Suzy Lorraine Sanderson, due to be born around October, mkes her entrance into the world three months early. What a shocker!
Weighing only 850 grams, our latest grand girl , decided she'd make a dramatic entrance to our three months earlier than expected,.
Day One - Denise casually mentione on Thursday morning that Steph had bee admitted into the hospital due to Suzie's heart rate deceleration and lack of movement. The Lord, in his faithfulness and mercy, orchestrated every detail
Steph "just happened" to have her glucose tolerance test on Tuesday. It usually takes five days to get the results back, but the nurse called on Thursday morning with the results. Steph "just happened" to ask the nurse if decreased movement of the baby was normal. To be on the safe side, the nurse "just happened" to tell Steph to come in. After hanging up with the nurse, Suzie moved and Steph considered not going to the doctor. Her boss, however, "just happened" to tell her to go to the doctor anyway. Steph didn't think going to the doctor was necessary, but when they hooked her up to the monitor,m it was clear that there was a deceleration of the baby's heartbeat.
Immediately
By the Grace of God
Kathryn Campbell's Journey to Living a Live Pleasing to the Lord.
Prologue - 1940 - 1970
One might think it is easy to be born into one of the richest families in America, but wealth had its disadvantages, at least as far as George Alan Campbell, Jr. was concerned. For as long as he could remember, Alan – as he chose to be called – had no desire to get involved with any of the family businesses or foundations, as was expected of the sole heir of the G.V.P.C. fortune. He had a passion for medicine and wanted to try his hand at numerous undertakings in a variety of areas, none of which particularly pleased his parents.
It was his mother, Victoria Leanne Packard Campbell, who pronounced Alan an adventurer and softened her husband’s – George Alan Campbell, Sr. – heart toward Alan.“Darling,” Victoria had said to George, “Let him do what he chooses. The GVPC fortune and the Foundation, businesses, estates and all that it encompasses are very adeptly run by our CEOs. I am confident that Alan will always look out for the best interests of anything having to do with the GVPC fortunes.”George Sr. relented. He knew Alan was extremely intelligent and loyal to his family. If he wanted to go through the hard work of becoming a doctor, so be it. George didn’t understand it, but he succumbed to his son’s wishes.Alan always had a cheerful disposition, and although he didn’t care much for the customs of the upper crust, he went along with them for the sake of his parents.
Alan was a strapping, handsome young man with dark black hair and large almond-shaped brown eyes. Women were -attracted to him and his rugged good looks before they even knew his name and financial standing. It came as no surprise to George and Victoria that women would outwardly flirt with and cajole Alan to surrender to their wiles.One thing that George and Victoria were insistent upon was that Alan married an heiress who was also a Christian. From the time he was eighteen until he was twenty-three, Alan was introduced to many different young women from the wealthiest, most prominent families in the United States. Alan knew that this was a battle he could not win, and on his twenty-fourth birthday, he brought home Cassandra Reynolds Johnston, of the Johnston-Reynolds fortune, and announced his intention to marry her.
His parents could not have been more pleased. Alan had picked Cassandra not only because of her breathtaking beauty, but because he liked her quiet yet seemingly confident demeanor. She laughed at Alan’s jokes and readily accepted his compliments.
At only five foot three and one hundred pounds, she had delicate features and a porcelain complexion. Her raven hair was long, dark and thick. Her eyes were the prettiest and, clearest shade of blue that Alan had ever seen. Alan called her “Snow White,” which always made Cassandra smile.Cassandra’s sister Pamela, born in 1947, was eighteen months older than Cassandra, and looked like she could have been Cassandra’s twin.
Both sisters loved being part of what they called “New England’s High Society.” Their father, Franklin Emerson Johnston, was hardly ever home and in the mid-sixties., when the rate of death due to cardiovascular disease was at its highest, he died of a heart attack in 1965. Their mother, Kathryn Marie Reynolds Johnston, was always busy with her philanthropic work despite the fact that she tended to be sickly. Kathryn died two years later as a result of complications of pneumonia that she had contracted while working as a volunteer in a hospital.
