next to him and stuff like that. It was
just, uh, a little heartbreaking because of the, the wires coming out of
the tubes and stuff like that while he was, you know, recovering. But
other than that, it was uh he was, he good. He, he was acting just like a
little baby, so newborn. It's amazing how, you know, in that moment, you
probably couldn't imagine this 21 year old, healthy man that you have now
you got to be 32. That's amazing. So you have, it's so great that you had
so much contact with your grandmother. Did she tell you any interesting
stories about her? Um No, my grandmother passed away a month before my son
was born so she never got to beat him. Uh That's kind of going regret
because I was so close to my grandmother growing up that, you know, I wish
she was around when, you know, but uh that was a possible um kind of like
the same thing happened when my niece had her kids. My dad passed away a
month before they were born. So it just, it's weird how that happens. You
know, the history repeats itself kind of thing. So did she, so she saw you
pregnant though? Yes. Did she did that? Um jog her memory and did she
share any of her? I can remember her doting over me or something like that
, you know, just uh making sure that I was off my feet and, you know, uh
make sure I eat certain things and stuff like that. You know, just, uh,
caring like a grandmother, you know, don't do this, don't do that we have
in my family, we have certain customs, like my grandmother will make a
blanket for the new child and that the mom will sleep with the blanket for
a while before the birth of the baby that the baby has the smell of the
mom. Do you have any kind of? No, but my grandmother did make my son a
blanket. Um, it was a patchwork bucket quilt actually because it was uh
one that he carried for, for a long time until it kind of fell apart in
the wash until he was like maybe 10 years old. He had it. So, um, that he
did, she did, uh, do a lot of the other stuff like the quilt and, and
blanket making and stuff like that. So, is there anything else you wanna
ask you? Anything question?
Was there anything from your experience that you would tell a new mother
that might be experiencing some similar things that you do?
No. Um, I just know that, uh, now this day and age there's a lot of
miracles out there. And, um, do you hear about all the the babies being
sick, born with one thing or another or, or some kind of a disability?
Who knows if the environment has anything to do with it? Because when I
was pregnant or became pregnant, I was working at a company called
Motorola, but I was in a secured area where they made, uh, powdery stuff
and where you had to wear ret beer and stuff like that. Um, but who knows
if anything,
it has anything to do with whatever is happening, you know, but if it does
, um, just go with whatever, uh, they can do for the baby and work with it
and the baby is yours. So I might as well, you know, love it like it was,
you know, you don't realize the disabilities because he's just yours.
No, there's no reason to give them up or push them away. Just keep them
close. Thank you. That's amazing. Ok, so we're gonna.