You have no idea. Oh yeah, talk just a little bit so we can hear you. The
levels. Can you say where you're from? Uh, Phoenix, Arizona. Yeah, so
little closer, yeah. My chair is not
Oh, OK. All right, that's better. OK, so,
Somehow? Oh, we got paused. OK, are we ready now? OK, so I'm gonna repeat
myself. This is for us at least interviewing for Creative Push December 15
, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. Can you say your name and your age again? Jennifer
Tully, 39. OK, great. OK, so now tell me about your upbringing like you
said. Oh, I was born and raised in Winslow, Arizona. I'm actually adopted
child. My, I don't know who my middle parents are. So I was brought up by
my grandparents and I have stepparents that still live on the reservation.
Both my grandparents passed away, so we still have the reservation, but I
grew up majority of my life in the city, so I'm not like I don't know the
the native language as much as I should know it, but yeah, so I'm found
out I'm half Native American and half Hispanic. Wow, that's interesting.
So how did you, how much information were they able to tell you about your
original family? They told me that my mother was really like alcoholic and
I was brought up by different parts, different people, different aunts
that I am not really familiar with to this day they try to contact me, but
I just refuse to because I don't really want that connection with that so.
So, um, can you take us back to the conception of your, your, do you how
many children do you have? Just one of your first child then, and, um, you
know, the circumstances. It was really hard. Like I, I mean my only have
one kid because it was like difficult for me at giving him birth and had a
hard labor. I had him two weeks late dealing with my due date and uh. It
was a hard push, but growing up with that native culture in mind, we uh we
brought him. I just had basic natural births, no medicine, nothing. It was
really hard for me, so I I told myself no more kids after that one. So it
was really hard. I was in the hospital for a while there. Did you feel
pressured not to have any medicine? No, I just refused it. So I was like,
natural birth. I'm like what was I thinking, you know, like, no, why, why
did I do that? But yeah, I wish I had pictures cause um I had them in uh
what it's the the Americans have them in cradle boards, so I had them
nicely wrapped in that and that's how he grew up and that's like. That's
part of the culture that we grew up with was that put them in a cradle
board, wrap them up in a blanket, and they grew up strong and you know
that was part of the thing. So, so can you tell me about um the father?
Were you were the circumstances that. Um, at the time he was there and he
was all stressed, so, um, to this day we're not together, but they live in
Alaska right now. So I gave him full custody of my son who's 15 now, but
um he lives up there with them, and I want him to learn that background of
the culture, cause he's part uh Eskimo, Athabaskan, Inuit and part of me,
so. So how did you meet a man who is in Alaska, in Arizona? His mom
resided in Phoenix and we both met in a restaurant and I was actually
bartending like I do to this day, but my boss said, Do you want to train
some people today? I was like, it depends who they are. So I looked and I
was like, I'll take the gentleman over there. We're going to wait until he
passes.
That's a really great story. You just knew he had a good face. Yeah, it's
funny. I'll take the gentleman over there. Is that or the crazy lady, so I
took, I said I'll train him and he said, I knew you would train him. So we
were married for 10 years and then divorced. I've been divorced since 4
for 4 years now. So and I gave my sons a goal or Alaska goal adventure
because you won't learn much here in New Mexico and they don't go home as
often anyways so I'm always working here at the hotel. How was your
pregnancy? It's crazy. I just wanted like I was like. I gained so much
weight and it was just like, it was wonderful. I loved it, but it was just
like at the end of the labor was like was really bad and I was like uh
having a hard time with it, so I decided not to have any more kids after
that. Were there any um customs or anything that were passed down to like
help ease the pain? No, they, um, unfortunately that was not passed on
like my grandparents weren't there actually, but My mom was there and my
mother-in-law was there at the time and they just kind of like talked to
me a little bit but not much really pressure and I know there's like
different cultures have certain different ways of doing things, but mine
was just like I'm in the city I'm gonna have this kid here, you know, kind
of thing. So yeah. Did um a family member make the cradle board? Yes, my
mom got it made from one of her friends that she knew out of actual a tree
thing, that wood thing that was built personally just for me, for my son.
Do you still have it? Um, no, once you have a kid and you don't want any
more kids, you had to take it apart and then like put it away somewhere
because if you keep it together, it's like you want more kids kind of
thing. It's kind of weird, kind of odd to say. I was like, no, I don't
want more kids, so I took it apart and I think I gave it to my mom. I
don't know I don't remember what happened to it. I like that idea. You
should take apart and make sure that crib is taken up. I definitely don't
want more. So, um, how was the afterbirth part? Did you nurse or? Um, I
had difficulties. Um, I was having problems with that and basically just
bottle fed my son. So I was like it was really like I really had hard
labor. I surprised I survived it kind of thing. It's scary. Did you have
them vaginally then too? Yeah, yeah. Is there, um, when you reflect back
on your experience, is there any like word or phrasing of words that comes
to mind to to kind of summarize it? Um, I can't remember. It's like a long
time ago, so I was like it was really stressful experience for me because
I stayed in the hospital a few days later after that. And they let me go
finally afterwards, but yeah, it was scary for me, I should say. Was he a
big boy? Yes, 9 pounds, 21 ounces.
