My youngest daughter was born en caul. She was also born to dance. If she hears music she starts moving. It doesn't matter what kind of music it is either. I certainly don't have that gift. If I were to start moving it would look like a fish trying to walk. Over the years I've noticed that it's not just when music is playing that she moves. She simply loves to jump, run, leap, climb, tumble, fall, swing, you name it. She's grown fond of cartwheels lately and does them whenever she can. I came up with a nickname for her that she seems to like: The Cartwheel Kid.
My wife captured the image below during recess one day. She's the only one in the photo, but has such joy on her face and in her body to simply be moving. She is free. People often come up to us and tell us that her free spirit has inspired them to be a little more carefree. I'm in the process of finishing a painting based on this photo because it captures such pure joy.
My daughter was born en caul and I've learned that this is a very rare and very special way to enter the world. Charles Dickens references being born en caul at the beginning of David Copperfield. Basically it means that my wife's water never broke and our daughter floated into this world in a water balloon. One website I found said that "babies born en caul are destined for greatness. En caul births are rare — and an incredible thing to behold. They’re so rare that most delivery doctors never witness an en caul birth in their entire careers."
My wife didn't have a c-section and my daughter loves to move. A newborn moving the way she does could have easily torn the amniotic sac. How did it not break? During her birth I remember thinking that something was very wrong because five minutes before my daughter was born it was just my wife, me, and one delivery nurse in the room. My wife felt a strong contraction and then a look of fear came over her face that seemed to say, "Something is wrong." Since my wife's water hadn't broken, the amniotic sac began to emerge and it wasn't what my wife was expecting to feel. She had given birth before and this was different. The nurse reached to "catch" the unbroken water balloon coming out of my wife that was my child. Holding it, she turned to me and sharply told me to hit a call button for the rest of the nursing staff to come in. My senses were heightened, but when two nurses came in, ran out and grabbed every nurse and doctor they could find, I began to panic. No one had time or even thought to explain to me what was going on. Today I understand that they had never seen a full en caul birth and wanted to witness this miracle.
A nurse laid my child on a table next to mom and let the baby rest for a moment. Her face was round and completely preserved instead of the usual squashed post-birth face. A staff member made a slight incision into the sac, near the face. The fluid drained out and then the nurse slowly peeled the sac back to allow my daughter's nose and mouth to begin breathing. After a moment they pulled the sac over her head. Eventually they pulled it off of the rest of her body. It was very slow and very peaceful. My daughter didn't cry and came into this world full of peace and joy. That same peace and joy is conveyed in the image below. Enjoy.
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