Caleb Joseph Gardner
Born November 12, 2012 at 2:00 pm weighing 6 lbs 11 oz and stretching 19.5 inches
He's here! (Well, he got here 7 weeks ago but the documentation had to take a back seat for a while.) After a wonderful (long) pregnancy our sweet boy finally made his appearance. The delivery went perfect just like it did with his big sister - I mean we are talking total dejavu. It was wonderful. We went in to the hospital at 7:00 that morning, Dr. B came in to discuss the plan for the day, then D came in to start the epidural. Can I say it's great to personally know everyone who took care of me? Dr. B is so fantastic I told Paul we needed to get all our kids here to our family before he retires cause once he's gone I'm done. My anesthetist is in our stake (and used to be in our ward) and so Paul and I chatted away while he started my epidural. My nurses were also my colleagues. I love working at the hospital. As a nurse we don't play favorites to patients and treat everyone equally, but I sure felt like they all gave me the special treatment. So once the epidural was started Dr. B broke my water and put a scalp electrode on the baby's head to monitor him closely. After having a C-section with Ben all future deliveries have to be monitored much more closely. Once that was set we settled in and waited.
The time from 10:00 till about 1:30 was a very special sacred spiritual time. The veil was very thin and heaven was in the room. Its a hard thing to put into words, maybe because it's not meant to be put into words. It was a holy, tangible, spirit speaking to spirit moment I will never forget.
At about 1:30 my nurse came in to check me and said, "WHOA! THERE HE IS!! DON'T PUSH!" She grabbed her cell phone and called Dr. B. He asked if there was time for him to see one more patient and she said, "NOPE! You better get here NOW!" He was there in 2 minutes. I would have never known he came all the way from the clinic.
Long story short (too late) - two pushes and he was here! Our sweet baby boy!
That night I sat in awe looking at this new sweet little spirit who had come into our lives. The miracle of creation and the miracle of life is something I will never understand and always be so very grateful for. I stroked Caleb's feather soft rust colored hair. I let his fingers wrap around mine. LOOK AT THOSE HUGE HANDS. I mean really - this kid can palm a golf ball. We have high hopes for his future :) The sweet little sounds, the yawns and sneezes and hiccups, the sweet peace. There is nothing like it in the world. I feel overwhelmed by the blessing it is to be a mother. No matter how they come into our lives, children are a miracle.
Coming home was...interesting. It took its toll on my emotions. I felt safe in the hospital, plenty of people to be there at a moments notice. I had 3 more kids at home, one still being so tiny herself. Would they be okay? Would she be okay? Would I be okay? I was worried. But that worry quickly disappeared as I realized that Heaven was still here with us, and even more abundant within the walls of our home. Heavenly Father loves these kids infinitely more than we ever could. These siblings loved each other before they even came to earth. They will take care of each other, and we will take care of them...and they will take care of us.
For the first few weeks Caleb was known as "the baby brother" because we don't tell the baby's name until they are here. And since he had been known as "the baby brother" for many months before his birth the name stuck. It was hilarious.
Ben: "Mom, I think the baby bwotho needs to be fed because the baby bwotho is cwying."
Now that nickname has been shortened to "bruth" by Ben and "bubba" by Abby.
We are so thankful our little Caleb Baby is here at last. Welcome to the crew Sweet Boy!
