Becoming a Family

Today marked our first day as a family of four. Max and I woke up this morning and headed over to see Kristin and Elanor. Our friend Michelle was there to video tape the first sibling meeting (video to come), and to provide assistance if the meeting went sour (it didn’t). It was a good time, and I think Max will do very well as a big brother, although he still doesn’t quite know what is going on yet. I think he feels that his new baby doll sister will be a nice curiosity for awhile; we’ll see how he does in a couple of weeks.

Ok, so here’s the story (now that I’m awake enough to remember it properly): we had a great day yesterday spending time with friends over for lunch. All seemed to be going well until later in the evening. At 6pm we had supper; Kristin put Max in the bath, and I put him to bed. When I came out of Max’s room (approximately 7pm–you’ll see why the timeline is important in a moment), Kristin complained about feeling “weird.” She felt like she was having cramping…but they could have been contractions…but they could have been bad pot roast–she just didn’t know. So we decided to wait and see. We called our friend who had offered to watch Max, just to give her a “heads up” that something might actually be happening.

Well, something certainly was.

By 8pm she knew that it definitely was NOT cramping, and couldn’t have been anything else than contractions. They were severe enough to  have us call our friend to come over, and I quickly packed a suitcase for Kristin. Our friend arrived at 8:30, and we headed out the door. Now, I don’t know what it’s like for most people, but having a woman in the passenger’s seat screaming in labour pains doesn’t make driving very fun. So we sped as fast as we could to the hospital, and arrived at 9:00. After slowly pushing Kristin to the labor & delivery floor (stopping during every contraction–which was now every minute), we finally made it to the delivery room. The nurses quickly put Kristin in her gown, and checked to see how far along she was:

She was ready to push.

Let me repeat that: she was ready to push.

I had just driven 10 miles in a pick-up truck with a woman who was physically at the threshold of giving birth to my second child. I almost made some poor state trooper pull over and deliver this baby, if we hadn’t made it to the hospital quickly.

So, Kristin is ready to push, but her water hadn’t yet broken; the nurses broke her water (it’s now 9:25–about ten minutes after we entered the delivery room), and instructed Kristin to push. She gave two strong pushes, and the baby popped out! Just like that! At 9:31 PM (Central Time-sorry Dick), just a little over a half an hour from when we arrived, our daughter was born. Talk about a close call.

Elanor Leigh came into this world weighing 7lbs. 11 oz. and measuring 20 inches long.  She and Kristin come home tomorrow, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m curious to see how this sibling thing will work out. Being an only child, I don’t really know how to resolve the squabbles that will inevitably come. But, I do know how to pray. I think of that great prayer that the Apostle Paul prays in Ephesians chapter 1; hopefully he will forgive me for particularising it for my own children:

I do not cease to give thanks for Max and Elanor,
remembering them in my prayers,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give them a spirit of wisdom and of revelation
in the knowledge of Him,
having the eyes of their hearts enlightened,
that they may know what is the hope to which He has called them,
what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power
toward us who believe…

May the Lord extend His grace to you this Christmas, just as we have received it from Him.

Jake