thedrifter
07-03-07, 12:37 AM
Injured Marine listens to baby's birth in Redlands
ANDREW EDWARDS, Staff Writer
Redlands Daily Facts
Article Launched:06/28/2007 01:04:05 PM PDT
If not for an Iraqi sniper's bullet, Lance Cpl. David Carnes would likely not have heard his newborn daughter's first cry from Redlands.
Carnes escaped death by inches, when the round was stopped by his body armor. But the crushing force of the bullet was enough to cause internal bleeding.
The wound was serious enough to take him off patrol duty. So instead of a rifle, he had a phone in his hand when daughter Ashlyn Brooke was born about 5 p.m. Tuesday, Redlands time.
She entered the world at Redlands Community Hospital just days after Carnes called home from Iraq with the good news that he survived an attack near Fallujah.
"He's lucky to be coming home, and he's coming home to a new baby," said new mom Rebecca Dunn.
Rebecca, 25, has lived in Cherry Valley with her mother during her pregnancy. Ashlyn is her first child.
The father has served in the U.S. Marines for three years, she said. He grew up in Massachusetts before being based at Twentynine Palms.
"I was shocked and didn't know what to expect," Rebecca said, referring to the Saturday morning phone call. "He only had a minute to talk."
"His words were, `I don't want you to worry. I want you to know,"' the young mother added. "How am I not supposed to worry?"
"I got to talk to him all through the birth," Rebecca said. "He was just wishing he could be here, wanting to walk me through every step."
"He got to hear her first cry," she added.
"If he hadn't been hurt, he would not have been at the base," said Dorothy Dunn, Rebecca's mother. "We look at that as a blessing. Of course, we want him safe, but if you look at the silver lining, he was there for the birth as much as he could (be)."
Rebecca and Ashlyn rested in a hospital room Wednesday. The infant, who weighed nearly 8 pounds at birth, slept almost motionlessly in her mother's arms as hospital public relations director Jane Dreher presented the mother and child a gift basket from medical staffers.
The basket included a kit to make casts of Ashlyn's hands and feet, a piggy bank and a big, pink stuffed animal.
The mother and grandmother expected to bring Ashlyn home today. Carnes, who is based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, is not expected to return home until August.
"We can't wait until she can meet her daddy," Dorothy Dunn said.
Once he's back in the States, Carnes will have about two months away from duty to spend with his new daughter, Rebecca said, then four months stateside duty before returning to Iraq for his third tour.
"He just found out two weeks ago he'll have to go back one more time," she said.
Ellie
ANDREW EDWARDS, Staff Writer
Redlands Daily Facts
Article Launched:06/28/2007 01:04:05 PM PDT
If not for an Iraqi sniper's bullet, Lance Cpl. David Carnes would likely not have heard his newborn daughter's first cry from Redlands.
Carnes escaped death by inches, when the round was stopped by his body armor. But the crushing force of the bullet was enough to cause internal bleeding.
The wound was serious enough to take him off patrol duty. So instead of a rifle, he had a phone in his hand when daughter Ashlyn Brooke was born about 5 p.m. Tuesday, Redlands time.
She entered the world at Redlands Community Hospital just days after Carnes called home from Iraq with the good news that he survived an attack near Fallujah.
"He's lucky to be coming home, and he's coming home to a new baby," said new mom Rebecca Dunn.
Rebecca, 25, has lived in Cherry Valley with her mother during her pregnancy. Ashlyn is her first child.
The father has served in the U.S. Marines for three years, she said. He grew up in Massachusetts before being based at Twentynine Palms.
"I was shocked and didn't know what to expect," Rebecca said, referring to the Saturday morning phone call. "He only had a minute to talk."
"His words were, `I don't want you to worry. I want you to know,"' the young mother added. "How am I not supposed to worry?"
"I got to talk to him all through the birth," Rebecca said. "He was just wishing he could be here, wanting to walk me through every step."
"He got to hear her first cry," she added.
"If he hadn't been hurt, he would not have been at the base," said Dorothy Dunn, Rebecca's mother. "We look at that as a blessing. Of course, we want him safe, but if you look at the silver lining, he was there for the birth as much as he could (be)."
Rebecca and Ashlyn rested in a hospital room Wednesday. The infant, who weighed nearly 8 pounds at birth, slept almost motionlessly in her mother's arms as hospital public relations director Jane Dreher presented the mother and child a gift basket from medical staffers.
The basket included a kit to make casts of Ashlyn's hands and feet, a piggy bank and a big, pink stuffed animal.
The mother and grandmother expected to bring Ashlyn home today. Carnes, who is based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, is not expected to return home until August.
"We can't wait until she can meet her daddy," Dorothy Dunn said.
Once he's back in the States, Carnes will have about two months away from duty to spend with his new daughter, Rebecca said, then four months stateside duty before returning to Iraq for his third tour.
"He just found out two weeks ago he'll have to go back one more time," she said.
Ellie