For Unto Us a Child is Born

You know that feeling when you meet someone once or twice, and exchange names, but then a few months go by and you don't see him, and when you see him again, you can't remember his name, but you don't want to ask because enough time has gone by that it's just kind of awkward?

That's pretty much how I feel about this blog. Which I haven't updated since…MAY. No vacation pics, no end-of-school pics, no summer fun pics. It's not that I don't have them. It's that time has finally defeated my best intentions. I ran out of it. So, I think at this point it makes sense to just start from here, and (hopefully) work my way back over time. 

In the meantime, we have some pretty big news. Baby Last #4 was due August 25, and scheduled to arrive via c-section on August 18. We had a plan in place: last day of work August 15, Mom, Dad, and Mary Beth arrive August 17, have our little boy the next morning. On August 11, I had a checkup with Dr. Weltman, who said she'd see me next week. I said, "Any chance this kid will come early?" And we all laughed, because my kids NEVER come early. I'm sealed like Fort Knox, she once told me. "Well, call me if your water breaks or something," she said, "but we all know that's not happening."

Well, 15 hours later, that happened. I was in bed with Emma, who had night terrors around 4:00 a.m. She didn't wake up this time, but was thrashing and crying in her sleep, so I just lay down with her to settle and comfort her. I dozed off. About 45 minutes later, I thought…what the heck is that?!

Then hilarity and panic ensued. I waddled to our bedroom and said "JONATHAN WAKE UP I THINK MY WATER BROKE!" Then I texted and called Dr. Weltman, but her phone was off; I knew, though, that she would be the on-call doc at the hospital starting at 7 am. But I had no idea what to actually DO once my water broke. So I called the on-call doc and had a thoroughly incoherent conversation with him, and he said to just come on over. So then I threw some stuff in a bag—which later turned out to be a Bible, 6 pairs of socks, a tank top, a couple of still-in-the-plastic wrap nightgowns, and that was all. Then I realized I had three sleeping children. So at 5:30 I called Sarah, who answered warily, and said, "SARAH ARE YOU AWAKE MY WATER BROKE!" Calmly, she said, "I'll be there in 15 minutes." Then I called my mother and said "MOM IT'S ME ARE YOU AWAKE MY WATER BROKE AND I'M PRETTY SURE THAT MEANS I'M HAVING THIS BABY TODAY I'LL CALL YOU BACK!" 

By that time, Cody had wandered in and immediately realized something was up. Naturally, he woke up the girls, setting everyone up for an excellent day. So we all came downstairs, and Sarah showed up. She secretly took this picture — the last embrace of a family of five. 

I said things like, "Lunches? Can you make them! Tupperware in there!" and "They have bathing suits on the deck!" and "They should eat breakfast!" She nodded and smiled, and shooed us out the door, as all of our children cried. And then I cried. Because: this was NOT THE PLAN. 

We got to the hospital, got started on IVs, and waited for Dr. Weltman to clear the decks of the hundred other babies who just HAD TO GET BORN THE SAME DAY. I breathed, and tried not to panic, with limited success. Then they wheeled me into the OR, and the less said about the birth, the better. It was pretty traumatic from start to finish, and the baby was gray and not breathing when she pulled him out. Thankfully, they were able to get him going relatively quickly—only a lifetime for me. And then they brought him in, and put his cheek against mine, and I wept all over again, and thanked God for delivering sweet Gabriel Walter into this world.
For that is his name. Gabriel is not a name that was ever on our list — but it's the name he came with. I found out I was pregnant with him during Advent, and the reading that day was from Luke, when the angel Gabriel tells Mary that fantastically enough, she was about to become a mother. Obviously, there are few parallels between Mary and me, but I could really relate to her feeling stupefied, troubled, and unprepared. But Gabriel simply says, "Do not be afraid." That became my mantra for the next 9 months.

We named him Walter after Uncle Walter, who would have been right there beside Mary Beth to greet Gabriel on the day of his birth, and would have stood beside him at the altar for his baptism.

Here he is on Cody's birthday:

We wanted each of our boys to carry a piece of Mary Beth and Walter with them always — hence Cody and Walter. I managed to capture the moment that JVL told Mary Beth his name. Part of us was worried it might be too painful for her, but instead, it felt just right to her, too.

Granny and Pop-Pop arrived at some point while I was in recovery, and were overjoyed to meet him. 

 Then, Sarah brought the kids over to meet their little brother. It was pretty emotional; they were anxious and tired all day, and worried about me and Gabriel. When Cody walked in, he took one look at Gabriel and just burst into tears, saying "I am so grateful you are here, that you are safe!" He wept as he held his little brother for the first time. It was just beautiful.



Each of them then pulled their favorite stuffed animals out of their bags to leave at the hospital with me.

 

 A happy Dr. Weltman, and a happy Granny, too.

After 4 days, it was time to come home! The hospital was so much quieter. We are all adjusting, some  of us better than others, and we all have our moments.

 But it's good to all be under one roof. Which brings me to something truly hilarious: a few months ago there was an insane hail storm, and our roof was severely damaged. The new roof was installed the day after I came home from the hospital. All day long, we listened to banging and scraping and hammering—G slept through almost all of it; the rest of us needed Motrin. It was pure comedy at that point — yet another thing that was to have been done before he was born.

 Meanwhile, the girls engaged in a little escapism...

 Cody loves to have little chat sessions with his little brother...

 This one's just funny….

 Little nugget.

 He looks JUST LIKE CODY.

 No really. Here's Cody:

Here's Gabriel:

 Emma and Cordelia are both having a bit of a time adjusting — but they've had very sweet moments, too.

 I was able to catch him in the midst of a gassy smile...

 And here's the best news of all — exactly two weeks before Gabriel arrived, his gorgeous, precious cousin Faith Elizabeth arrived to Uncle Sean and Aunt Monika! And last night, the cousins met for the first time!!

 It looks like G is trying to tell F something here.

 And finally, the hair. Because — wow.

Can't help but draw the comparison. 

And with that, someone wants to eat. More soon! Soonish, anyway.