david, melody, luke, haydn grace, and sam: August 2009

Labor and Delivery
This labor and delivery story will not be near as long as Luke's story. It was pretty uneventful, really. I am VERY thankful that the Lord blessed us with such a good experience and a healthy, sweet baby girl.

I sent out an email on the 24th about being induced the morning of the 25th. I did not want to be induced and came really close to backing out at 10pm that night. There is just something with messing with God's timing that I wasn't comfortable with. Plus, I wanted the 'spontaneity' experience (or the movie experience). I didn't have that with Luke. However, after talking with Mom and David and praying about it, I knew that we needed to keep the appointment. The week prior I had two bouts of false labor and it was really tough on everyone. My mom came over at 4am one morning and skipped church the next time. Dealing with a toddler and making arrangements for him to be cared for makes it hard to be spontaneous...especially when the hospital is 45 minutes to an hour away. Looking back, I am thankful that I didn't have to bare the contractions in the car for an hour!

The evening of the 24th we spent the night at my Mom's house and kissed Luke goodnight as a family of 3 for the last time. We had to be at the hospital at 5am the following morning for our appointment. Knowing this would be out last night of good sleep for awhile, we should have gone to bed early, but no...11pm. We woke at 3:30 to get ready to leave. Arrived at the hospital at 5am on the dot, checked in and went to Labor and Delivery! They showed us to our room. Mary (the best nurse EVER...second to Staci (Luke's L&D Nurse), of course!) was ready for us! We talked with her for the next hour or so while she prepped me for Pitocin. Funny...she was from Wisconsin, so we had alot to discuss from our bout in MN. I was 'hooked up' and ready by 7am. Mary made the comment that she usually finishes prepping by 6:30, but she was enjoying talking with us so much that we didn't get 'started' until 7am. As I labored and contracted for the next 2 hours, I asked Mary (mother of 4...birthed naturally), if she would get an epidural if she could go back and do it again. Without hesitation, she said, "YES!" I asked why and she said that she spent the last 13 years in Labor and Delivery watching both natural and pain free deliveries. In her experience, pain free deliveries were more enjoyable and restful than natural. That's all I needed to hear! I had the 2 hour experience of pain and was ready for the epidural. Mary predicted that she would be born by noon (she was close!) and I didn't see the need to feel the pain for another 3 hours. She called the Anesthesiologist as soon as I said the word. I barely had time to go to the bathroom before he arrived and was smooth sailing by 9:30. He did a MUCH better job than the Doc in MN! For the next few hours, we laughed and talked...talked to a few people on the phone...and, yes, I updated my Facebook status:
8:57: Admitted, all hooked up and epidural started. Hoping to get some rest. I love my nurse!!
11:28: Dilated to an 8 already...nurse said she thinks we'll see her a little after noon. YAY!!
11:47: Getting ready to push...waiting on Dr. She'll be here soon!

Mary actually checked me at 11:30 and said, "Whew...don't push...she's ready!" We waited on Dr. MacD (nicknamed 'My Lucky Little Leprechaun'...seriously...he's about 5 feet tall, Irish, and such a great doctor! We love him!). He showed up at noon. I pushed 3 times and she was here! It was such a great experience! I cannot tell you!

Name Sake

(Haydn holding me at 6 months)

I am sure you figured out by now that we named her 'Haydn Grace'. I know we had a poll and Haydn was pretty low in popularity. As David and I discussed it, we decided that I would probably regret it if we didn't name her Haydn especially if this is our last child. My Grandfather, Haydn (spelled like the composer, Haydn...), was very instrumental in my life (and Donna's). He and Memonnie supported us when our parents divorced. We spent several weeks there each summer growing up. They encouraged us as we grew and loved us with an unconditional love that cannot be explained. They supported us through college and bought us both our first cars. I wouldn't be where I am today or who I am today without them. We went back and forth on the spelling, but realized that if we were going to name her after him, then we should spell it like he did. It will be hard for her and us, but naming her after him is worth a few misspellings....and gender mix ups!

In July, we went to visit Memonnie (Dedaddy/Haydn passed in 2000) and I emotionally thanked her for all she and Dedaddy did for us. She said, "I am so glad we did, because you would never have met David if we weren't there for you." I boo-hoo'd...she was right! I am so grateful! (Can you tell she LOVES David? She tells me that he reminds her of Dedaddy. He definitely helps out in the kitchen like Haydn did and has a similar demeanor about him. Maybe that's what drew me to him...)

Dedaddy was the main reason for the name. However, I also had a camper in my cabin one summer, Hayden. She was so cool and, at that point, I had never heard of a girl named Hayden. The wheels started turning and I told David that one day I wanted to name a girl Haydn after Dedaddy. Haydn is gaining popularity as a girl name and that helped our decision as well.

We named her Grace after the abundant grace that God gives us that we do not deserve. Thank you, Lord, for your grace and thank you for her!

Luke's Thoughts

The first thing Luke said when he came into the room on the day she was born:
Luke: Hi Mommy! Is baby sister out of your tummy?
Mom: Yes, she's here, look!
Luke: OK...can I get in there now? It's my turn!
Mom: NO! You had your turn 2 1/2 years ago, silly!

He is doing so well with her! He LOVES her! (See the pictures and video below!) We are so proud of our family and excited to be a family of 4 now! All of this makes me love the Lord, my husband, and my family so much more!
Isaiah 25:1 O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

Luke's Song to the tune of Brahm's Lullaby:
Haydn Grace
Haydn Grace
You are our baby girl.
Haydn Grace, Haydn Grace
Mommy, Daddy, Luke love you!

1. Saturday Luke said the prayer before lunch which is pretty customary. He used to pray for everything he saw, but lately it's been a 'short and sweet let me eat' prayer. We were very proud when he said,
"Dear Jesus,
Thank you for today. Thank you for this food. Thank you for the
bucket**. Thank you for spending time with Mommy and Daddy.
Bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies. Amen."
**(Our neighborhood pool has a huge bucket that dumps and he and David had just returned from there.)
We had a great Saturday together as a family and I guess he was thankful for the time spent with us. He knows baby sister will be here soon and has been a little anxious about it. I treasure these last few days as a family of 3....

2. We were on our way home from church on Saturday night. It was past his bed time, but we had to return a movie. While David was in the store, Luke and I were talking about all of the people going in and out. "Who is she, Mommy?" "What is that guy doing?" and on and on...
Out of the blue he said, "I know I miss Grandma." I said, "I know you do, Buddy, but you will see her later this week." THEN he said, "She was a great lady!" HUH?
(At this point, I'm calling Mom hoping that Luke didn't know something that I didn't know...making sure she was ok...I couldn't get a hold of her. No big deal. I knew she was fine.)
So, then I asked, "Luke, where do you think Grandma is?" "Home." Shew! "Yep, Luke, she's at home!"
*She did call me back later. She was in the shower...not dead. I felt better! It's so fun to watch how he is working on his verbiage. I love watching him learn!