Our son Isaac

Last Tuesday afternoon Janet had a doctor's appointment. She was just past her due date, but because of the potential size of the baby, the doctor wanted to induce and felt Janet coming into the hospital on Tuesday evening was a good idea, so that they could prepare her body to be induced the following morning. That was quite a shock to us, but we returned homed, finished packing bags and doing other things around the house, then headed to St. Mary's Hospital around 4:00pm.

When we checked in, Janet was hardly dilated. In fact, she'd been at the same place in dilation for weeks. The doctor administered drugs to soften her cervix for induction and we anticipated a rather uneventful evening; I even tried to find a Blockbuster Video so that Janet and I could watch movies while we waited. As the night wore on Janet became more and more uncomfortable. Her body was consistently and painfully contracting, but the contractions were sort of dismissed by the hospital staff as cramps-- a side effect of the medication. At 3:30 in the morning Janet just could not take the pain anymore and asked for an epidural in order that she might get some kind of sleep. That turned out to be a very smart request. Around 6:30, the nurses were going to give the medication for induction, but when they examined her, she was 7-8 centimeters dilated. That was a huge surprise!! The doctor came in and was very excited; she had told Janet many times that a "natural" delivery would be almost impossible and had really geared us to expect a c-section, but she also admitted her job was humbling and that she liked being wrong. Still, she had concern that the baby's head was too high. However, when she came back a few hours later, she examined Janet and said, "Uh, his head is right here... let's get ready to push." And push Janet did!!

In about 45 minutes Isaac left the warmth and protection and safety of the womb and slipped into this world in one of the most miraculous moments of my life. Nothing could have prepared me for the tremendous experience of watching my little boy's life begin. And nothing could have prepared me for the deep and abiding sense of love and respect and pride and joy for my wife. She is truly an incredible woman. And she will be an incredible mom. She is my heart and the purest reflection of Christ to me.

We had been praying fervantly that Janet would not have to have a c-section and that she would not have to be induced. That the Lord answered that prayer so specifically and thoroughly blessed us beyond words, and it was great to get to share with those we encountered in the hospital that He is faithful to answer the prayers of His children.

We named our son Timothy Isaac and call him Isaac. Timothy means: "one who honors God" and Isaac means: "son of promise, son of laughter". Our prayer for this precious lamb is that he will honor God with his life, bringing joy and laughter to the nations as he proclaims the marvelous grace and mercy of God through Christ Jesus.