This lovely young lady, my only daughter, is turning 18 tomorrow. I can’t believe it myself, it seems like just yesterday I was 11 days overdue with her, (but who was counting?) ..in 95 degree weather. I was swollen and dehydrated. I walked around our town’s homecoming festival, all evening and was still out and about at this same time 10 pm on July 6th. My husband was at my side, and my parents had our only other child, our firstborn son, just a toddler staying with them, sensing that it was very hot out, a Friday night, and I was well, 11 days overdue. Something was bound to happen! And indeed it did…..but not until 5 a.m on the 7th. I wasn’t at all rested but awoke from a light sleep in labor….naw…..went back to sleep….after doing this well into about the 7 o’ clock hour, I decided to wake my husband and tell him, I think this is it. We called ahead to the doctor, who said, hmmm, I think this is it too, so don’t take too long, but you can shower and get ready and head into the city. It seemed to all happen so fast after that….I did hurry along…I felt pretty miserable pretty quick and on the ride to the hospital I was quite sure I was going to have the baby in the car. Well, I managed to not do that, and forty minutes after arrival, we had our Jamie Catherine handed to us all dewy and overdue…overdone red skin and black hair with tints of light brown here and there. And so our daughter was born. Not short of a miracle this one, her middle name given for the patron of St. Catherine of Laboure whom I had solicited for help during this pregnancy. A couple months into the pregnancy we were told I had partial placenta previa, and if it didn’t correct itself just enough, just enough for the placenta to clear the birth canal, I’d need to undergo a C-section. I was okay with that. However, by 5 months pregnant I was bleeding and put on bedrest, and it happened again around 7 months, and I kept the prayers going, as if my hands were held up to the heavens in constant prayer like that of Moses in battle….So, not only did the placenta “just clear” and I mean “just clear” the birth canal enough that I was okayed for a normal birth, she became overdue. Incredible, when I consider I nearly lost this one around 5 months and again at 7. Does God work in mysterious ways? I’d say.
So, with this special young lady in my life turning 18 tomorrow, around 9:24 a.m, my gratefulness to St Catherine’s strong intercession for her namesake, and my praise to God Almighty for his great and glorious deeds….all these years later, God is ever so worthy of praise and awe.
Happy 18th birthday Jamie Catherine!
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