September 5th, 2016

The Birth Story of Cuatro
8:48 a.m., September 5, 2016

Wifey and I went to bed early on Sunday night, September 4. She had been tired and often nauseaus even in this third trimester of pregnancy, and we had hosted small group earlier that day. So I made some overnight waffle mix for our Labor Day breakfast, and we were in bed between 9 and 10 o'clock, which is early for us. At about 5 in the morning, Kelly woke me. "That was the fourth time that a hard contraction has woken me up tonight," she said. "I'm wondering if I should stay awake for a bit and time them." She went to the bathroom, and I thought, well, I might as well get ready, just in case it's time to go to the hospital. It's not that early. When she saw me getting ready, she thought, well, maybe I should start getting ready, too. This, it is good to say, was a direct answer to prayer: we had asked that God would let us know when it was time to go, that it wouldn't be too rushed. And he did!

About thirty minutes later, when our bags were pretty much packed, the contractions were literally stopping her in her tracks, and she was pretty confident that it was time. I started calling people to see who could come take care of the children. Wes had to stay with his children because his wife was going into work. Abe didn't answer his phone (we learned later he thought he'd forgotten to turn off his alarm for Labor Day). Nancy didn't answer her phone (we learned later she thought it was a telemarketer). Eric and Teresa didn't answer (we learned later they had been sick and were sleeping in for labor day.) Kelly had another very hard contraction, and we looked at each other. "We need to go," she said. She started writing a note for Songbird to read, and we left my phone by it so she could call us and us her. Some days before, Kelly had it on her heart to go over with the children what to do if they woke up and we were not there, and we had actually practiced using the phone. Another way in which the Lord prepared us for the unknown.

So by 5:45, we were on our way to the hospital, not sure who we could get to take care of the children. We checked in around 6am (another benefit to an early morning labor day delivery: no traffic), making sure that everyone knew just how fast Kelly's deliveries typically are. We got into triage and confirmed that, yes, Cuatro was definitely on his way, and they'd have us in a room shortly. 

When they entered information into the computer system in order to prepare Kelly's intravenous port, the nurse suddenly turned around. "You had an IV here a year ago today," she said. We looked at each other. What had she been in the hospital for? The dilation and curettage in the aftermath of miscarrying our fifth baby, exactly one year to the day that Cuatro would be born. We knew, of course, that Cuatro was a gracious answer to prayer after the sorrow and pain of losing that fifth child. But it seemed extravagant to have his life echo so precisely his little sibling's death. A kind of calendarial expression of Psalm 126, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." 

While we were waiting for a room, I finally got in touch with someone: Amy, who said she was on her way. Later, she told us that when she arrived at the house, Songbird and Bro were already up and had calmly started making waffles. Songbird, as is her custom, had arisen first and, finding no adults in the house, suspected a baby -- even before seeing the note we had left for her.

Things started to be pretty difficult for Kelly around 7:30 or so, and the approach of the midwife and nursing staff was to keep very quiet and let her labor -- presumably because she had done this a few times before. But to Kelly, it felt like the longest, hardest labor yet, although it was done in less than four hours from the time that hard contraction awoke her. After much pain and pushing and more than a little screaming and weeping -- Kelly was amazing! -- we saw his scuzzy little head, and then suddenly the rest of him. 

Our first impressions: Blue. Stout. Quiet. Indeed, he was coughing up stuff he had breathed or swallowed in that delivery for the next several days, and they had to do lots of vigorous rubbing to get him to cry. And he was here! And all was well. As he's gotten older, he's stretched out a bit, and now reminds us a little of Bro's head on Songbird's body. Nursing has been a little of a struggle at times, but all things considered he has been happy and healthy and Kelly is recovering well. 

Answers to months of the faithful prayers of all his older siblings.  What do you say at the birth of your fourth child? A superabundance of offspring, an embarrassment of progeny, a loud, chaotic lifetime of feeding and cleaning and teaching and worrying and praying and laughing. Little Cuatro has a lot of hands blessing him everyday, and we're overflowing with thanksgiving.