Cassandra and Pamela were brought up by their nanny, Margret Davies, who had come directly from England to work for the Johnston family. Margret was proper and formal, and brought Cassandra and Pamela up accordingly. Pamela, who used to call her sister “Cassie,” was told by Margret that nicknames were for commoners. Cassandra stopped calling her sister “Pam.” All rules of proper English society were taught to and followed by the Johnston girls.Pamela married Mitchell Morgan, an heir to the Bryan-Morgan fortune, while Cassandra was infatuated with Alan Campbell, who was even wealthier than Mitchell. Both girls had proper high society weddings within six months of one another. Alan would have preferred a small, intimate wedding, but it was important to Cassandra and her sister to have an elaborate, elegant and proper wedding.
Alan and Cassandra toured Europe for their honeymoon, which lasted for one month. Upon their return from Europe, much to Cassandra’s dismay, Alan announced that he wanted to move to San Francisco and receive his medical training at UCSF. The Campbells and the Johnstons bought a twelve-thousand-square foot mansion on the outskirts of San Francisco in a city called Palo Alto. The mansion was on three acres and included a swimming pool, tennis courts and stables. A maid, chef, butler and chauffeur would also be retained, pending the approval of Alan and Cassandra.
As soon as Alan and Cassandra moved into their new home, Alan began UCSF medical school. Cassandra grew restless with Alan gone so much. She talked to Pamela at least once a day and visited her at least once a month. By the fifth month of Alan’s absence, Cassandra went to visit Victoria in Boston. Not long into their visit, Cassandra discussed the situation with her mother-in-law.
“I just don’t understand why Alan wants to be a doctor. He is gone almost all the time, and from what I hear, it is just going to get worse.
”Victoria was sympathetic and put her hand on her daughter-in-law’s arm. “Alan is a free and an adventuresome spirit, Cassandra. Surely you knew that before you married him, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did.” Cassandra was still not sure what to call Victoria. It didn’t seem right to call her ‘Mother’ or ‘Mom,” but calling her by her first name would have been improper. “I guess I never really gave any thought to how much Alan would be gone. I am so very lonely.”
“Well, dear,” Victoria said sweetly, “You know you are always welcome here. If you would like to get involved with my charities and benefits, I would love to have you join me every other week. We have a jet for that very purpose."
Cassandra sighed. “That is very kind of you. I have not really thought about what I should do.”Victoria removed her hand from Cassandra’s arm and sipped her tea. “I hate to bring this up, dear, but you are twenty-five, and that is a good age to begin having children. When I was your age, Alan was already two.”Cassandra bit her lip. She had hoped that she would get pregnant on their honeymoon and was disappointed that she hadn’t. “We are trying, but it does make it difficult when Alan is gone so much.”
“Oh, my dear, I am sorry. Would you like me or George to talk to him?”After thinking about the question for a few moments, she said, “I would appreciate that, yes. But please don’t tell him that I talked to you.”
“Of course not,” Victoria responded.Cassandra tried to disguise her anxiety. “Do you mind my asking why you never had more children?”
“Not at all,” Victoria said, as she dismissed the question with the wave of her hand. “I am surprised that Alan and you never broached that subject. We had another son – he would have been twenty-three by now – but it ended in a stillbirth. No one knew why.”“Oh, I am so sorry,” Cassandra said, shocked.“We also had a daughter when I was twenty, but we lost her to encephalitis at only six months.”
Cassandra was stunned, “I don’t know what to say.”
“You need not say anything, dear. We are just so thankful for Alan.”
Victoria noticed that Cassandra was staring off into the distance. “Oh, I am sorry, dear. How dreadful to say such things to a young woman who is trying to have a baby. Whatever was I thinking? They have made so much progress in medicine since the late thirties. Just give it some time, Cassandra.”
Being away from Palo Alto had brightened Cassandra’s spirits, and when she returned home, became pregnant right away. She was ecstatic. Twenty weeks into her pregnancy, Cassandra’s doctor advised her to remain on bed rest until the baby was born. Cassandra became depressed from the sheer boredom she had to endure. Alan did his best to be home more and keep his wife company, but each week Cassandra became more forlorn.Alan began buying Jane Austen books for Cassandra to read, since those were his mother’s favorites. He brought poetry by Dickinson, Browning, Emerson and Whitman. With each book Alan brought, Cassandra would grow more discontented. Didn’t her own husband realize that, unlike Alan and his mother, she was not an avid reader? In fact, she had never enjoyed reading at all. Cassandra did not understand how Alan continued to bring her books when he never saw her reading any of them.Cassandra did decide to begin interviewing potential nurses, nannies and butlers. She called several of the women with whom she had done charity work in San Francisco and found an excellent nurse named Olivia. Alan had approved of a butler/chauffeur named Ogden.
