I saw God today....(by Jeff)

"Got my face pressed up against the nursery glass She's sleepin' like a rock My name on her wrist Wearin' tiny pink socks She's got my nose, she's got her mama's eyes My brand new baby girl She's a miracle I saw God today." ....George Strait.

This time last Friday night I was at the hospital holding my brand new baby girl and breathing a sigh of relief that momma and baby were both doing just fine. It was surreal to hold her and think that just a few minutes earlier she was nice and cozy in Lindsey's tummy, and the next minute her exciting life "in the real world" had begun.

Just to recap for those of you that haven't heard the story, we had a prenatal appointment that very morning and Dr. Madden said that he would see us next Thursday unless something happened over the weekend. He told us he was on call and to call him or come in if she had any contractions etc... like we did the week before. (see earlier posts.) As we left his office Lindsey stood in the lobby of the hospital and cried and said she just couldn't do this anymore. She had been a trooper since she had not been pregnant this long before. Anderson came almost 6 weeks early, so all of this was new territory for her. It was much hotter and I am not sure I can remember when she had a full nights sleep. She was in almost constant pain as Lydia pressed on her pelvic bones and bladder. Suffice it to say, she was ready to see Lydia and soon! Bless her heart she was pretty tough to get this far in this heat, but she was ready to see her baby and know she was ok. There is a scripture that says that God will not give you more than you can bear. We can now testify that that is true.

That afternoon I had a lunch meeting and just as I got back to the office I was in another meeting and she called and said that she had some bleeding and was concerned. I told her to call the Dr. before I came home. I honestly expected another trip to the E.R. for some monitoring only to be told to go home unless she went into labor. I came home and We called Dr. Madden and he said that we should come in and we would "talk" about having her that afternoon since something was going on and it was probably not good. We scrambled around like crazy people getting everything in the car: baby bag, "boppie", her clothes, my clothes, cameras (all 4 of them just in case), called our neighbor to video the birth, made arrangements to have Anderson picked up from school, made alternate arrangements to have him picked up from school when the babysitter couldn't do it like she thought (thanks to a ridiculously insensitive person that our baby sitter had told she would watch her kids for an hour or so. This lady pitched a fit when the sitter told her what was going on with our emergency C section, no other arrangements for our 2 year old, no family in town etc...Of course her response you ask? "That's their problem, we were going to dinner"...such sensitivity to our situation deserves to be celebrated! We won't post her name here, but I can assure you that every person we come across in Tuscaloosa will hear of her generosity and selflessness in helping us in our time of need.)

When we got to the hospital we expected some monitoring, checking and discussion about possibly taking the baby if things did not improve etc...Instead as soon as we got to the Labor and Delivery Unit we were met by the anesthesiologist that was discussing the effects of a spinal etc....We were like "are we doing this now?" She said,"yes you are scheduled for 4 o'clock."
We had to wait on some blood work and the procedure started right about 5. By 5:30, our sweet little baby girl had arrived. Much to our surprise she had a head full of thick curly black hair. We think she got that from her mother as Lindsey's hair is naturally curly. She was perfect in every way. Since she was born on Walter Peyton's birthday (Great Chicago Bears running back and arguably the greatest all around football player ever) her nickname has now been officially dubbed by me as "Sweetness".
Of course I love my little boy more than I ever thought possible, so I wondered what it would be like to have a little girl. I have been reading a book on raising girls. I had never thought of it like this, but it is a daunting responsibility indeed. I will be the measure of every man in her life. I will be the model for her future husband, I will influence the way she raises her children, she will get her view of God from her relationship with me and more if that is not enough. That is a lot to live up to. Quite frankly, I am not sure I can. The only way I can possibly do it is to get as close to Christ as I can and try to love her as much as he does.

She has a Biblical name in Lydia and a lot to live up to herself. According to Acts, Lydia was the first European convert, a wealthy businesswoman, and a generous giver and suppoert to the ministry of the apostles. Our job will be to equip her to be all of those things; a follower of Christ, an educated capable woman in the business world, and a member of the Church that does all she can to spread the gospel to the nations. God has been so good to me. I don't know what I ever did to deserve such a wonderful gifts. I have a loving wife, a little boy full of wonder and excitement, and now a beautiful little girl. I pray that I prove myself worthy of what God has given me, because every time I look at that sweet baby girl I will be reminded of how good God is and how much he loves us. As the Song says, "I saw God today", and I will everytime I see her.