Second Chance

About 2 months ago (Wednesday, April 13th) it was finally sunny and warm enough to go to the park. Grant had been begging me all morning long to go to the park, so I finally caved. I buckled Maddi in the stroller and we headed out. First stop was the swings, Grant's favorite. He doesn't swing alone, he insists on sitting on my lap on the big swing, so we can go super high. I love it. He gets the biggest kick out of it. Maddi was watching us from the stroller. Probably wishing she could join in on the fun. We always pretend we are going to get her every time we go up. She laughs every time. After the swings Grant ran off towards the wetlands behind the park. He ran so fast that I actually had to leave Maddi in the stroller behind so I could catch up to him. He wanted to walk the wetlands, but I said no. I went once by myself with the kids and Glenn didn't like it. It's secluded (most people don't even know they exist) wierdos, etc. Probably isn't the best thing that I go alone. Anyway, I finally convinced Grant to go back to the park and on our way back we saw my friend Rebecca.

She has a little girl, Amelia, that's the same age as Grant. They're in nursery together. She told me that her girls wanted to walk the wetlands, so we decided to join them and go together. So we walked the wetlands and headed back to the park. On the way back to the park Grant and Amelia ran off to a tree that was a couple feet away from us. We stood there for a minute and talked. There was a pond to the left of me. The grossest pond. So murky you can't even see the bottom of it -had seen a dead bird in it, so gross- kind of pond. Anyway Rebecca and I were talking and I noticed that Grant was trying to pick up something of the trunk of the tree. He was really concentrating. So I went over to see what he was trying to get. He was picking at a huge black ant hill. King ants. The kind that bite! I bent down and was trying to explain to him that they weren't the normal ants he was used to seeing. These kind bite. And their bites hurt. I heard Natalie (Rebecca's oldest daughter) calling for her while I was explaining this to Grant, but I didn't bother looking up because I was too worried Grant was going to get bit. I then noticed ants crawling up his pant legs! CRAP! He has them all over his pants! I called out to Rebecca to tell her that they were climbing up on his leg. I'm not sure, but I think she was looking over Amelia to see if she had any on her as well. So I was brushing Grants pants off when I notice my friend dart it to the pond (Not even 10 feet away). I looked up and didn't know what she was running after. Then I saw this a handle bar sticking out of the pond. i didn't know what it was. I was so confused. I stood there for a second. Then my heart sank. It was my stroller. With my baby in it. Completely submerged under water! I screamed, "NOOOOO!!" and ran and jumped into the pond! I thought, Please no, please no. Please let her be alive. That's all I kept thinking. I thought I was going to pull out a dead baby. I lifted that stroller up, and I saw her blink! I cannot even express how I felt when I saw that blink. I couldn't believe it. SHE.WAS.ALIVE! I threw the stroller up on the dirt and unbuckled her as fast as I could and started hitting her on the back (I was going on pure instinct). She finally started coughing and choking. And tons of water was spewing out of her mouth. "Is she ok, do you think she is ok?" I kept asking Rebecca. She is ok! Oh my gosh she is ok! I was soooooo shocked that my baby was alive. And ok.

Maddi didn't cry once. Not even a whimper. She has always been so mild and sweet. We could not understand how it was possible that the stroller turned and fell into the pond. It wasn't windy. We were the only ones there at the pond at that time. The distance between the tree and pond are MAYBE a good 7 feet. Not that far at all and my stroller was about 4 feet away from it, and parallel to it. So how did we not hear the splash of a big bulky stroller weighted down by a baby, a huge purse filled to the max with everything baby, and a blanket? I was shaken. I had lost my cell phone (among other things like my favorite shoes) and I needed to call Glenn. My stomache was in knots. I called about 5 times in a row (he never answers his phone if he doesn't know the #) and hung up and he finally walked out of class and the second I heard his voice I lost it. I wasn't sure I was making sense because I was shaking so bad. I instantly jumped into what had just happened before I told him she was ok. He had to interrupt me and blurted out, "Kirsten! Is she ok? Is she ok?" Poor guy thought I was calling him to tell him something different.

I also couldn't help but think about the coincidence (maybe not so much!) of her being strapped in. I never have her strapped in when we are at the park because I am constantly taking her out and putting her back in. If she wasn't strapped in, she could easily have drifted out of the stroller and it makes me sick. I don't know if we would have found her. The pond was so bad you couldn't see your hand under the water.

I walked back to my house shoe less and totally drenched with a naked baby wrapped in my friends sweater (I'm pretty sure people in the park probably thought I was crazy) and gave her a bath because of all the nasty stuff that she was covered in. My friend took Grant back to her house so I could take Maddi to urgent care. Glenn met me there. The Dr. checked her lungs and she was perfect! He told us we were lucky....people don't get second chances at these kind of things. My heart was so full. I got a second chance with this little girl. Heavenly Father was definitely looking after Maddi that day and I am so very grateful. It could have turned out so bad. I know that we were being watched after.

I'll never forget the feeling I had when I thought I was going to pull out a dead baby. I'll never forget how shaky I was for a good two - three days even after it happened. I had several dreams where the ending was different. I couldn't sleep at night. It was pure uneasyness for a good week or two and I'll never forget it.