Army Base Teems With Babies as Stork Lands With Airborne [The feel good news of the day...}

New York Times ^

[Sub-Driver]

Army Base Teems With Babies as Stork Lands With Airborne By JULIE SCELFO

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Joanne Chavonne saw pregnant women everywhere in town, shopping at Target for diapers or dining at a Mexican restaurant.

Then she heard that so many families were calling the medical clinic at nearby Fort Bragg for the results of pregnancy tests that the Army had to install an extra telephone line.

And finally, over the summer, an administrator told her that the hospital on base was overrun with women in labor, and was delivering nearly 300 babies a month. “I was shocked,” said Ms. Chavonne, whose husband, Anthony, is the mayor here. “That’s 10 a day.”

For the first time since the Gulf war, the entire 82nd Airborne division was deployed during the surge in 2007. Nearly 22,000 soldiers joyously reunited with their families when they began returning last October. The base is also host to 29,000 soldiers from other units, which all contributed to what by August was an estimated 50 percent surge in births at Womack Army Medical Center, the base hospital, compared with the previous year.

The community has turned this into a celebration. On Saturday, about 1,000 recent mothers and mothers-to-be gathered as guests of honor at Boots & Booties, billed as the largest military shower ever. Under billboards with fuchsia butterflies, at the Crown Exposition Center, pregnant women in stretchy pants and flip-flops drank red punch and helped themselves to deviled eggs and cupcakes spread out along a buffet table. Sarah Deady arrived at the extravaganza right from her recovery bed — she had had a Caesarian section on Thursday and walked gingerly.

Catherine Robinson, 35 and pregnant with her third child, was experiencing contractions. “I have long labors,” she said, explaining why she decided to come anyway.

[Sub-Driver]

Yahoo!

[mrs tiggywinkle]

How wonderful!

Life ~ it’s grand!!!

[trimom]

Hi, honey! I’m home!

What a powerful thing, the only love that can create life.

[Brad's Gramma]

10 a day! :)

Welcome, little ones!!!

[cgk]

Pro-Life/Pro-Baby Ping!

Please FReepmail me if you would like to be added to, or removed from, the Pro-Life/Pro-Baby ping list...

[SandRat]

Stand Up.. HOOK-UP.. Shuffle to the DOOR..

Jump-master in the Sky will Green-Light each new Trooper.

[LeoWindhorse]

zero in-country R&R in the sandbox

[kickonly88]

AWESOME!!!!

[DesertSapper]

Hoo-ah! I want more military babies.

Both my boys were "military" babies: my oldest was born in Bad Hersfeld, Germany 9 days before I was sent to Kuwait to clean up Saddam Insane's crap in '91 and my youngest was born at Ft. Hood; home of the 1st Cav!

It's great news to hear that the heroes of this great nation are extending their family trees. God bless our troops, their spouses, and their children!

[BlazingArizona]

Liking your job is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

[ColdSteelTalon]

You know there’s been lovin,
when she’s got a bun in the oven!!!

[ASOC]

LOL

All of my children were born in military hospitals. The youngest went to iraq twice to try and sort things out. We won. WOrks for me.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[daniel1212]

I wonder how they feel about the term “punished with a baby” by a certain candidate?

[Brucifer]

I've never heard of an Army Base. They don't exist. The Army has posts, not bases.

Media is just too damned lazy to look things up.

[night reader]

I've never heard of an Army Base. They don't exist. The Army has posts, not bases.

Yup!
When Hunter Air Force Base in Savannah, Georgia went to the Army, It became Hunter Army Airfield, no longer a base. OTOH the Army has camps and forts. Years ago, Camp Stewart, near Hinesville, Georgia, became Fort Stewart when its sheer size became an embarrassment. Fort Stewart is now home to the Third Infantry Division, while Hunter hosts the First Battalion of the Seventy-fifth Ranger Regiment.

(Incidentally, It is said that Camp Stewart was the model for Beetle Bailey's Camp Swampy.)

[cpforlife.org]

Please FreepMail me if you want on or off my Pro-Life Ping List.

[Brucifer]

I was pretty sure about that, but it’s been a while since I got out and I was afraid I might have missed something.

Thanks for the backup.

[LauraJean]

my Christening gown was parachute silk. I am so sorry my mom gave it away.

[Mrs. Don-o]

"What a powerful thing, the only love that can create life."

Got that right!

"50 percent surge in births.."

That's definitely a surge our military guys are good at... :o)

[SandRat]

Hope there are least pictures and written memories from family friends and relatives.

[RetiredArmy]

Fort Bragg, uggggggggggggggggggg. I took basic training there back in 1970. Uggggg, the horrors, the memories of my drill sergeant!!! Uggggggggggg. Man, was he a tough guy. Nearly killed everyone of us. Ran our butts off. THE first day of PT, he ran us around one of the big airborne fields. Must have been two miles around that thing. We did laps till everyone had dropped out and was on the ground throwing up!!!! He was laughing his rear off at us. I cannot repeat here in mixed company what he called us, but all old military here KNOW!!! Home of the 82d Airborne and the Corps HQ also.

[LauraJean]

Oral memories and photographs of the gown. Years later I worked one night with a nurse from a temp agency. (Wasn’t scheduled called in at last minutes.) Turned out her husband and my dad were in the service together. She even remembered me as a baby at the Indianna Dunes for a picnic.
I was glad I said yes to coming in that night.

[SandRat]

Serendipitous Fortune for memories of your past.