Eight Whole Days?

Has it REALLY been 8 whole days since I posted last? NO WAY! WAY! And just when I thought I was doing better!

Well, I have a series of really good excuses! We have attended church on 5 of the last 8 days. Is that a good enough reason not to have the time to blog?

We enjoy traveling around as a family and attending gospel meetings in our area. (Lots of our friends equate these with "revivals.") Although we don't call them that, that is what they do for me. They revive my spirit! We caught two of them in different neighboring cities, and obviously with different speakers last week. One speaker taught on the dangers of human creeds, and the other one spoke on "grace." Both were just excellent lessons.

Last Sunday night, we enjoyed a little get-together after church with some friends. We went out to "Wade's Mansion" as the brethren affectionately refer to the place that our friends Wade and Leigh Ann recently bought. It is way out in the middle of nowhere, and it is quite an "estate!" I think they said they got 37 acres with the 3 story house. It is one of those places that has the brick walls at the entrance to the driveway. I could not see much of the outside because it was monsooning at the time with the remnants of Hurricane Rita. I am happy for them, because they have five kids now, too, and it is really wonderful when you can spread out in a house. I think the only thing that I would be afraid of is those places in the house where the banisters hang over the floor below. My kids would jump. No doubt in my mind. Action figures would be thrown over balconies to the floors below as test dummies to see how much abuse one figure could take.

That reminds me of the olden days when Micah was about 3. He went through this phase where he placed action figures in the funniest places. You would open the freezer to get something, and there would be Captain America submerged in a clear glass of water and frozen into a block of ice. The refrigerator, I soon learned, was the place where bad action figures went. If they did not perform as Micah wanted in his imaginary action figure fights, into the vegetable bin they went.

The harshest punishment, though, was reserved for the badest of the bad. Those poor guys got flushed. And I, a single mom at the time, had to learn to take up a toilet and re-set it with the seal and all, because it became too costly to call the plumber each time that 30 G.I. Joes got stuck in the plumbing. The first time Micah did it, and I called the plumber, as he found the offenders of the clog---and it occurred to me what Micah had done, I was just shocked. I put the little guys in the bathtub and began to wash them off, and the plumber just looked at me and said, "You aren't really gonna keep those, are you?" I replied, after some visions of a three-year-old putting the action figures in his mouth, "Ummmm, no, I suppose not."

Thankfully, it was a phase, and it finally passed. Micah still has his action figure collection, and sometimes, when he is really, really bored, he will still pull them out and play with them. That is the kid still left in him.

Anyway, tonight we had a different experience. One of my good friends up in the "'Boro" had called me yesterday to let me know that today, they were going to go ahead and induce her to give birth today. I just assumed she would be having it at the big hospital in our little region---the same place I birthed our last two babies, but upon calling them this afternoon to see if she had delivered, they did not have her listed as a patient. A few calls later, we had located her at a newer hospital closer to Nashville.

After Tim got home, we loaded up the family and the baby gift to go and see their family. Tim had talked to the nurses, and he assumed from what they said that she had already delivered. When we got there, I went in first to see if my friend, Wendy, was decent. She was all alone, and I did not see a baby. I asked how she was and she kind of pouted and said, "Not too good." I said, where is the baby, and she pointed to her belly under the cover. I then realized that little stinker was still hiding out in the womb! Here it was 8 o'clock at night, and she had been laboring since 7 a.m. Ben, her husband had finally gone to get supper, and so it was good I got there when I did.

I hated for Wendy to be alone, as she just lost her mother 6 weeks ago. Her mom's sister died last week, adding insult to injury. Her grandmother has buried two daughters in 6 weeks, and I knew this was weighing heavily on Wendy.

We talked a while, and we discussed the possibility that she could have to have a c-section for failure to progress. She started shaking, and her teeth were just chattering. Then, she said she was sick to her stomach. I had never had this happen to anyone that I was watching go through labor. Then, her blood pressure dropped dramatically. Thankfully, about that time, Ben came back, and the nurses came in. They flew into action and got her some meds to stabilize the blood pressure. They brought warm blankets. Shortly, things started to improve. Wendy relaxed and even dozed a little.

Her contractions had been 5 minutes apart when I got there. By now, they were going to 3 minutes apart. By this time, it was 9:15, and I had not had supper myself. Ben's sister, Lori, arrived, and she is a maternity nurse at that very hospital, but she was not on duty. Still, she looked at all the machines and computer read-out and told us what was going on. I decided it was a good time to slip out and get some supper and then come back.

When I returned about an hour later, Wendy said they had just checked her and she was at 7 cm. I went and sat down. I figured we would have another good hour. Then the nurse came in and checked her again, and she was all the way dilated and ready to push! I exited, because I did not figure the family needed me there gawking, and it was no time before Ben came down the hall to the waiting area to tell us that little Julie Brooke was born! She weighed 6lb. 14 oz.! She is a doll! When I got to go in, I took Sarah with me. The baby was looking all around and just taking it all in! We laughed and said that at 8 p.m. none of us had thought that Wendy could get her out before midnight! But she fooled us all and pulled it off.

Wendy affectionately had a picture of her mother on her chest as she labored and birthed little Julie. I know we all wish that her mother could have lived just 6 more weeks and have seen this baby. My heart just went out to that scared girl giving birth. I know that I had my mother with me 4 out of 5 times I gave birth. The only one she missed was Daniel, and she could not have seen his birth anyway, as they took me to surgery and did a c-section. (Well, I guess technically, she was not right beside me with Hannah's c-section, either, but she was there to see her get to the nursery.) One time most girls want their mother is when they are giving birth. They don't want the husband's mother, most of the time. They want their own mom. I guess if there was any sadness tonight, it was because Wendy's mom could not see this.

Yet, today is a new beginning for little Julie Brooke and for her mom and dad. I pray that they will have happier days ahead, and that this little girl will be a comfort to her mom and to her great-grandmother in their times of sadness.

So, that is my account of the last few days. Am I exonerated for not blogging? Hopefully, snow days are not that far ahead, and maybe I will get more done. It's getting cooler! Yeah! Sweater-weather approacheth..... Until next time.......