That's why I didn't want any more kids. I was like, I swear I thought he
was one year old one time he got out of me. I was like, Oh my God, is he
still in touch with you? Yeah, I talked to him and I'll be probably, I
call him, try to call him every day, and he's like taller than me, very
intellectual, high gifted child, so he's really, really smart kid. It's
wonderful. Yeah, and I I might just go eventually I'll come back
eventually to me it's whenever you choose to come back. It's no pressure.
Um, Have you told him his birth story? Um, a couple of times, but I don't
think he's like ready to hear what actually happened at the time of birth
, and there's a lot of doctors involved and nurses there, so I don't want
to like. You know, like frighten him like what happened or anything like
that. It's because it was really stressful for me. Seriously, I was like I
thought I was gonna die, but I did not. I still find out of it so the pain
, yeah, from everything, it was horrible. Did um
did your water break? Did you how did you know you were in labor? I didn't
, I was just a lot of, uh, what do you call it, contractions, and I went
to the hospital a few times like you're not ready, you're not ready,
you're not ready. And then it kept putting me like um they call it water
to do the water birth with me and then nothing happened and then Finally
my water broke and I was at the hospital and I was like oh my God, it's
going to happen and it was just like my heart was going up and down and
they try to keep me not stressed so much about it because you could stress
the child when you're inside of the womb and uh finally I had him, but
they had to help me with him. It wasn't just like he just like didn't come
out. It's just like the doctors had to pull him out. So it's like horror
like bad with with his hands.
Since his uh Bill Concord got stuck around his neck, so once they pull
that out, put it over him, he just. Came out go football and like. Yeah,
it was crazy. Was he bluish? Um, I don't remember. It was like all
happened real quickly. I know he had jaundice, so they had to put him
underneath the heat lamp for a little bit to get that color or whatever,
but yeah. Did they know the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck
before he came out? Not really. They they like went and did the little um
the thing on the, I can't think what the thing is called, but, ultrasound
, and then they like looked around and that's when they noticed that and
they went in there and just pulled it around and he came right out. So you
mean they undid the umbilical cord while he was in your stomach?
Yeah, it's scary. I had a rough pregnancy. Like I said, I, I won't go back
and do that again. I cannot believe I know the anguish of having a doctor
put his hand inside of you, your cervix. It's scary, but yeah, they did a
lot of different things to get him out because I was overdue. Can you name
any of those things? I don't remember it was just like happened so quickly.
It was just like, get this out of me kind of thing. I was so stressful.
It doesn't sound like it.
Yeah. Because I was 2 weeks late. I was just like, get him, let's just
have this child now, you know, kind of thing, and he finally came out. So
was he crying when he came out? Yeah, he was like crying and it was kind
of crazy, gave them to me right away and everything, and they took him and
weighed him and did all the stuff that they needed to do. OK, excellent.
Is there, do you have any questions? I was just wondering if there was any
anything um during the pregnancy or the birth or after with the child, um
, that were traditions from the Inuit side from the father's side that
anything. No, uh uh, it's kind of weird. I thought that would be more
cause, you know, just is tradition, but nothing, it was just like, here I
have this kid now, blah blah, his mom had left before I had him, so. After
that it was like, she was, she was like, you had the baby and I wasn't
even there. I was like, I'm sorry. It's not my choice. It just comes out
natural. So were there any, um, did you, had you had a name picked out? No.
I had a girl's name picked out. I was like, I know I'm gonna name a girl
if I didn't know it was gonna be a boy because I didn't want to know the
the gender. And at the labor they're like, Oh, it's I see her coming, I
see her coming. It comes out like it's a boy. I'm like, I don't have a
boy's name. And then like as soon as they were carrying taking him out to
with the all of the other babies, I came up with his name right then and
there. But can you tell me his name? Yeah, Gregory Allen Jacobson. So yeah
, I had a Madeline Rose Jacobson. That was my ex-husband's last name was
Jacobson, so I had him keep his dad's name. So it's Gregory Allen says. So
when I if I yell at him, I'm like, Gregory Allen Jacobson, and he knows
he's in trouble kind of thing. No, that's great. I think we're good. Are
we good? OK, everything was recording.