Today was the annual church picnic. It was at Kiesel Park, and it was so much fun! A moonwalk, free ice cream, hot dogs, hamburgers, water balloons, etc. We sat under a shade tree with Kirsten, Rich, Maureen, Rob, Maribeth, and some new people, too. Henri and his wife (I can't remember her name) just moved to Auburn. Henri is a dentist, and they lived in Metarie, LA. Their house was not hurt in Katrina, but he lost almost all of his patients after the hurricane. He and his wife are going to stay here, and I think they are so nice. They have a baby boy who is 1 and an older son who is going into 1st grade. They are Maribeth's new neighbors, and I am glad she has more good neighbors (God knows she needs them). Also, I met Kyle and Terri.
They just got married, and she just moved here from Troy. Together they have 5 boys under the age of thirteen. She is blonde and beautiful--and she seemed very nice.
But I think that the most significant thing that happened was just a normal moment. Maribeth brought an old loaf of bread so that the kids could feed the coy in the little pond. She was walking with Dirk, Nicolas, and Hayden, and Cater joined her. As I was watching her walk away, it was like I could see the scrapbook of my life...it sounds cheesy, I know, but I could almost see my future...years and years of church picnics and birthdays and nights at Laredo's and our children growing up and being old women together. I feel so blessed by this church, by God leading me to Catholicism, by God blessing me with friends and family and children and everything...
So, it was a good day.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Saturday, May 20, 2006
My Birth Story (for DSP's BOM Challenge)
My mother always tells me that I am a miracle baby. Daddy was not supposed to be able to father a child, so after my parents married, my mother went off birth control. She had been off it for a week when they conceived me--evidently while she was giving Daddy a permanent (and by that I mean that he had curlers in his hair). That has always cracked me up. Mama says it was a relatively easy pregnancy, with all of the standard morning sickness and discomfort. She only gained 18lbs, so I can’t imagine it was that bad. I’ve seen pictures of her when she was pregnant with me, and she looks beautiful and happy.
I was due on Mama’s birthday, April 18th, but Mama never went into labor. So, they set an induction date of April 28th. According to her, she and Daddy spent the whole day before cooking food for all the company they were expecting—I can totally imagine the two of them in the kitchen together!
The story of my actual birth I have pieced together from conversations with Mama and Daddy (and my grandparents, too). My understanding is that Mama was fully dilated, but that she could not push me out. Every time she would push, I would uncurl my head. I don’t think Mama really realized something was wrong until Dr. Blanton (the older, more experienced OB who was not on call but was an old family friend) showed up. She says that she asked him, “What are you doing here? I thought Dr. Dillard was going to deliver the baby.” He reportedly said, “I heard you were having a baby, and I couldn’t just sit at home across the street!” Meanwhile, Dr. Dillard was telling my father that my mother was dying (I am still not sure exactly why) and that there was no way that both of us were going to survive the birth. My grandmother says that my father literally dropped to his knees at the news and told Dr. Dillard to save my mother, if he could. She also says that after Dr. Dillard left, Daddy sat down in the chair and cried.
But we both did survive it. I was born via cesarean section at 11:35pm on April 28, 1976 in Selma, Alabama to James Thomas Cater and Sarah Frances Crisman Cater. Mama almost bled to death after the surgery and her blood pressure was dangerously low. And according to Mama, they later told her that the cord was wrapped around my neck in such a way that caused my head to pull back when she would push. Dr. Dillard officially delivered, but Dr. Blanton was there assisting because (as he later told my parents) things got so bad that Dr. Dillard called him for help.
So, that is why I am a miracle baby. I was born to a woman who was barely off birth control and a man who wasn’t supposed to have enough sperm to make a baby. And I survived a birth that I wasn’t supposed to survive. I have always felt a little lucky to have made it, and I know that God must have some purpose for me because of it.
I was due on Mama’s birthday, April 18th, but Mama never went into labor. So, they set an induction date of April 28th. According to her, she and Daddy spent the whole day before cooking food for all the company they were expecting—I can totally imagine the two of them in the kitchen together!
The story of my actual birth I have pieced together from conversations with Mama and Daddy (and my grandparents, too). My understanding is that Mama was fully dilated, but that she could not push me out. Every time she would push, I would uncurl my head. I don’t think Mama really realized something was wrong until Dr. Blanton (the older, more experienced OB who was not on call but was an old family friend) showed up. She says that she asked him, “What are you doing here? I thought Dr. Dillard was going to deliver the baby.” He reportedly said, “I heard you were having a baby, and I couldn’t just sit at home across the street!” Meanwhile, Dr. Dillard was telling my father that my mother was dying (I am still not sure exactly why) and that there was no way that both of us were going to survive the birth. My grandmother says that my father literally dropped to his knees at the news and told Dr. Dillard to save my mother, if he could. She also says that after Dr. Dillard left, Daddy sat down in the chair and cried.
But we both did survive it. I was born via cesarean section at 11:35pm on April 28, 1976 in Selma, Alabama to James Thomas Cater and Sarah Frances Crisman Cater. Mama almost bled to death after the surgery and her blood pressure was dangerously low. And according to Mama, they later told her that the cord was wrapped around my neck in such a way that caused my head to pull back when she would push. Dr. Dillard officially delivered, but Dr. Blanton was there assisting because (as he later told my parents) things got so bad that Dr. Dillard called him for help.
So, that is why I am a miracle baby. I was born to a woman who was barely off birth control and a man who wasn’t supposed to have enough sperm to make a baby. And I survived a birth that I wasn’t supposed to survive. I have always felt a little lucky to have made it, and I know that God must have some purpose for me because of it.
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