When Carl found he was going to become a father he was very excited. It was a great experience going from being a couple to becoming parents. He wished at times they would have had another baby. He loved his girls so much but deep down he always wanted a boy. Donna did have a miscarriage in between Janet & Barb.
The first time he held his little babies was pure happiness. He loved all of the sweet snuggles he received from them. Thinking back to his life growing up I think he never thought he’d ever be this happy.
The hardest part of parenting was when the babies cried and not knowing what to do. He said that we were pretty good babies. He remembers warming up a bottle for Barbara one night and falling asleep at the table. He woke up to the bottle exploding and hitting the ceiling. I’m sure that was so frustrating for him. It has always been a fun family story throughout the years.
Barbara’s birth was life threatening for Donna. She had been told by her doctor’s to not have any more children after Janet was born. She had a miscarriage in between Janet and Barbara. Janet and Barbara were born just a short 14 month apart from each other.
When Barbara’s birth was getting close she was admitted into the hospital for a scheduled c-section. This procedure was still pretty rare at this time and only for extremely high risk patients. Donna had Type 1 diabetes since she was 7 years old so she was definitely considered a high risk.
Before the scheduled c-section she went into labor so the c-section ended up being an emergency. The first time Carl saw Barbara she had a band-aide on her head. The Doctor got a little off on his cutting and cut her head. She still has a scar from this today.
After Barbara’s birth Donna was in critical condition. She was in a coma and the doctor’s didn’t expect her to survive. They drew some fluid out of Donna’s spine and Carl took it to Fort Wayne to the Lutheran Hospital for testing.
The doctors weren’t giving them much hope for her survival. The only thing left to do was pray. Thankfully Carl & Donna both were strong in their faith and they got friends and family praying. God answered their prayers when Donna woke up five days later!
While Donna was in critical condition at the hospital Carl had to hire private nurses to care for her. There wasn’t intensive care at this point in the hospitals so if the patient needed 24 hour care it was the family’s responsibility to pay for this. Carl was able to get a loan from his employer to cover this. He paid the nurses $2.25 an hour and he was only making $1.50 an hour at that time.
I can’t imagine how he was feeling during this period of time. The joy of the birth of a second daughter and at the same time the possibility of losing the love of his life. Wondering how in the world he would be able raise these girls by himself. God was good to him – He was able to raise these babies right alongside Donna.
After Donna was released from the hospital this new little family stayed with her parents, Henry and Aleatha, for a short while so they could help with Donna and the babies.
I thought it would be fun to ask Dad some questions about me, here are a few.
What qualities do you and Barbara have in common? We’re both outgoing, we make friends easily, and have a good sense of humor.
How would you describe Barbara? She is a people person, she loves people and is always willing to do what she can to help them.
What do you love most about Barbara? That she loves me and stays connected to me.
Carl felt like he was the easier parent concerning disciplining the girls. He always had a soft spot and said when he had to teach the girls a lesson and discipline them it was really hard on him.
One of the hardest parts of parenting for him was when his girls moved away.
2FaithfulSisters 