So tonight’s bedtime story goes like this.  Once upon a time there was a little girl who wouldn’t sit still for a second.  ”What do now?” she would repeat all day long because she had to be moving; she had to be ‘cheebing’ (a word Drew made up for randomly pottering and getting into mischief).  So, this one particular evening her Daddy had a brain wave. “Help me make meatballs,” he said.  So she eagerly jumped up on the kitchen counter and sat with the bowl of minced beef mixed with herbs and seasonings and together they made meatballs for dinner.  And what fun they had!  The little girl watched her Daddy intently as he showed her how to roll a ball.  She stirred at times and tried to eat the raw meat, but with Daddy supervising and being strict on hygiene the little girl was safe, as together they made a delicious dinner of spaghetti and meatballs.  High five!

Last night we said so long to saints whom we’ve grown to love over the last two years. I’ve been leading a Bible study at their senior apartment complex since right before Poppy was born. They’ve watched her grown up from womb to whippersnapper. It has been a great privilege to meet with them week after week, praying for them, praying with them, and studying Scripture together. We set out to study the whole Gospel of Matthew, story by story. At our last meeting we covered Matthew 18:1-9 where Jesus sets forth the example of a child as one who doesn’t seek to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven but fully depends on the Greatest. We also saw Jesus’ great love for even his most inexperienced disciples, the “little ones.” Compared to these saints I am but a little one. I thank God for the opportunity to fellowship with them around the word.

We celebrated our time together with a little pizza party last night. Unfortunately not all our regular Bible study attendees were able to make it. (Many of the residents are constantly in and out of the hospital and rehab facilities.) The pizza was a hit. None of them had ever had ham and pineapple before!

Before leaving we made the following video. We sure will miss these precious ladies!

So back at home we quickly discovered that our house was safer than I thought!  All the windows were locked downstairs so Drew decided to try the upstairs.  With help from a neighbor he was hoisted up onto the roof and began trying all the windows.  All locked, he went back around to double check and with a mighty push found that the bathroom window was unlocked.  The funny thing was it was the smallest window in the house and don’t ask me how he got up and through and then down on the other side.  But there are a couple of photos to show you.  All the while Poppy was very worried about her Daddy and then applauded and cheered when he made it through.

She couldn't bare to watch!

Wycliffe Associates, a partner organization of Wycliffe Bible Translators, hosts regular banquets to help raise awareness of and financial support for Bible translation. Last night a seasoned Wycliffe illustrator shared about the amazing transformation that he’s seen take place in lives of people who read the Bible in their language for first time. I was greatly encouraged by his sense of calling and nods of agreement that steadily emanated from the audience.

The speaker begun as we sipped our coffees and finished our slices of carrot cake. He reinforced the notion that we all have a part to play in God’s mission of redemption. His role is enlivening literacy materials and Bible stories with catching illustrations that draw the reader in and aid comprehension. He demonstrated his skills by freehanding two members of the audience while we all watched. One gentleman he drew asked if he had every been punched after the illustrator audaciously highlighted the “age lines” in the man’s face. Well, the illustration did turn out to be accurate. Sorry, man.

I saw some familiar faces in attendance and made acquaintance with new folks who share a similar passion for seeing the Bible translated into the remaining 2,000+ languages that still need it. I encourage you to check out the Wycliffe Associates web site to find a banquet near you and go hear about what God is doing through his word translated into peoples’ heart language. You’ll be encouraged. I know I was.

Sorry for the long delay in finishing this story! Starting back at Nursing school has been my number one priority for the last 3 weeks, but I have a couple of days off this week so I’m getting stuff done!!

Poppy was 7 weeks old yesterday so my memory of the events that took place that day are a bit faded but I will hit on the main points and you can use your imagination for the rest, haha. Oh, and be sure to read parts one and two first if you haven’t read them already.

