FEATURED ARTICLE
told me was right. Autumn Elizabeth was born on October 29, 2006. She was a little sumo baby at 11 lbs and 4oz., a water birth baby. She had some problems with delivery due to her size, but I survived. The midwife was relieved, and we were tired. She grew fast. She had no real complications from her complicated birth. She has four sisters, and a brother years later.
My days grew longer. I had two more girls after her birth. I have six children, I went to school to be a nurse, I became a nurse. At times, I longed to be at home with my kids. Working sometimes took over. Constant work, come home, make dinner, kids, homework, bed, sometimes routine, sometimes not. Concern as a mom sets in. We all have it -- Mom guilt. Am I there enough? Are they getting it? How long will we have to wait for it to change. Each thought about them, continues to grow. Tthe cord that was cut is still there. Even as our children age, my husband and I continued to work. Work sometimes takes over. I am not saying it not good to work. I am saying that I remember the day it all stopped, humming and moving. The day I as a mother stopped. The day I was forced to say a prayer to ask God to take over. When all else is failing, call on His miraculous son, Jesus.
I had come home from work and I took a shower. I called the girls' names as I went into my bedroom to wake up my husband for the night shift. He would be gone in a half hour and I would have more work to do; showers, or clean up your room, I would yell. I layed down for a minute, I didn't even think I had time to put on pajamas.
" My heart stopped. I did not know if she had drowned or if she was gone. I heard me say, “CPR now”."
I heard a scream. My daughter, Isabella yelled, “There's something wrong with Autumn”.
My husband ran in first to see her in the bathroom. He said she was not breathing. My heart stopped. I did not know if she had drowned or if she was gone. I heard me say, “CPR now”. I heard my heart say, Jesus. Tears ran down from my eyes.
Josh laid her down on the bathroom floor then picked her up off the floor saying, “NO, NO, NO! My baby. Why?”
I heard me scream, “Call 9-1-1”. I felt my hands on her chest doing compressions. I prayed. I breathed into her. I heard the men come in with the stretcher from the fire department. I got into the ambulance after they told me, I prayed. I called my mom, I called work and told them my life stopped. I won't be back ever. I called on Jesus. I said, “God, please don't take her. I can't live without my baby girl”. They could not intubate (insert a tube for breathing) her in the ambulance. She still had a gag reflex, they said. I just kept praying and crying.
When we got to Beaumont Southshore they were all lined up. My daughter was intubated, given a CT scan (another term for CAT scan), and an MRI scan. My in-laws appeared and my mom. My husband and other children were still with the police at the house. My life, my child even though