Monday, January 21, 2013

He Was Supposed to Be Mine...

Brandon and his big sister, Kaylan
December 2012

Disclaimer: I have several male viewers and just for them, I have toned this post down a little. Can’t have em heaving up their dinner, now, can I?

See Stats at the end of this post.

Yesterday was my nephew, Brandon’s, 15th birthday. He is the most lovable and handsome young man I know. He still gives his Aunt LaLa big hugs. Did you know that he was supposed to be mine? His mama, my baby sister, pulled the rug completely from under my feet.

I still hurt.

I should have gone to therapy!

To preserve my side of the story and for posterity’s sake, let me tell you what happened.

On the morning of January 20, 1998, I was getting ready to walk out the door to take my girls, Emily and Whitney, to school. They were going to school in the next town over from ours and we needed to keep some semblance of a schedule to make it there on time. Just as we were about to leave, the phone rang. (Pre-caller ID). We were already running late, so Whitney asked me not to answer it.  But, SOMETHING told me I had to.......

Hello? ........OMG! All I could hear was screaming coming from the other end.... it sounded something like, “alone with Kaylan, Wade already gone to work and getting ready to have a baby!"  My baby sister, Mandy, was the one expecting a baby, but when I heard the screaming, I thought it was another of my sisters, Carla.  I said, "Wait, Carla, calm down, calm down, where is Mandy"?

And just as calm, as if nothing was happening, she said, "This is Mandy".

What in the world?

Then she told me what happened.....She had gotten up to go to the bathroom, felt something, reached ........"OMG it's a foot! The baby's foot has popped out and Wade's gone and I'm by myself!"

So she called ME! Her big sister. Oh, joy!

I told her to just calm down, I was on my way.

OK, so now I go into mild shock. My mind is saying.......get to her, and that’s it.

Now, mind you, I had raised my voice so that Mandy could hear me over her screaming and my husband, Cliff, heard all this. He came to see who I was talking to and when I told him I had to go to Mandy and that he needed to take the girls to school, he asked, “Have you called an ambulance”. Stunned, I asked ever so calmly, "Do you think I need to call an ambulance?" "YES, what are YOU going to do!?!", he asked. Oh, I hadn't  thought about that. So he called EMS and told them that I would meet them and they could follow me.  It was easier than trying to give directions to Georgetown County EMS who needed to go deep into Williamsburg County. I mean, we’re talking boondocks, y’all.

Of course, I felt the need to drive fast. I met EMS and told them to follow me. I wish I had a video of what happened next. I’m pretty sure I would win some kind of award for the footage. Ha!  I drove a Town and Country Chrysler van at the time and let me tell you, I had that gas pedal on the floor. You should have seen that mini van and ambulance flying down back country roads, hitting pot holes and dips in the road. We were rocking and rolling.  Thank heavens it was early in the morning and there was hardly any traffic on the roads. We skidded up sideways in the yard and nearly took out a couple of mail boxes, but we made it.

So many miracles happened that day.

1) The first, when I felt like I had to answer the phone.

2) The next was that the Georgetown County EMS followed me into Williamsburg county to take Mandy to the hospital in Kingstree. Normally, they don’t cross county lines. But, since EMS didn’t have an address and was following me…they had no choice.

3) The next miracle was that when the EMS and I got to Mandy's and walked in, I could hear her phone making a funny noise. It was off the hook so I hung it up and as soon as I did, it rang. It was Mandy's doctor calling to give the EMS instructions to take her to the nearest hospital. Otherwise, I’m not so sure that they wouldn’t have taken her to the hospital in their county. This would have taken at least 20 minutes longer. Things may not have turned out so well.

EMS got Mandy loaded into the ambulance and left for Kingstree. All the important phone calls were made and I was going to stop by home to change my clothes before going to the hospital.

By the time I got to the hospital, miracle number 4…..little Brandon had made his entrance into this world. I think they said that 7 minutes after Mandy arrived at the hospital, Brandon was born. I cried then, when I found out they were OK.

A few days after she and the baby had been discharged from the hospital, Mandy developed an infection and had to be hospitalized, again. Apparently, one of the EMS guys had tickled Brandon’s little foot before loading Mandy into the ambulance. She had to have a c-section, so Brandon’s little foot was pulled back through…..EMS finger germs and all. Bless it!

I was so privileged to get to keep Brandon, while Mandy was in the hospital. He stayed with me for a week. I took him to see her one day. He was indifferent. But then, of all things, they wanted me to take him back home to Wade when she was ready to come home.

What? I thought I could keep him and make him mine. I cried, again!!!

Reluctantly, I drove Brandon home. I drove slowly. I was in denial. In my mind, he was already mine. I thought....If I take long enough to get there, maybe they’ll forget about it and this won’t have to happen. Wrong…..When I arrived at Mandy and Wade’s, there stood, Wade, his daddy with open arms. Oh man! Do you have to look so happy to see him?

I gave him back. Bunch of Indian givers!!

I left Brandon with his daddy and drove away. Tears came like someone had opened the flood gates. I took myself home and off the road before I ran into a ditch or hit a tree. And then and there…cried some more!!!