On one of her weekly telephone calls, Victoria informed her daughter-in-law about a top notch nanny that the Huntingtons and the Beaumonts of Beacon Hill had highly recommended. Her name was Fiona Darby; she was twenty years old and came from an excellent English-Irish family. Victoria asked if Cassandra wanted her to take care of the details, and Cassandra was more than happy to have her mother-in-law get involved.
With each day that passed, Cassandra fumed about her circumstances and resented the baby even more. Finally, in her thirty-eighth week, her water broke and at long last Cassandra would be free from her forced exile. Unfortunately, after twenty-two hours of difficult labor, an emergency c-section had to be performed to completely free Cassandra of the baby who had been her captor for so long.
Alan had scrubbed in and prayed that Cassandra’s labor would be an easy one. He knew the toll this pregnancy had taken on her. Cassandra was no longer the woman he had married – or at least the woman he thought he had married. She had grown bitter and self-absorbed. Alan prayed that after the baby was born, she would once again be the woman with whom he had fallen in love.The c-section was taking too long. Why hadn’t he insisted on being in the operating room? Alan saw there was something wrong.
The OB pulled Alan aside. “Your wife is hemorrhaging and they are taking out her left ovary right now. She will probably be asleep for two more hours.”Alan sighed deeply as he stared at the Isolette where doctors and nurses were working, blocking Alan’s view. He had a medical degree, but still was afraid to ask about his own baby. Like most physicians, he loathed being on the “other” side.
“And the baby?” Alan braced himself for bad news.
The doctor smiled. “You have a beautiful, healthy girl. She weighed in at eight pounds, six ounces and is twenty-one inches long. Your wife’s pelvic bones were too small, but your baby is doing fine.”Alan was surprised at how elated he felt.
“When can I hold her?” Alan asked.
The doctor responded, “Go with Jane when she takes your daughter to the nursery.”
As they entered the nursery, Alan’s eyes were drawn to a dark-haired baby sleeping contentedly in an Isolette in the corner. He had delivered dozens of babies, but he had never really stopped to think about the miracle of birth.
Alan stared at this tiny human being, created by Cassandra and him, in astonishment. She was absolutely perfect. Clutching her to his chest, Alan asked to use the phone. He called his assistant and asked her to cancel everything on his calendar for at least a week. He had no intention of leaving the side of his precious, perfectly-formed miracle of a newborn daughter unless absolutely necessary.
A nurse came to find Alan. “Dr. Campbell, your wife is starting to wake up.” Alan reluctantly put down his daughter and left to see Cassandra.
“Hey, sleepy head,” Alan brushed Cassandra’s hair from her head. “How are you feeling, Snow White?”`Cassandra grimaced. “What happened? Is the baby okay?”
“The baby is fine. You needed an emergency c-section.”
“I feel as though I have a whole in my stomach,” Cassandra complained. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and then they bolted open. “Do we have a son?”
“No, we have a beautiful little girl.”
Cassandra frowned. “I am sorry, Alan.”
“Hey, Snow White, I am ecstatic. She looks just like you.”
Staring into the distance, Cassandra said, “You need a son to be your heir, not a girl. Now I am going to have to endure another thirty-eight weeks of misery.”
“No, Cassie, you don’t.”Cassandra glowered at Alan. She did not like nicknames. Alan had tried calling her “Sandy,” and she grumbled and rolled her eyes. When he called her “Cassie,” Cassandra told Alan that was the name of a cow, not a woman.
Alan continued. “I am thrilled at having a girl.” Alan pondered whether or not to tell Cassandra about the loss of one ovary, but thought better of it. Cassandra was agitated and the timing wasn’t right.
Alan smiled, hoping to cheer up his wife. “I’ve been thinking of names.”
