We have all been enjoying our first week home with our newborn. Charlie has
been a wonderful little baby - so far he has been our easiest baby, though I
know things can change quickly so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I'm sure once all the wonderful food people have brought us runs out, things will get trickier as I add meal prep and extra dishes to my workload - I just hope Charlie likes his sling!
The delivery went well – very similar to Sam’s.
Thursday night I knew it wouldn’t be more
than a couple of days before the baby came.
Of course I stayed up until midnight even though I knew I should have gone
to bed sooner.
By 1:30 the contractions
were regular enough that I couldn’t sleep so I labored in bed as long as I
could to let Seth sleep.
I woke him up
at 6:00 and we were at the hospital by 7:30, which was great timing because
Janice, Seth’s sister who is a labor and delivery nurse, had just started her
shift.
We’ve been lucky to have a nurse
that we knew for all three deliveries.
Just like Elena and Sam, Charlie was posterior, which kept labor at a
stand-still for several hours. He eventually turned (somewhat) and joined us in
time for lunch.
I was exhausted towards
the end, but at least this time, Seth didn’t miss an entire night’s sleep like
he did with the last two. And I was so excited to meet our little boy that I
didn’t mind the tiredness.
After having Charlie, I was reminded of something we discussed in a Bible
study 6 years ago.
We were reading
Genesis and came to the part where God says to Eve, “in pain you shall bring
forth children…”
Initially it sounds
like God just wanted to make women suffer as punishment for sin.
Whether you read the story of Adam and Eve
literally or symbolically, I think another interpretation makes much more
sense: it’s a message about love.
Great love comes through great sacrifice.
If we are unwilling to make sacrifices and give of ourselves for those
who we love, we will not experience love to the fullest.
Labor pains also teach us that out of great
suffering can come even greater joy – a joy so great and so profound that the
suffering ends almost instantaneously (assuming all goes well).
Though it is not forgotten, there is no bitterness left at the memory when
the newborn baby is held for the first time.
As I hold little Charlie and think back to the few times during labor
when I turned to Seth and said, “I really don’t want to push this baby out…” I
think about heaven (as much as anyone can think about something they’ve never
seen) and how any suffering we endure while we are here will seem insignificant
compared with the glory to come.
I’ve spent the last week reveling in this profound love (and also a good
dose of oxytocin on a regular basis – who needs drugs?)
It’s pure heaven.
I’m enjoying this honeymoon stage though I
know Charlie will likely remind me again and again in the future that love
requires sacrifice. For the time being, his big sister and brother are taking care
of that on a regular basis, especially as they adjust to this big change.
Here are some pictures of the last week:
10 days old - he's filling out quickly!