End of Brandon’s baby story. However, a few years later, when he was acting out about something, Mandy called to ask me if I wanted him now.  So I said, “Not now, you have to suffer the consequences of your actions”!   HaHa!!!

Anyway, Happy Birthday Brandon. LaLa loves you! And always remember, you were supposed to be mine!

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For those of you who read my blog and didn’t know…..I spent this weekend at a blog party. It was a huge opportunity to grow my blog audience. Let me just say……I. Am. Overwhelmed.

I’m overwhelmed at all the visits. The sweetest comments were left for me and best of all, I have new followers! The stats as of this afternoon….

Pre-blog party - 560 views and 5 followers

Post-blog party (Currently, because they keep coming! Yay!) - 1229 views and 49 followers.

I owe a great deal of gratitude and appreciation to Vicki for the monumental task of pulling the blog party together. I will never be able to thank her enough!

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Oh wait, before you go……and in case you were wondering:

Ran 2 miles today…the knee felt ok. I knew I needed to keep the miles low. But can we say, Log Legs? Gah…..

High Temp today….64 degrees F

Watching on TV…The Presidential Inauguration 2013

Clouds I’ve been on….1229

Take care and I’ll talk to you soon,
Laurie

27 comments:

  1. Just finished dinner, Husband is watching yet another car show, so here I am. What a nice story to find! I'm glad everything turned out so well, especially the birthday boy.

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  2. Cute boy...cute sister...wonderful story. Glad he has grown up with an aunt that loves him so much! Happy Tuesday - Tanya

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  3. Thank you, Tanya. Loved your New Mexico post!

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  4. I have had so much fun reading your posts! You are a gem! I am your newest follower.

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    1. Thank you Holly for coming to visit and staying awhile. I look forward to getting to know you in the days ahead.

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  5. Hi..nice to meet you! your blog puts a smile on my face!So Here I go to follow!

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    1. Thank you Gabriela! I'm so happy you stopped by and became a follower. I'm heading over to visit you now.

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  6. The part that made me laugh out loud was, "Do you think I need to call an ambulance?" You left out the miracle that your husband asked the question!

    (By the way, I'm from Comptonia and I'm still hopping, slowly, through the GYB Party list. Whew!)

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    1. Thank you, Quinn. I do love a good story, especially one that makes me giggle a little. I'm so glad you stopped by. I'm still making my way through the GYB list, too. I'll be by your place for a visit in a few minutes. Happy Tuesday!

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  7. What a beautiful story! And what a beautiful Aunt. Congratulations to both of you!

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  8. What a lovely story. I wish you a lot of fun with Brandon.
    Magdalena

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  9. Blog party goer here......LOVED (that's right all caps) this post. I was smiling and laughing all the way through it. You did such a great job of describing it, I felt like I saw it all.
    Just stopped by to say howdy because the title grabbed me and now I'll be back!
    Kelly
    okacres.com

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  10. Happy Blog Party.

    This story is so funny. I'm a new follower and look forward to reading more.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Stacy and thank you for following. I'm heading your way for a visit now.

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  11. Wow, what a story! I'M out of breath just reading it! You are a good storyteller and will go far with your blog. Keep on trucking!
    Hugs,
    Sherry

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  12. what a sweet story...stopping by from the blog party!

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  13. blog hopping and enjoying strolling thru your blog and am following!

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  14. Hi Laurie, I'm so happy our paths crossed, thank you for such a wonderful story. I'm a new follower and look forward to getting to know you better.

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  15. great story - great news on the knee -- be patient.

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  16. Hello Laurie or should that be LaLa?
    What a fantastic story...I found I was reading it faster to see the outcome! I feel just like you over my sisters two boys! They are so special and have a piece of my heart!
    Oops forgot to say I've messed up your numbers by the way because I've just pressed the button to be your latest follower...hope you don't mind ;D
    I'm looking forward to visiting again soon...but I'm off to party a little more at the moment. I think it's going to take me quite some time to get to everyone!
    Have fun and thanks for sharing
    Neesie ♥

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    1. Neesie, I don't mind you messing my numbers up at all! So happy you like it that well. Yes, I've been popping around the blog party, too. I don't even feel like I'm half way through the list yet. Thanks for visiting. Talk to you soon.

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  17. What a wonderful story! I have never in my life heard of anything like that happening. He was going to come out doing the splits! It's amazing how fast we can get attached to a baby, isn't it? At least he's near enough you can see him often.

    I'm just now finally getting to visit the blogs in the party. I'm never on time. And only a week late this time. ;-)

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  18. Wow, this is quite the story! I was holding my breath, picturing you and the EMS driving high speed through the country. Glad that everything went smoothly in the end, all those years back. My daughter was born in 1998 as well, just a few months later.

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  19. Stopping by from Grow Your Blog - what a story!

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  20. Lady, you are one incredible story teller. And, yes, he should be yours, and he needs to be reminded of that every single day until he pleads for mercy!!

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    1. Elaine, I'm about to reach through this screen and give you a great big hug. You've made my day with such sweet comments. Thank you! I do love a god story...and that Brandon, I think I will make him plead for mercy!

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