It is hard to believe that today is the beginning of a new week. So much happened last week, it seems as though much more time has elapsed.

Last Saturday, at Kate’s shower, a friend of Kate’s remarked that the last time there was a pregnant lady at the wedding shower she had attended “she went into labor the following Monday.” Now, she can say that it has happened again.

Last Sunday, my friends Luke and Liz informed me that I might be pregnant. Maybe I should see a doctor to confirm it. And, does my husband know about this?

Monday (Valentine’s Day) began with contractions three minutes apart. The hurt a little more than Braxton Hicks contractions (not by much though), and I was talking and walking through them. Tom stayed home from work and his mom came to get the children around 10:30 a.m. By 11:30 a.m., they had stopped and I just felt generally crampy.

Tom made me French toast for lunch (I had been craving this) (he’s a great cook, btw.) and we decided, since it was getting too late for him to get back to work, to just treat the afternoon like a vacation day. So, he and I enjoyed spending time together without the kids around.

I laid down for a bit, and couldn’t shake feeling crampy. I called the “I’m in labor” number for the OB-GYN and spoke with the nurse on call. I described what I had been experiencing, and cited the progress noted at the last check-up, and that Aiden’s labor was only three hours long. The nurse said, “it doesn’t sound as though you are in any urgent pain, and you’re crampy and not having time able contractions – if you went to labor and delivery, we’d just send you back home.”

Still not convinced, I called Sharon, who is the receptionist at the local branch of the office. After seeing her every week for the past two months, we are on a first name basis. (She is, by the way, extremely thoughtful and accommodating and one of the nicest receptionists I have ever encountered.) There was an appointment available at 3:00p.m. Tom sat in the waiting room, reading Highlights (remember my earlier entry regarding magazines in the OB-GYN waiting room?).

The doctor confirmed that my body had indeed made progress since my appointment a few days before. He said, “You’re going to be back in a few hours anyway. Rather than waiting until things to pick up again, possibly late at night, I’m going to call to the hospital and tell the doctor on call that it’s ok to rupture the membranes – I think that will help things along.”

Tom and I stopped by home to get my overnight bag and grabbed a bite to eat on the way to the hospital. (We have been in L&D before without food, both very hungry, and it’s not pleasant!)

We arrived at Chester County Hospital at 5:30 p.m. Dr. Atkins ruptured the membranes around 6:15 p.m., and labor began.

As I lay there, I prayed. I can remember many of the things I prayed for – I was very focused on praying, rather than on the pain of labor. I prayed for our church. I prayed for the problems to be solved, hearts to be changed, and reconciliation to be accomplished. I prayed for our new pastor and his family and the transition they would experience as they moved from the South to our area. I prayed that he wouldn’t just help to maintain status quo, but would be instrumental in a radical awakening and change that would bring glory to God. I prayed for godly and committed men, with the hearts of servants, to be called to leadership positions in our church. I prayed for our city. I prayed for our unsaved friends. I thanked God for each of the ladies in my Purpose Driven Life study, and prayed for each of them. I thanked God for each of the members in my family. And, as I felt Micah moving closer to being born, I prayed for him and offered him to the Lord.

By 7:15 p.m., I asked the nurse to check me again – that I felt as though I needed to push. She said, “I just checked a little bit ago – I’d rather not risk any infection.” (I do understand why she would say this.) At that moment the doctor came in, overheard what I had said, checked – and sure enough, the baby was coming! The nurse left, and a new nurse came in for the shift change. Tom was standing next to me, and I was squeezing the life out of his hand with every contraction. Dr. Atkins assembled a few things, and Micah crowned. After his head emerged, Tom and Dr. Atkins helped me sit up a little, and I reached down under Micah’s arms and helped to guide him the rest of the way out.

Dr. Atkins helped to place him on my chest and Micah turned pink and began crying immediately. He scored a nine on the Apgar rating. Tom cut the umbilical cord. Micah was nursing within 15 minutes of being born. It was nothing less than awesome. The assisting nurse remarked that she “had in all her years, never had seen a baby turn pink so quickly.” She and Dr. Atkins left, and Tom and I sat and looked at our new baby for a while. He was beautiful.

The nurse took Micah to be cleaned up in the nursery, and I went to the recovery room. After a while, the nurse came back and said that Micah was doing fine – but they were just monitoring his breathing because he was sighing a little. Tom went to the nursery to check on him before he left at 9pm. Later, when they wheeled him in, he had stopped sighing – no worries. Apparently, sometimes when babies are born quickly, they have to basically catch their breath. Understandable!

I didn’t get much sleep that night. There is no longer just one nurse attending to you – there is the baby’s nurse, a lady that comes in to check your temperature and pulse, another to give you paperwork and explain policies, another for blood work. I slept for maybe two hours.

As soon as the sun came up, there were more nurses. Then, there was the lactation consultant, the hospital welcoming person, the cable guy (for real – you have to sign a paper saying you’ll be paying to watch the television – this time, they came in while I was being checked by a nurse – “No, I will NOT be watching television! Really!” Okay – I will let you know if I change my mind!”), the baby portraits people, the breakfast and lunch waitresses and servers, the “don’t shake your baby video” and “voluntary pledge” that must be signed or waived, the nurses that perform the tests on the baby (hearing, jaundice, etc.), the pediatrician, and, of course, my doctor. There were, of course, many phone calls from family in between.

Somewhere in there, I took a quick shower, put my hair up, neatly applied some make-up, and put on my best smile.

