Our Prince Has Arrived

(Angela:) Most of you, through facebook or other means, have already heard that our little guy decided to join us out here a little early. We were quite happy to welcome him!! Several of you have asked to hear a little more of the story of his birth, so here goes…
After examining me on Sunday the 6th, my doctor felt quite confident that I still had some time before James’ arrival. So, when I asked him if I could go to a women’s conference about an hour outside of town, he said it would be no problem and that I should enjoy this last little hurrah.
Once we got to the conference, I enjoyed a few hours of walking around the hotel, getting in the pool, etc. before I started to have contractions. By 5pm that evening, they seemed pretty consistent so I started timing them – exactly 5 minutes apart. I left the conference session to lie down and see if the contractions would subside. When the conference speaker realized where I was, she prayed that James would come that night so she could meet him. (Thanks a lot, Vicky!)
After talking with my doctor, I decided to wait it out a little longer and see what happened. Four hours later, they were still exactly 5 minutes apart. Finally, around 10pm, my dear friend, Sara, and I got in the car and headed back to the city. By the time we got to the outskirts of town, they were coming quick and strong. We picked John up and headed for the hospital.



I don’t remember things quite as clearly as John past this point, so I’ll let him continue.
(John:) Somewhere around 11 PM, Angela and Sara calmly pulled up in front of our house. I loaded up all the bags that Angela had meticulously packed (making sure to grab the horde of chocolate from the fridge.) We dropped off Sara, who had graciously driven her back from the retreat, and raced to the hospital.
The trip to the hospital was interesting, to say the least. Thankfully, the roads were deserted, but nothing could be done about the innumerable potholes. We even had to pull over a couple of times at the height of Angela’s contractions. We arrived at the hospital around 11:30, checked in, and were upstairs in the delivery room within minutes.
After donning my scrubs, we enter the delivery room (which had a nice shade of neon green). After examining Angela, the doctor told Angela that he thought the baby would be coming by the morning. It was at that point, that I leaned over to Angela and said, “at least we won’t ever forget his birthday.” Yes, James would be born on September 11… in the Middle East. Angela’s reaction was a predictable grimace.
The next seven hours felt like minutes to me, and days to Angela. Every three or four minutes Angela would be roused from a brief nap with a painful contraction, then fall back asleep. As we progressed toward the finish line, I started to wonder if something was wrong. Angela was incredibly calm, the doctor really unconcerned, that I took it upon myself to be nervous. Despite my concerns Angela remained unflappable and delivered Baby James at around 6:30 on Friday morning.

(Angela:) We’ve been in love ever since!! We were so happy to get several visitors in the hospital that day and then head home the next afternoon. That next Monday, my mom flew in and Dad followed her about a week later. We have been so blessed to see our Father’s hand in so many of the details of James’ birth. We are incredibly thankful for all of the words of encouragement, the friends that have brought meals, and for all of your long distance correspondence that has helped us not feel quite so far away from our family and friends.
Below is a link to more pictures than you’d probably ever care to see of our little guy. What can we say, we’re pretty stinkin proud parents!! Enjoy!

James Steven