Cassandra looked away and bit her lip. “I don’t have any names for a girl. I really thought that we would have a son. I was hoping God would make up for my terrible pregnancy by giving us a boy. I have never wanted a girl.”
Alan chose not to respond to Cassandra’s hurtful comment. He forced himself to speak cheerfully. "How about ’Kathryn Leanne Johnston Campbell’? ‘Kathryn’ is in memory of your mother and ‘Leanne’ is to honor my mother. I think it is an excellent combination.”
“Whatever,” Cassandra said disinterestedly. “I need to sleep. Tell the nurse to give me more pain medication.”Alan eagerly returned to his daughter, and fell asleep with Kathryn Leanne Packard-Campbell in his arms. From that day on, Alan thanked the Lord daily for the precious blessing of his daughter, with whom he would never have been blessed but for the grace of God.
It was his mother, Victoria Leanne Packard Campbell, who pronounced Alan an adventurer and softened her husband’s – George Alan Campbell, Sr. – heart toward Alan.“Darling,” Victoria had said to George, “Let him do what he chooses. The GVPC fortune and the Foundation, businesses, estates and all that it encompasses are very adeptly run by our CEOs. I am confident that Alan will always look out for the best interests of anything having to do with the GVPC fortunes.”George Sr. relented. He knew Alan was extremely intelligent and loyal to his family. If he wanted to go through the hard work of becoming a doctor, so be it. George didn’t understand it, but he succumbed to his son’s wishes.Alan always had a cheerful disposition, and although he didn’t care much for the customs of the upper crust, he went along with them for the sake of his parents.
Alan was a strapping, handsome young man with dark black hair and large almond-shaped brown eyes. Women were -attracted to him and his rugged good looks before they even knew his name and financial standing. It came as no surprise to George and Victoria that women would outwardly flirt with and cajole Alan to surrender to their wiles.One thing that George and Victoria were insistent upon was that Alan married an heiress who was also a Christian. From the time he was eighteen until he was twenty-three, Alan was introduced to many different young women from the wealthiest, most prominent families in the United States. Alan knew that this was a battle he could not win, and on his twenty-fourth birthday, he brought home Cassandra Reynolds Johnston, of the Johnston-Reynolds fortune, and announced his intention to marry her.
His parents could not have been more pleased. Alan had picked Cassandra not only because of her breathtaking beauty, but because he liked her quiet yet seemingly confident demeanor. She laughed at Alan’s jokes and readily accepted his compliments.
At only five foot three and one hundred pounds, she had delicate features and a porcelain complexion. Her raven hair was long, dark and thick. Her eyes were the prettiest and, clearest shade of blue that Alan had ever seen. Alan called her “Snow White,” which always made Cassandra smile.Cassandra’s sister Pamela, born in 1947, was eighteen months older than Cassandra, and looked like she could have been Cassandra’s twin.
Both sisters loved being part of what they called “New England’s High Society.” Their father, Franklin Emerson Johnston, was hardly ever home and in the mid-sixties., when the rate of death due to cardiovascular disease was at its highest, he died of a heart attack in 1965. Their mother, Kathryn Marie Reynolds Johnston, was always busy with her philanthropic work despite the fact that she tended to be sickly. Kathryn died two years later as a result of complications of pneumonia that she had contracted while working as a volunteer in a hospital.
Cassandra and Pamela were brought up by their nanny, Margret Davies, who had come directly from England to work for the Johnston family. Margret was proper and formal, and brought Cassandra and Pamela up accordingly. Pamela, who used to call her sister “Cassie,” was told by Margret that nicknames were for commoners. Cassandra stopped calling her sister “Pam.” All rules of proper English society were taught to and followed by the Johnston girls.Pamela married Mitchell Morgan, an heir to the Bryan-Morgan fortune, while Cassandra was infatuated with Alan Campbell, who was even wealthier than Mitchell. Both girls had proper high society weddings within six months of one another. Alan would have preferred a small, intimate wedding, but it was important to Cassandra and her sister to have an elaborate, elegant and proper wedding.
