Word - making numbering remain with the record it starts with

Don't know if the title explains it but what I want to do is this:

I'm taking a set of data into Word and creating a table with it, date, details...

I want to be able to sort the data according to column headings. However, I want to be easily able to put it back into the order I started with, without having to go back through the undo function. I can add numbering to the items but when I sort, the numbering swaps from one record to another, for example:

1. Item1 30/04/08
2. Item2 30/04/08
3. Item3 15/05/08

can become:
1. Item2 30/04/08
2. Item1 30/04/08
3. Item3 15/05/08

instead of:
2. Item2 30/04/08
1. Item1 30/04/08
3. Item3 15/05/08

This is because the numbering stays in numerical order but I don't want it to. I want to keep the numbers with the item they were with originally. This is essential because the items are events that happened in a certain order and I can't have them swapping places when I try to return to event order. There is no field that will have unique entries for each record.

Can anyone suggest a way of making the numbers stay with the items after I put numbering in? Or adding numbering and then making word treat the numbers as ordinary text that can be shifted with the records?

I thought it was possible to add numbering and then make it into ordinary text in Word but if so, I can't remember how. There are far too many to number them myself. I would prefer to be able to do this in Word because I want to run a macro on the records to get them into table format. However, any and all suggestions welcome but preferably fairly easy to accomplish and quick - there are a LOT of records. I have access to Office 2000 Professional and also Office 2007 Ultimate (without accounting). 2000 is on a 98SE machine and 2007 is on an XP Pro.

Thanks all!