Introducing Monica Sue

God blessed us early this morning with a beautiful, healthy little girl. Her name is Monica Sue, and she was our smallest baby yet: 7 lbs., 1 oz., and 19 1/2 inches long. The delivery went as well as could be expected, and Robyn is feeling great. For all these things, we rejoice in the the abundant goodness of our heavenly Father.

The doctor began inducing labor at 7:25 a.m. yesterday morning. And then we waited, and waited, and waited some more. What do you do in a maternity room all day long when nothing maternal is happening? Robyn worked on her birth announcements. We watched a mandated video on the danger of shaking a baby. It is sad beyond words that some babies die at their parents' hands.

In the afternoon, with still nothing much happening, we followed three baseball games simultaneously: the Cardinals, the Mariners, and the Memphis Redbirds (the Cardinals Triple A team). One was on the computer, and two on the T.V. Robyn was having trouble keeping up with the action of all three games. I'm not sure why. We also caught a couple of "Seinfeld" re-runs. I had brought a book to read, but because I felt impatient and a little anxious about the impending delivery, I couldn't concentrate. We also prayed.

Finally, at about 10:00 p.m., the contractions began to intensify. The baby finally arrived at exactly 2:00 a.m. this morning. Robyn's doctor stayed on duty all night and did an outstanding job with the delivery and follow-up care.

The nurse who helped was a model of efficiency and thoroughness. She spoke quickly, and with a slight Russian accent, which made it hard at times to absorb the torrent of information she unloaded on us. She described every conceivable medical exigency connected with childbirth (while in the same breath assuring us that she doesn't expect that to happen, though she can't make any promises), gave detailed instructions on virtually every aspect of the care of newborns, went over various ways we could make our stay in the room more comfortable, and of course asked all the standard nurse questions. She was also Robyn's cheerleader during labor, and never left the room without asking if Robyn or I needed anything. Truly a nurse extraordinaire!

And Robyn was fantastic throughout the labor and delivery - a real trooper. I can't imagine going through what a mom endures to give birth. She's relieved to have it behind her now, and as I type this she's sound asleep. Monica is right next to her in the crib, sleeping and hiccuping in the cute little way babies do.

This is our first Alaska baby. We had a good laugh this morning over the fact that Robyn was repeatedly asked if we have running water at home. I'm not sure what they were going to tell us if we didn't, but believe it or not we DO have running water. And electricity, and indoor plumbing! I did tell the nurse we don't have cable, but that wasn't a problem.

I'll always remember what the doctor said as he was finishing his check-up the day after Robyn gave birth to our first daughter: "Now all you have to do is raise her." No problem, right?