Alan and Cassandra toured Europe for their honeymoon, which lasted for one month. Upon their return from Europe, much to Cassandra’s dismay, Alan announced that he wanted to move to San Francisco and receive his medical training at UCSF. The Campbells and the Johnstons bought a twelve-thousand-square foot mansion on the outskirts of San Francisco in a city called Palo Alto. The mansion was on three acres and included a swimming pool, tennis courts and stables. A maid, chef, butler and chauffeur would also be retained, pending the approval of Alan and Cassandra.
As soon as Alan and Cassandra moved into their new home, Alan began UCSF medical school. Cassandra grew restless with Alan gone so much. She talked to Pamela at least once a day and visited her at least once a month. By the fifth month of Alan’s absence, Cassandra went to visit Victoria in Boston. Not long into their visit, Cassandra discussed the situation with her mother-in-law.
“I just don’t understand why Alan wants to be a doctor. He is gone almost all the time, and from what I hear, it is just going to get worse.
”Victoria was sympathetic and put her hand on her daughter-in-law’s arm. “Alan is a free and an adventuresome spirit, Cassandra. Surely you knew that before you married him, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did.” Cassandra was still not sure what to call Victoria. It didn’t seem right to call her ‘Mother’ or ‘Mom,” but calling her by her first name would have been improper. “I guess I never really gave any thought to how much Alan would be gone. I am so very lonely.”
“Well, dear,” Victoria said sweetly, “You know you are always welcome here. If you would like to get involved with my charities and benefits, I would love to have you join me every other week. We have a jet for that very purpose."
Cassandra sighed. “That is very kind of you. I have not really thought about what I should do.”Victoria removed her hand from Cassandra’s arm and sipped her tea. “I hate to bring this up, dear, but you are twenty-five, and that is a good age to begin having children. When I was your age, Alan was already two.”Cassandra bit her lip. She had hoped that she would get pregnant on their honeymoon and was disappointed that she hadn’t. “We are trying, but it does make it difficult when Alan is gone so much.”
“Oh, my dear, I am sorry. Would you like me or George to talk to him?”After thinking about the question for a few moments, she said, “I would appreciate that, yes. But please don’t tell him that I talked to you.”
“Of course not,” Victoria responded.Cassandra tried to disguise her anxiety. “Do you mind my asking why you never had more children?”
“Not at all,” Victoria said, as she dismissed the question with the wave of her hand. “I am surprised that Alan and you never broached that subject. We had another son – he would have been twenty-three by now – but it ended in a stillbirth. No one knew why.”“Oh, I am so sorry,” Cassandra said, shocked.“We also had a daughter when I was twenty, but we lost her to encephalitis at only six months.”
Cassandra was stunned, “I don’t know what to say.”
“You need not say anything, dear. We are just so thankful for Alan.”
Victoria noticed that Cassandra was staring off into the distance. “Oh, I am sorry, dear. How dreadful to say such things to a young woman who is trying to have a baby. Whatever was I thinking? They have made so much progress in medicine since the late thirties. Just give it some time, Cassandra.”
Being away from Palo Alto had brightened Cassandra’s spirits, and when she returned home, became pregnant right away. She was ecstatic. Twenty weeks into her pregnancy, Cassandra’s doctor advised her to remain on bed rest until the baby was born. Cassandra became depressed from the sheer boredom she had to endure. Alan did his best to be home more and keep his wife company, but each week Cassandra became more forlorn.Alan began buying Jane Austen books for Cassandra to read, since those were his mother’s favorites. He brought poetry by Dickinson, Browning, Emerson and Whitman. With each book Alan brought, Cassandra would grow more discontented. Didn’t her own husband realize that, unlike Alan and his mother, she was not an avid reader? In fact, she had never enjoyed reading at all. Cassandra did not understand how Alan continued to bring her books when he never saw her reading any of them.Cassandra did decide to begin interviewing potential nurses, nannies and butlers. She called several of the women with whom she had done charity work in San Francisco and found an excellent nurse named Olivia. Alan had approved of a butler/chauffeur named Ogden.
On one of her weekly telephone calls, Victoria informed her daughter-in-law about a top notch nanny that the Huntingtons and the Beaumonts of Beacon Hill had highly recommended. Her name was Fiona Darby; she was twenty years old and came from an excellent English-Irish family. Victoria asked if Cassandra wanted her to take care of the details, and Cassandra was more than happy to have her mother-in-law get involved.
