The Camille Chronicles
This is me on a my journey. Before I was married. Before having my baby. I was just Camille. I had just moved from New York City to Atlanta. I became a teacher and starting dating my God Chosen Husband which I write about in the book The Parable Girl I wrote years before. I am happy, strong, ambitious (I hoped to apply for skydiving training and get my license that spring) faith filled and healthy. But little did I know I had a Thing growing inside of me that would interrupt my way of life.
After two years of ziplining, hiking, ATV adventures, horseback riding, mini golf, working in the same school and summer breaks I married my God Chosen Husband June of 2017. I learned communication and love languages is key in the 1st year. I learned to rely on God for every situation that arose in my household and to create an atmosphere of peace. Although marriage is not easy when two people learn to love unselfishly barriers can be broken. While preparing for the wedding pain and rashes erupted on the left side of my chest which I believe stemmed from a past injury. As I went from doctor to doctor time was running out. I planned to wear a strapless gown and the breakout looked like a legion on my chest. I prayed it would go away. On my wedding day it was still there so a wonderful and extremely talented makeup artist covered my skin so it looked radiant and blemish free. Thank God for makeup artists!
And then over the summer it just faded away. But I would still have inflammation and burning sensations. Then I found out I was pregnant in the fall. I prepared to have my baby girl in the spring 2018! But throughout my pregnancy the lump rose like a mole hill on my chest. It looked weirdly abnormal like I was apart of a Sci-fi film. It wasn't until April only a month away from my delivery that the doctors sent me to a specialist and advised me to get a CT Scan. The CT revealed a huge mass on my left side filling out my lung and corroding the bone around it. I was considered highly at risk. Doctors advised a scheduled C- section. But I didn't want that. I was strong enough for a vaginal birth. Before this I was instructing 1st graders, teaching dance class, exercising and living out a normal pregnant life, now I was being treated like a fragile case study. The mass they found was indistinguishable and went without a name. Could all of this have stemmed from the falling accident? No one could give me the answer. I knew I was given the job to bring a healthy baby into this world with or without a mass and that’s just what I did; vaginally.
Leila Harper was born May 18th 2018 with no complications. My Father was looking out for his daughters. I never stopped trusting he would come through during the rocky end of my pregnancy. He gave me a sweet delivery and a precocious, bubbly wide eyed child. She came into the world rolling her eyes. Yes, she was undeniably mine. It was like she was saying, “Mommy look how easy this was, you got this.” But little did I know the storm wasn’t over…
