My parents can’t tell me the story without tearing up.
I was 13 months old and it was 23 years ago. But it’s still as fresh as yesterday in their minds.
Meet Baby Kate Skero ^^
“You made this funny cry that I hadn’t heard before, I rushed to your crib and when I saw you, your little body was shaking uncontrollably.”
“I heard your mom screaming. And when I saw you in her arms, you were blue.”
“He grabbed you right out of my arms, and I ran to call the doctor. They told me to call 911.”
“Your mom was in pieces. I should’ve been too, but it was like God acted in me, He gave me the strength to give you mouth-to-mouth.”
“I told your brothers to run to the top of the driveway so the ambulance would know where to come.”
“The paramedics were taking too long. I kept breathing for you until you finally took a gasp. That gasp brought us both back to life.”
“Dad got you breathing again after the seizure. The paramedics told us that you might do better if we just drove ourselves to the hospital so I could hold you on the way. So we did that.”
“I ran you downstairs past those slow paramedics, we got in the car and I just drove. Five miles in, I lost it.”
“It was dehydration, they told us. You were sick with a fever and you couldn’t hold anything down and that’s why the seizure happened.”
“You had to stay in the hospital for a few days.”
“They had to give you a spinal tap and they told your dad and me to step out because it would be too hard for us to watch. But Dad refused. I waited outside of the room and I could hear you screaming but I knew you were okay because your daddy was right there by your side.”
It was probably the closest I’ve ever been to death and I don’t even remember it. I have to be told the story. It was probably one of the scariest days of my parents’ lives and they can’t forget it. It’s a hard story for them to tell.
I’m sharing this story because I think we all have scary days with our babies. Maybe not this scary. I don’t know, maybe scarier! But it’s brave parents like mine who don’t stop to panic, they just act. Their instincts kick in and they do exactly what’s needed. You stay by his or her side. You trust that you will love and care for your baby better than any other person can. These are the moments we dread, we hope they’ll never come but when they do, our worry takes a backseat to our bravery. We do what parents do best and love our babies back to life. We fight for them because it’s who we are.
And, Lord willing, we’ll be able to tell them the story through tears 23 years later, and they’ll look at us like heroes.
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