With each day that passed, Cassandra fumed about her circumstances and resented the baby even more. Finally, in her thirty-eighth week, her water broke and at long last Cassandra would be free from her forced exile. Unfortunately, after twenty-two hours of difficult labor, an emergency c-section had to be performed to completely free Cassandra of the baby who had been her captor for so long.
Alan had scrubbed in and prayed that Cassandra’s labor would be an easy one. He knew the toll this pregnancy had taken on her. Cassandra was no longer the woman he had married – or at least the woman he thought he had married. She had grown bitter and self-absorbed. Alan prayed that after the baby was born, she would once again be the woman with whom he had fallen in love.The c-section was taking too long. Why hadn’t he insisted on being in the operating room? Alan saw there was something wrong.
The OB pulled Alan aside. “Your wife is hemorrhaging and they are taking out her left ovary right now. She will probably be asleep for two more hours.”Alan sighed deeply as he stared at the Isolette where doctors and nurses were working, blocking Alan’s view. He had a medical degree, but still was afraid to ask about his own baby. Like most physicians, he loathed being on the “other” side.
“And the baby?” Alan braced himself for bad news.
The doctor smiled. “You have a beautiful, healthy girl. She weighed in at eight pounds, six ounces and is twenty-one inches long. Your wife’s pelvic bones were too small, but your baby is doing fine.”Alan was surprised at how elated he felt.
“When can I hold her?” Alan asked.
The doctor responded, “Go with Jane when she takes your daughter to the nursery.”
As they entered the nursery, Alan’s eyes were drawn to a dark-haired baby sleeping contentedly in an Isolette in the corner. He had delivered dozens of babies, but he had never really stopped to think about the miracle of birth.
Alan stared at this tiny human being, created by Cassandra and him, in astonishment. She was absolutely perfect. Clutching her to his chest, Alan asked to use the phone. He called his assistant and asked her to cancel everything on his calendar for at least a week. He had no intention of leaving the side of his precious, perfectly-formed miracle of a newborn daughter unless absolutely necessary.
A nurse came to find Alan. “Dr. Campbell, your wife is starting to wake up.” Alan reluctantly put down his daughter and left to see Cassandra.
“Hey, sleepy head,” Alan brushed Cassandra’s hair from her head. “How are you feeling, Snow White?”`Cassandra grimaced. “What happened? Is the baby okay?”
“The baby is fine. You needed an emergency c-section.”
“I feel as though I have a whole in my stomach,” Cassandra complained. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and then they bolted open. “Do we have a son?”
“No, we have a beautiful little girl.”
Cassandra frowned. “I am sorry, Alan.”
“Hey, Snow White, I am ecstatic. She looks just like you.”
Staring into the distance, Cassandra said, “You need a son to be your heir, not a girl. Now I am going to have to endure another thirty-eight weeks of misery.”
“No, Cassie, you don’t.”Cassandra glowered at Alan. She did not like nicknames. Alan had tried calling her “Sandy,” and she grumbled and rolled her eyes. When he called her “Cassie,” Cassandra told Alan that was the name of a cow, not a woman.
Alan continued. “I am thrilled at having a girl.” Alan pondered whether or not to tell Cassandra about the loss of one ovary, but thought better of it. Cassandra was agitated and the timing wasn’t right.
Alan smiled, hoping to cheer up his wife. “I’ve been thinking of names.”
Cassandra looked away and bit her lip. “I don’t have any names for a girl. I really thought that we would have a son. I was hoping God would make up for my terrible pregnancy by giving us a boy. I have never wanted a girl.”
Alan chose not to respond to Cassandra’s hurtful comment. He forced himself to speak cheerfully. "How about ’Kathryn Leanne Johnston Campbell’? ‘Kathryn’ is in memory of your mother and ‘Leanne’ is to honor my mother. I think it is an excellent combination.”
“Whatever,” Cassandra said disinterestedly. “I need to sleep. Tell the nurse to give me more pain medication.”Alan eagerly returned to his daughter, and fell asleep with Kathryn Leanne Packard-Campbell in his arms. From that day on, Alan thanked the Lord daily for the precious blessing of his daughter, with whom he would never have been blessed but for the grace of God.