So back to the story…

We just hung out for most of the morning, napping, channel surfing and anticipating what was to come.  Drew ventured out to find the cafeteria and ended up having a slap-up breakfast of sausage and biscuits and gravy: lucky thing!  I can’t remember what time of day it was but at some point the news of Michael Jackson’s cardiac arrest hit the news and that kept us busy for a while.  My contractions were getting worse and worse as they kept increasing the Pitocin.  At various points the nurse would come in and reduce the pitocin and then come back later and increase it again.  I was trying so hard to put off the epidural but it came to the point where I was just exhausted from the pain and felt like I couldn’t keep breathing through them anymore.  So I told the nurse “it was time”.  Everything happened fairly quick.  The anesthesiologist was called, the nurse came in to prep me, they elevated the bed, I sat on the side of the bed and Drew sat in front of me so I could put my feet up on his knees.  He was told to brace me as I tried hard not to pull away from the needle going into my spine!  I don’t know whether it was just because I was already in a lot of pain or whether it was because I was just exhausted but this procedure was horrible!!!  Drew really had to brace me hard.  I lay back down and they put a Foley catheter in.  I started getting numb from the waist down and it was sooooo weird. I hated the way it made my legs feel like rubber.  It was freaky touching them and not feeling a thing.

At around 1-2is in the afternoon Drew’s parents and little brother arrived.  We chatted for a while before they went out to find some lunch.  The afternoon went quickly but I wasn’t progressing and I was getting more and more nervous that they were going to come in and say that they’d done everything they could but it was time to just take the baby out!  I’m unsure exactly what time it was but the doctor came in and said “lets break your waters”.  WATERS!!  That’s right I still have that card to play!  I had totally forgotten about the waters!  I was so relieved that we had something else to try.  So after the doctor broke my waters we waited some more. (I was still at 3cm, oh and probably by now it was confirmed that Michael Jackson had died).

Here is where the story gets amazing for me.  It turned 7pm and guess who walks through the door, nurse Mary, the nurse who I first saw in the morning when I first arrived.  She had been on call that night and seeing as the day had turned out to be really busy they had phoned her in!!  She said her husband wasn’t very happy about it but we were super super happy!  She came in so determined to get Poppy out naturally that I felt like she was my hero, like God had sent her in to rescue me.  She then did more for me in the space of a couple of hours than any of the 3 nurses who I had during that whole day had done for me.  She put me in to various positions with my legs up on the stirrups, 30 mins on my left side, then 30 mins on my right side.  Then the doctor came in and checked me again….9cm and roughly 90% effaced!!  We could not believe it, I had gone from 3-9, praise the Lord!!  The doctor said in about an hour I could start pushing. He told me what to do and how to count and I felt really ready to get this show on the road!  So after a bit Mary got the bed in the right position and we started!  Drew was at my left side and my mother in law was sitting back eagerly waiting to meet her first grandchild.

I really enjoyed this part of my labour.  I felt like everything was really organised and under control.  Mary would tell me when a contraction was imminent and then she’d tell me when to start pushing because obviously I couldn’t feel them although I did slightly feel some nearer the end.  Mary did most of the work for the doctor, she got Poppy’s head right to the point where if I pushed anymore Poppy might pop out.  I would be pushing and Mary would say “ok stop stop lets wait for the doctor!” lol.  So we paged the doctor and obviously seeing as it was so busy he took a little while to come.  Eventually he came in and we started again.  I pushed and pushed while Drew was encouraging me and doing what supportive husbands do best.  At one point I had to tell him to stop talking because he was distracting me!  Then we came to a bump in the road.

Skip this paragraph if you don’t want to be a bit grossed out! There was a piece of skin that was stopping Poppy from coming any further.  Every time I pushed she would come up against this piece of skin and then when I relaxed she would bounce back.  So the doctor had to snip a little bit to allow Poppy to pass through.

Once this was done Poppy was on her way!  I think it was at this point where everyone was going crazy at the sight of Poppy’s hair and so much of it!!  The doctor asked if I wanted to reach down and feel her head, I wasn’t sure at first but I did in the end.  This was where I lost it!  I could feel my baby!  She was finally here!  A few more pushes now and she was out.  Drew was in tears. My mother in law at this point had come to stand next to Drew and she was sobbing too, but the room was so peaceful. It was a beautiful atmosphere.  The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and she came out blue, but Drew said the doctor went swoop swoop swoop and she was free.  She was put on my tummy and we were all crying and overwhelmed with joy. Then she got carried over to the warmer where another nurse was waiting to clean her off a bit and wrap her up.  This was the time that we phoned Africa and got my Mum on the phone.