I asked if I could please be discharged early. I was given permission by Micah’s doctor, and mine, to leave at 2pm. Phew!

Tom and I spent the afternoon at his parent’s house. Our children flocked around Micah to meet him. Tabitha immediately went over to kiss him and said, “This is my NEW brother!” Aiden was actually the first sibling to hold him, and he didn’t want to let him go!

That evening, Tom and I went out to a dinner his sister had planned at the Hibachi, a Japanese steak house. It was a Valentines Dinner with those of Tom’s siblings who were either married or engaged. Tom and I, Liz and Ben (to be married May 28), Steve and Diana (married, and expecting a baby), and Matt and Kate (to be married April 2) were there. Tom and I split a sushi platter, and we watched as the chef prepared our dinner on the grill in front of us. Micah cried quite a bit, so I was back and forth between the ladies room and the dining room. Overall, it was a fun night.

We were back to Tom’s parents a little before ten, and squished all of our kiddies in the back seat (Aiden and Micah on the ends in car seats, and Tabitha and Thomas in the middle) and drove them home.

On Wednesday, Tom had to go back to work. I called my friend Mary Judge and she watched Thomas and Tabitha for me. They play very well with her little boys, and they had a fun time. Becky came over in the afternoon and helped me with laundry and dishes. That evening, Tom and his parents and others from church went out to dinner at the Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown. They met to fellowship over dinner and discuss church matters.

I knew that Susan, the wife of one of the men who went to Victory, had also stayed home with her children. I had put a marinated pork loin in the oven and made some rice pilaf, and, realizing there was too much food for just the kids and me, called her up and invited her and her children over for dinner. She brought some delicious sweet corn, some cookie dough to bake, and some vanilla ice cream. Her daughters brought a bouquet of flowers for me that contained both pink and purple flowers – their favorite colors. Susan’s children are also young, and her little boy, Timothy, is Aiden’s age. We all ate together, and Susan and I had a chance to talk and get to know each other while the children played.

On Thursday, Becky took Thomas and Aiden in the afternoon. Tabitha and I spent the day playing and reading and taking care of Micah together. She loves being a big sister. My neighbor, Laura, came by and brought some cute little baby clothes and some groceries, and she and Tabitha and I gave Micah a bath to prepare him for his doctor’s appointment. Our pastor and his wife brought by dinner and prayed with us. Joan had made a delicious spaghetti casserole with a side salad and some pecan bars for dessert. Tom got home, and I had Tabitha and Micah bundled up and ready to go.

Micah had lost a few ounces, since my milk had not yet come in. Otherwise, his doctor said that he looked great! Then, we had to go to the hospital to get a second PKU test done. Tabitha came with us, and watched as the nurse pricked his heel and dripped the blood onto the test card. Tabitha wasn’t squeamish at all, and, afterwards, looked and asked the lab nurse about the different objects in the room. She even got to hold some of the variously colored empty test tubes.

On Friday, I was feeling a little better. I was able to clean up the kitchen and my bedroom. I sorted all of the baby clothes and moved a little plastic storage dresser into my room for Micah’s clothes. The day was uneventful, and I am thankful for that, with the exception of our third seat for the car arriving from Little Passengers. For dinner, Rita, who is Liz’s fiancé’s mother, brought by a chicken and cornbread stuffing casserole with broccoli, along with her signature peach cobbler. I love her southern cooking!

I drove Micah to a weight-check appointment on Saturday morning, and he had gained five ounces – excellent progress! After I got home, Tom, Thomas and Matt went to Tom’s parents’ house installed the third seat in our car. (This involved drilling holes in our car!) I stayed home with Tabitha, Aiden and Micah and we all took a nap – well, I did. Tabitha and Aiden climbed out of bed and were playing while I slept. Micah was asleep before I closed my eyes. When Tom got home, we went to the Wik’s for an open house to get to know the Pastoral candidate and his wife.

The open house had an excellent turnout. From the sounds of things, the pastoral candidate had an opportunity to talk to all who came about everything ranging from theological issues to hobbies. It was the first time that anyone had seen Micah, so he was well hugged. I did have a very positive impression of the Van Ness’, but that is for another post.

Joyce Wik made us some scalloped potatoes, pork and corn and had it all neatly wrapped in a warming bag to take home. On the way home, we went grocery shopping so that we could use the 15% off rewards coupon from our Giant before it expired. We are now up to buying 4 kinds of diapers: Girls 3T Pull-ups for nighttime (They have Velcro sides if we need to quickly get the diaper off) and Boys “Feel and Learns” (Thomas likes the Spiderman design), Aiden’s sz 4 Huggies Supreme (the only kind that fits well enough for Aiden to wake up with dry clothes) and a pack of newborn diapers. By the time we got home, it was well after 10 p.m. We quickly ate dinner, and I put the kids in bed.

Thomas was running a slight fever and was coughing. It was very sudden and he seemed miserable. I sat in his room and ran my fingers through his hair until he fell asleep.

Tom and I finally went to bed around 1:30 a.m.

I woke up only three times to feed Micah – his feedings are spacing out a little more, and was able to sleep in until 9 a.m. I called over to Becky’s, and Aiden apparently did very well at their house overnight. He got some sleep, and even had French toast for breakfast.

Church begins at 2 p.m., and today is the day the congregation will vote on the new pastor. From there, he has to be approved by Presbytery and, hopefully, will be able to take the position as our pastor by May.

Thomas seems to be feeling much better this morning. His cough is only only occasional, and he is not running a fever. He says he’s all better.

And that brings us up to date. I wonder what this week will bring?