I wish that I knew now...

Here are a few basics of caring for a baby. (you may need to click on the picture for a larger size).

Like father, like son

As we put away groceries the other day, I shared with Sarah a memory from when I was growing up. My dad was fairly persistent about always breaking down cereal boxes, cartons, etc after they were emptied. Every time the grocery shopping was done, we would always have to either stomp on the boxes or tear them up. “This is just silly” I remember thinking to myself all those years ago. And what made me share this with Sarah? The fact that here I was years later, ripping up the boxes and stomping them flat.

Something else that Dad used to do that I’ve caught myself doing more times than I can count is “roll-calling.” What exactly is “roll-calling” you might ask? I’m sure any parent with more than one child (or even just one!) knows exactly what I mean. Oh, you might call it something different, but as Shakespeare said “What’s in a name?” It’s the unintentional practice of having going down the list of all your kids’ names until you finally call out the one that you meant to say in the first place – and invariably you’ll call all the other names before getting to the required one. Doesn’t matter the age, birth rank, sex or anything. It may go something like this: I want my only daughter, Natalie, to stop climbing up onto the dishwasher and pulling out the dirty forks that I’ve just put in. So, in exasperation, I attempt to get her to stop – only to begin the roll-calling; “Jerem---, Car---, NATALIE, please stop getting the forks!” By the time the correct name comes out, it’s not unusual to forget what you wanted them for in the first place.

I used to think this was funny. Now my children think it’s funny. Is this what they call the circle of life?

Breaking news!

Please give a warm welcome to Benjamin Lawrence!! :)

Sarah started having contractions around 6:30 this morning and they were coming pretty close together (around 2 minutes apart). She's pretty sure her water broke around the same time.

We got to the hospital where they admitted her right away and took us to a room. When we first got there, she was about 5 cm dilated. Her contractions were still about 2 minutes apart, but definitely increasing in intensity. She got an epidural around 12:30, and was doing much, much better. Sarah said she is certainly glad she doesn't live in the 18th century.

Sarah persuaded me to go get something to eat around 3:00 p.m. since she was feeling pretty okay. Just a little while later, however, my phone rang. “Um, Stephen, were are you? They say I’m 10cm dilated and for me to start pushing!!” What?! Okay, um, I’ll be right there!! I’m pretty sure I cut it close on one or two stop lights in driving back to the hospital.

However, despite Sarah’s best efforts, Ben just didn’t want to cooperate and turn his head the way it was supposed to be turned. So after almost FOUR hours of pushing, we decided to deliver Ben by C-section. So the doctor’s prepped her, wheeled her into the O/R and then let me come in to sit by Sarah. At 8:06 p.m., we heard Ben’s little cry for the first time!! The C-section was successful with no complications.

Now for the particulars everyone is waiting for. Ben weighed 7 lbs, 15.8 oz. (couldn’t quite make the 8 lb. mark) and was 20.5 inches long. He has a bunch of hair (of course) and is so incredibly beautiful. I’ve always said that newborns aren’t all that cute, but look more like little pieces of bologna. I guess that’s because I’ve never seen my own newborn. :) I’ll be posting pictures as soon as possible just to prove how cute he is.

Sarah and Ben are doing well. Needless to say, Sarah is quite exhausted from both the pushing AND the C-section. She’ll probably be in the hospital for a few days recovering. But she is most definitely glad to hold Ben on the OUTSIDE finally.

Again, thanks all for your continued prayers!