Drew held the phone up to Poppy so Mum could hear her crying, a very special moment for my Mum.   While Poppy was under the warmer the doctor was fixing me up.  I was bleeding a lot and he was vigorously massaging my uterus and getting the nurse to take over while he gave me stitches and gave me a medication to contract my uterus to stop the bleeding.  I later found out that my EBL (estimated blood loss) was 750ml which the doc said was more than they usually see.  Thankfully they got the bleeding under control and nothing else came of it.

Poppy was then put it my arms and I met my little girl for the first time.  I was exhausted and in a daze but the moment was magical.  Drew’s Dad and brother came in and Poppy met everyone.  Lots of photos were taken and it was a special time for everyone.  Then a nurse came in and we watched Poppy get her first bath.  A little while after that I got into a wheel chair and we went down to the post-partum unit.

Here ends my labour story.   As I write this I can’t help but want to cry because it was such an amazing day, from the moment I realised I was bleeding in the beginning to the moment she was put in my arms all bundled up.  I look back at it fondly and love remembering how our angel came into the world. – I love you, Poppy.

Well, the other morning I woke up to the sweetest sight.  Poppy was lying next to Drew with only her diaper on, wrapped in our bed sheets and snuggled under Drew’s arm.  She was lying on her side and her little arms just looked so cute!  I had to run downstairs and grab the camera to capture this sweet sight.  I wanted to get Drew in the photo too but he didn’t like that idea.

An Angel Named Jessica

22166So where to start.  Nursery furniture an be so expensive new and there was just no way Drew and I could afford it on a student’s budget, so the next option was second hand….still people would ask $100 maybe more, maybe slightly less but when you think about 4-5 pieces of furniture in one room it all adds up to a crazy amount that we just don’t have lying around right now.  Then one day an angel popped onto my computer screen in the form of a facebook message from Jessica (Drew’s lovely cousin who was actually present at our wedding in England, too!).  She was writing to ask if we wanted the crib and changer that her daughter had been using but was now ready to transition into a big girl’s bed so had no need of the nursery furniture anymore!  Oh you could not imagine the relief that swept over my soul when I read that message.  Jessica also graciously wanted to give us a whole bunch of her daughter Lauren’s old clothes which were in fantastic condition and super super cute!!!  I think Jessica may have a special place in my heart, not only for her generosity and kindness but for the fact that she thought of us and realized what a huge blessing giving us all those things would be!  We love you Jessica, all 3 of us!!!

Ikea Mom

With that taken care of we were then able to look at other pieces that would match the color of the crib and changer.  Where to look…IKEA of course!  One of mine and Drew’s favourite stores.  Its not the highest of quality but its cool, funky, affordable and modern.  So with only about 10 Ikea stores in the whole of the USA we had to make some calls!  I found a good 4-drawer dresser on the website and knew that my mother-in-law was going to be visiting a store in Pittsburgh really soon.  So I contacted her and asked her to see what the display one looked like and if she thought it was cute enough for her first grand-daughter’s room, then to go ahead and buy it and we’d pick it up when visiting them next.  So then we had a crib, a changer and a 4-drawer dresser, none of which was actually in our house or in our hands.

Nursery in the Explorer

22043Being in nursing school really helps me to keep busy and distracted from getting crazy obsessed with baby stuff.  If I were sitting around at home or even doing a day job, I would just go crazy with wanting to buy everything now now now!  So forgetting about the nursery for a while was ok.  Until spring break arrived and we were able to take some time out to travel up to Pennsylvania to visit the in-laws and then take a day trip to Ohio to collect the furniture from Jessica.  Everything went really smoothly and we came driving back from PA with a nursery in the back of our Explorer!  Funnily and kinda freakishly enough on our way up to PA we passed Ikea, right there on the motorway!  So on the way home we stopped in to look around, we just love walking through the rooms imagining what we can do with our own place one day.  Well, while we were there we spotted a cute bookcase in one of the childrens’ rooms and with it being nice and big and under $100 we had to get it!  The funny thing was, as we walked through the rest of Ikea we wondered the whole time whether we had room in the car or not….we were determined to make it fit though.  By the time we got back in to Wake Forest we literally did have the whole nursery in the back of our explorer.  A crib, a changer, a dresser, a rocking chair (that we are borrowing from my in-laws. Matt, Drew and probably Justin too were all rocked and nursed in that rocking chair!) and finally we had a super cute bookshelf too.

