I am so blessed!

I was pretty shocked to find this room full of friends and even my mom, sisters, and sisters-in law when I thought I was just having a lunch date with two girlfriends! It took me quite a while to even string coherent sentences together - I was so floored! What a beautiful shower my friends put together to celebrate Gabe's arrival. . . I am so thankful for the amazing, generous people God has placed in my life.

(I stole the picture from Rebecca Paulsen~ more of her amazing photography to come!)

The Cousins (wishing they were skiing, too)

Gabe's Birth

. heading for the birth center in the laughed - at wheelchair .
. the world's best labor coach- he rocked .

. Gabe .

You know how sometimes you just have a gut feeling about something? This is how I felt about this pregnancy ending. I felt such an urgency to schedule an induction because I thought it would go really fast once it started. However, having no medical reason to do it was a small problem. My doctor agreed to schedule breaking my water on Gabe's due date, January twelfth at 7 am.

My mom and sisters came to watch the kids on Monday evening and I tried to have fun with them and ignore all of the contractions I was having. I thought about calling Daniel home from work and just going to the hospital at 10 pm on Monday night, but it just seemed kinda antsy since we were already going in at 7 am! I went to bed to try to relax, hating that he wasn't with me and hoping that he could stay in town and not get sent up to the U on a transfer. I prayed that God would give me wisdom to know when to call him as I laid there in bed, trying to sleep through increasing contractions.

Daniel was supposed to get off early- at 5 am- and I kept telling myself I could make it until five. :-) At four am I gave up and called him. He had just gotten back from local transfer (ptl he wasn't stuck in Iowa City) at three and said he would be home right away. I called my doctor and she said to head up to the birthing center asap - even though my contractions were still 5 minutes apart, they were intense enough that I *knew* I needed to get going.

Daniel flew into the driveway and started the car so it would warm up (and then proceeded to lock the keys in it- ha ha- good thing we have spares!) We threw our stuff in the car and left! He kept telling me "I don't want to deliver this baby on the road! Put your seat back farther!" It was pretty funny, because between these crazy INTENSE contractions, I was totally fine. I have always made fun of women who had to be wheeled into the birth center in wheelchairs, and I told Daniel I didn't want him to leave me, so how about we just find a close parking spot and go in together. He had a better awareness of what stage I was at and he kinda laughed at me and said that wouldn't be a good idea. Sooo. . . yep, I became one of the "wheeled in women."

Daniel called my sisters and warned them that if they wanted to be in on the birth as we had planned, they had better come asap. That was fun for me to hear him say- no matter how fast your labor is going, you still feel like it is taking a long time!

I was still pretty with it and really not in too much pain at all, but I was extremely weak- probably from being awake all night. . . so. . . (just take a deep breath, all of you do - it - naturals) I chickened out and got a *small* helping of Nubain :-). It did nothing to help pain wise, but gave me a lot more strength and I needed strength for how fast it was going! Daniel was amazing. I always have such a hard time with hyperventilating and even though I could write the textbook on why it happens and how to avoid it, I cannot remember what to do when I am in that transition point of labor! He's like, " Ok, just breathe with me. Breathe *exactly* how I tell you to breathe, and then you will be fine." Sooo. . . I did. And it helped. I told him I couldn't remember how, he had to tell me every single contraction. Ha ha- he did! At one point I looked down at his thumb and it was totally blue. (Heh heh- from me squeezing it.) I was like- sorry. He just laughed.

My doctor broke my water, my sisters walked in the door at about 6:30, and baby Gabe was born at 6:56, four minutes before his scheduled induction! I was soooo glad we hadn't waited to come in untiil seven. :-)

Nothing like the awe and relief and joy and thankfulness to God to hear those first cries and know that you are holding such a miracle. It's overwhelming to be given the gift of this little child- we know that God is the Giver.

He's Here!

{Gabe}

Gabriel James Novak

January 12, 2010

6:56 am

7 lb. 12 oz. 21 inches

Thank You, Jesus!