November 2 - Happy Birthday Ethan!!

This is our son, Ethan William - now nine years old.

Below is an excerpt from my journal, about the day he was born.

The day before you were born I baked coconut squares for your baptism. The night before you were born we went to WillowBrook mall because your Dad wanted to look at shoes. We walked around alot because I was already six days overdue (Oct. 27 being your due date) and walking is suppose to help things move along. I was really craving ice cream too so we stopped to enjoy some - I had an Oreo Waffle cone and quite enjoyed it. We came home and went to bed.

Your Dad fell asleep right away (as usual) and after a half an hour of tossing and turning I began to have contractions. I decided to let your Dad sleep. Finally at 0200 I woke him up. Want to know what I did for those three hours before that? Well, I figured if this was it and I was really in labor I was going to look neat and tidy, so I braided my hair, plucked my eyebrows and I even considered shaving my legs but in the end I didn't feel like it. Then I read the newspaper for over an hour and then I finshed some last minute packing, got dressed, then woke your Dad.

At 2, the pains were five minutes apart, they were painful but managable. At the hospital they checked my cervix (go look it up if you want to know whta that is!) and I wasn't even dialating so it's false labor they told me. As well, at the hospital the pains went backwards to further apart (8mins) so they sent us home. We were not impressed and I was especially disappointed. We got home around 0400 and they had told me to sleep - yah right. Sure, I wasn't in excruciating pain but it was painful enough and the anticipation at this point was high. I tossed and turned (again) until 5am and then I got out of bed and showered for about a half an hour. Once again, the shower did the trick.

When I got out of there, the pain had shifted into my lower back and it slowely became worse. I dealt with it on the couch for about an hour or thinking I wanted to be sure it was the real thing this time. At 6:30 am my mucous plug came out and pains continued to worsen and the pressure was getting intense - I felt like pushing!! I figured now I must really be in labor, so I woke Dad up. He was leary about it, but he phoned the hospital like I asked him to and even they were leary that things would go that fast. Well, Dad wasn't so leary anymore when we were in the van and I started grunting that pushing sound (from all the pressure, not REALLY in transition). He sure, put the pedal to the medal then!!!

Off to the hospital we went and a good thing too - it felt like someone was grabbing all the muscles in my back and pulling them out. I was 6 cm at the hospital at about 0715 (you were born at 0815). We had to wait about 20minutes for a birthing room and by the time we got in things had progressed to 8cm (you were born 40mins later!). By this time the doctor had arrived and she decided to break my water because I was feeling so much pressure. Soon after that I was 10cm and ready to push. At the start I had the urge to push but slowly the feeling diminished and it became just constant excruciating pain.

Eventually the doctor decided to do an episotomy (I was happy for it at the time) and it was a good thing too, because the reason for all the back labor, no pushing sensation, long pushing time etc... was because you shocked everyone and came out posterior (facing up). We were also shocked at how big you were - 9lbs 8.5ozs!!! I was very thankful that I was able to push you out with very little intervention such as forceps or c-section. Your Dad and I were very thankful that you were well and safely with us. I did lose alot of blood with you and didn't get to hold you right away (in hindsight I could of, I wasn't passed out or anything). The bleeding was okay after I was checked out by a specialist and given some Oxytocin for that. There were no serious tears, it was all just from the position and from your size.

When I got to finally hold you - I was so thankful for you - you were so healthy looking!! I was glad for your Dad that you were a boy and I was even happier you looked like him because I think your Dad is so cute (oh gag!! - but still true to me). The proudest moment for me after having both my children is being wheeled down the hall in the wheelchair holding our baby, going to the post partum unit because everyone smiles so nicely at you and you just feel such a sense of accomplishment as if to say "Wow! Look at what I've done". And it's really not us - it's God who gives the strength and deserves the glory but that feeling is so great and so wonderful because of what the LORD has done FOR us and through us.

When you came forth into this world both your father and I cried - we felt so blessed. The first night in the hospital you fussed until 3 0r 4am but most newborns do that the first couple of days before they get the days and nights figured out. I enjoyed our special time together in the hospital.

"Bless the LORD oh my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name!! Psalm 103:1

- the verse from the birth announcement we placed in the Clarion.

More thoughts about Ethan's birth.

The day that we spent in the hospital together I remember I called you my little pumpkin and Chinese monk. Your eyes were all swollen shut into slits from being squeezed out the way you were. You also had a small bump on your head (subdural hematoma), just like Aleana had had, which made us wonder if that's just the way it was going to be with all our babies but then Matthew and Peter didn't have it - no big deal just a curiosity.

Your Dad was very pleased that we had a boy - something extra special about that. Also, you were our best baby so far. You were so content with life and we had such a nice relationship from the start. It was a welcome relief after we had learned so much with Aleana and all her crying. You were the total opposite. We had learned abit more about babies and about being parents. It was just a joy nursing you and caring for you. Honestly, your first year was so smooth that I was starting to believe that you were the perfect kid - NOT true, but it was nice to think it for that first year. Good memories.

We are very thankful for our son Ethan and we praise God for blessing us with him. He thinks about things alot and has a very tangible idea of what would be right and what would be wrong.

He likes to tinker with things and fix them up, and make new things that are useful and create artwork that has beauty. We love Ethan and we pray that the LORD will grant us many more years together to worship our Creator, and enjoy Him forever.