Monday, June 17, 2019

A little bit about a Little Bit

This post is not weather related...

...but, it was on November 14th, 2018 that my wife and I had our first ultrasound of our baby girl - the same day that Jackson got the earliest 1" of snow on record. Every appointment afterwards seemed to coincide with various other weather phenomena seeming to prophecy that this tiny human would follow in my footsteps.


Our girl was due to be born on June 18th - a mere two days after Father's Day - and I told my wife
, Evan, that she would never have to do anything for me ever again if she could only bring our baby into the world a little earlier so we could celebrate. I warned her that if our baby was born on June 18th, that we would be naming her after Jackson's new mayor (Scott or Jerry) set to be elected later that evening. Unfortunately, it turned out that our baby was going to have to come earlier in any case, because she was measuring small at our May appointments. Evan was going to be induced the night of June 10th or 11th.



To take in the quiet air of one of our last child-less nights, my wife and I enjoyed a perfect day on Saturday, June 8th. The weather in West Tennessee turned out just as forecast - scattered showers, warm and muggy. We proceeded through our usual Saturday ritual of getting our groceries (and donuts) at the Farmers' Market and visiting Pinson Mounds with our dog, Roxi. After tending to some last minute errands and preparing the home for baby, we went out for a date night of dinner and a movie. Everything seemed to be going according to our new plan. 
We went to bed around 11 o'clock.



I woke up at 2:30 Sunday morning to Evan telling me that something was happening. She thought that she was having contractions and that her water had broken. This wasn't expected, but it certainly was welcomed! Having a natural birth was high on the list of what Evan had hoped this pregnancy would culminate in! We got to the hospital at 4 that morning and found that Evan was fully effaced...

...but only 1 cm dilated.

It took 25 grueling hours before Evan could finally start pushing, and then 1 hour later, our beautiful girl was here! All that time in the hospital that seemed to drag on then felt so brief. We are so incredibly thankful for the hospital staff from triage to discharge that took care of us. We also can't thank Evan's parents 
enough who took care of us from the very beginning of labor through our first week as parents. They drove all the way from Raleigh the minute we told them we were going to the hospital! We're also incredibly grateful for the wisdom from Dr. Christopher Welch that kept the mama and baby healthy throughout the whole process. Our faith in God and the prayers of our family and church at Cornerstone Community Church saw us through the birth of our first child and will keep us going through the days, months, and years to come.



Many of you have reached out asking about her name. For the moment, my wife and I are keeping that information about her as private as this modern technological age will let us. We will be making a concerted effort to keep that part of her confidential for the moment. I am planning to be back on WBBJ on June 24th. You can catch me then, and I may even bring a guest soon after that. I cannot wait to show off this little bug on the green screen. Who knows what kind of weather we'll have then!