Up in No Time

I think we had 75% of the furniture assembled and in position the night we got back from PA, we were so excited.  I moved the fake tree we had in our room into Poppy’s room and put some fairy lights on it to act as a night light.  And then used a shelf I already had that at one point was up in the bathroom but we kept knocking it off the wall so I took it down, now it looks perfect in Poppy’s room above the dresser.

A Match Made in Gingham

22221By the end of my 3 week spring break, we had the whole nursery set up. I also bought the bedding–that took me a long time to decide on and a whole other story!  Bedding can be incredibly expensive!  But with the savings we had made so far we really wanted to go ahead and get Poppy bedding that she would use for a few years.  So we went with a ladybird (for the British) ladybug (for the Americans) theme, with pale pink and apple green color for accents.  I did say I didn’t want to go over the top with pink: I like pink but I think its so typical with babies to just go over the top with the pink, so I wanted to use red seeing as Poppy has the same name as a red flower and apple green is a nice bright colour.   Oh, also while at the Ikea on the way home from PA we bought a lamp for Poppy’s room, I think its so pretty, its soft yet gets pretty bright once the bulb warms up and has these lovely flowers that stand out when the light is on.  The valances over the windows were a bargain, too.  I found them for $1.50 a piece on sale at Walmart, I got four panels to make sure I had enough to go across and I think it looks great with the extra length to be able to make the ruffles.  The green color pretty much matches exactly with the bedding and being gingham, too…..PERFECT MATCH!

Basket Cases

22209The baskets you see around the room are from various places.  The two big baskets on the changer shelves I found at Marshalls for $10 each which I thought was good for nice big baskets.  The three baskets on the wall I got from this big warehouse type place up in PA that we went to while visiting my in-laws. I thought they would be great for storing things like blankets and burp cloths and things you want handy; I think they look great as decoration too.  I added the ribbons which I got from Walmart and took a while to decide whether I should use three different ribbons or all the same or just two…..let me know what you think.

Gifts

22257There is a white basket on the bookshelf which I picked up in a Goodwill for a couple of dollars; works great to keep Poppy’s little toys in.  There are also bits and pieces around the room that are gifts people have already given us.  Drew’s Grandma bought Poppy the pink piggy bank, I think she even put a few pennies in it.  The Paddington Bear with mini passport was given to me years ago by my older sister Sally: I think she wanted me to take him to different places and take a photo of him at major landmarks….maybe we will get to do that with Poppy.  Drew’s Aunt Carol bought us the Anne Geddes baby record book–love it!  Its a very simple, straight forward baby book with cute photos, I’m excited to start writing in it!  The baby shoes also on the bookshelf were worn by Drew when he was a little boy and the Johnson’s baby bath gift set was given to us by a regular customer at the Tea Room.  Drew and I have just been blown away by our regular customers from the Tea Room.  Another couple gave us this BEAUTIFUL pale pink dress, its in one of the photos I took of clothes hanging on the crib, its a traditional style of dress. So precious. She’ll look like an angel in it.  The books on the bookshelf are a combination of books I already had that I’ve collected over the years, I have a few Dr. Seuss books, a mini book called The Queens Knickers and others I have found over the years and loved so much I wanted to buy them.  A whole bunch of the books came from my mother-in-law, some were Drew’s and I think some were Justin’s.  Last but not least there is a photo album on the windowsill with Poppies on the cover, this was given to us by a friend’s Mother who when heard that we had named our baby Poppy saw this gift and had to buy it.

An Adventure

As you can see the construction of our nursery has been an adventure!  We have been so blessed by so many people already and those are only the things you can see in the photos!  That dresser is full of clothes and bits and bobs that people have already given to us. It’s just awesome.  As I write this I feel a little body inside me stretching after a nice long sleep, and we are just so excited to meet her at the right time.

I shall be sure to post an updated photo when the wooden letters arrive!

It’s thrilling to think what all I could do while on a week-long fast from class, but basically it comes down to a careful tension between doing something or doing nothing. Should I take this opporunity to sleep, read (for pleasure), peruse the Internet, dj, and sleep (yeh sleep twice)? Or, should I be a good boy and get a headstart on my upcoming papers due and therefore make my life easier in the long run?

I think I’ll go downstairs, watch a movie, and eat a bowl of ice cream and think about it. =)