Tag: birth

Posted in Life

The first one is turning thirty-eight

Posted on by William Douthwaite

My son turns thirty-eight tomorrow, and I’m trying really hard to remember life as my wife and I were about to have our first child. I didn’t start journaling until 1989, so I don’t have any written record of those moments. His birth also predates the ubiquitous phones that digitally capture every moment. So with a little help from my wife, it’s all going to have to come from memory, which thankfully, is still pretty good.

The morning before his birth, my wife and I were sitting in a rental house in Ft. Wayne, trying to come up with names for whoever would show up that afternoon. She was full term, but he didn’t get the memo. He hadn’t dropped or turned. An x-ray revealed that he as sitting upright with his legs crossed. So the doctor scheduled a caesarian section.

Our house struggled to keep out the bone-chilling Indiana winter as we talked through our short list of names. We were fans of the TV series “Spencer for Hire,” so Spencer was a possibility. In the end, Adam won out. It just sounded right. But what about a middle name? Another biblical name? There are plenty of them. Paging through the gospels we came across Nathaniel. We liked how that sounded. Done.

But what it it’s a girl? Back then, gender reveal happened on your birthday. I asked my wife if she remembered any female names we considered. She didn’t, and neither do I. We had a fifty-fifty chance of not needing one. We took our chances.

At the hospital, while the nurses prepped my wife, I put on a yellow gown, cap, and gloves. When she was ready, a nurse ushered me into surgery, pointed to a stool, and said, “Sit there.” It all happened very quickly. Surrounded by the doctor and nurses, I couldn’t see much until the nurse briefly showed me my son, and then took him to clean him up. My wife had a little trouble breathing due to the spinal anesthesia. But I had to trust they would take good care of her as they quickly ushered me out of the room.

I got to see my wife and we got to hold Adam about an hour later. My in-laws came up that night and got to see him as well. He was a little jaundiced from blood type incompatibility, so he spent the next five days basking under a UV light in a tiny bikini diaper and miniature sunglasses. My wife was able to stay at the hospital with him the whole time.

When it was time to go home, he exploded, as babies often do, ruining the only outfit we brought for him. So he made the trip home wrapped up in a bunch of blankets.

Any birth is miraculous. Holding a new life in your arms is powerful, especially when it’s your child. But the other miracle is that we didn’t have to pay a penny out of pocket for anything related to his birth. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Our seminary-sponsored health insurance cost us $100 a month and covered everything.

So to the best of our recollection, that’s the story of our oldest child’s birth. He’s married with four kids of his own. We’ve got hundreds of pictures of those little ones!

Posted in Life, memories

“I got to watch a delivery!”

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Craig Pattenaude on Unsplash

I sat in on a nursing school labor and delivery class yesterday. The professor was my wife, so I had permission to be there. Just before the lecture began, I listened as the students talked about their clinical experiences.

“I got to watch a delivery!” Timing is everything. There is no guarantee that a baby will arrive during your birth center clinical hours, so not everyone gets to witness a birth.

“I got to hold a mother’s leg to help her push.” Even rarer is the chance to assist in a birth. The nurse you’re following may want to watch from over there and stay out of the way. Or, they may give you the chance to be a part of the moment. You never know.

I smiled and whispered to my wife, “I got to watch three!” The memories of the births of my three children are vivid. I may have written about this sometime in the past, but it’s worth remembering again.

My oldest was born in the dead of winter on a snowy February day in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Sitting upright and cross-legged within my wife, he wasn’t going anywhere without surgery. When we arrived at the hospital, I was told, “Put this on, sit there, don’t move, and don’t touch anything.” In a yellow gown and cap, I sat on a stool just to the left of my wife. I sat up really tall and could just see into the sterile field as the doctor made an incision and suddenly I was a dad.

Number two, a daughter was born less than two years later in Manchester, Connecticut. She also didn’t get the memo about turning to be head down for her birthday. While the doctor knew how to turn a baby in utero, she too was born by c-section. In scrubs this time, I got to sit a little closer and had a better view of the birth. When the big moment arrived, the doctor said, “Get your camera; here we go.” I took a whole roll of film to capture her birth. In a few minutes, I was ushered out of the room, but not before the nurses handed me my cleaned-up and wrapped-up daughter and said, “Hold her while we take care of your wife.” Gladly! I rocked her for forty-five minutes until my wife was ready to meet number two.

Our youngest arrived eight years later. In the late-90’s, before lawyers got involved, vaginal birth after caesarian (VBAC) was encouraged. With a week to go, my wife was induced and I got to be an active part of a delivery. About eight hours in, it was time to push and I got to help hold my wife’s legs and hands as she pushed. Another daughter arrived, I cut the cord, and watched as she met her mom face-to-face for the first time.

I’m blessed to have experienced these moments, too!

Posted in advent, Advent devotions, Devotions

2020 Advent devotion: She gave birth

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Live and in person” Advent devotion for December 19, 2020. Read Luke 2:7 and Psalm 84.

“She gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).

This is it. It’s the big moment. After a stunning annunciation, nine months of pregnancy and a trip to Bethlehem, Mary gives birth to the Spirit-filled Son of God, who is destined to assume the throne of David, reigning over a kingdom that will no end. Mary has contractions, her water breaks, the head appears, a baby cries, the cord is cut, the infant is cleaned up and swaddled. Just like so many other babies, Christ the Savior is born.

There are so many things that can go wrong throughout pregnancy and birth. In our world, it involves prenatal vitamins, doctor appointments, ultrasounds, blood tests and heart-rate monitoring. High-risk pregnancy? There’s even more.

A lot of things go right, too. A tiny heart begins to beat. Internal organs develop. Tiny fingers and toes grow, including unique fingerprints and footprints. Hair grows. The unborn child moves and stretches, impatiently awaiting a birthday! Knit together in a mother’s womb, each child is fearfully and wonderfully made!

That tiny voice once spoke the universe into existence. Those tiny hands once formed the man from the dust. Those tiny feet would soon leave footprints everywhere from Galilee to Calvary. Those little fingers would one day open eyes to see, ears to hear and mouths to speak. So many lives will be changed because Mary gave birth to her firstborn son, Jesus the Christ.

This year, Christmas seems to be the destination. Liturgically, we reach the end of four weeks of Advent. Commercially, we’re wrapping up a longer-than-ever two-months of decorating and shopping. Physically we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel of a long year of distancing and quarantine.

Don’t forget that Christmas is actually the beginning. Soon, people would begin to hear Jesus teach with authority. They would begin to see his power as he commanded the demons, the wind and the waves. They would begin to witness his compassion for the harassed and hurting. They would begin to understand that he came to die and rise again. Christmas would indeed be the beginning of a new creation for all who embraced Jesus as the Christ.

There were no baby showers. No gender reveal celebrations. No cute nursery decorations. No car seat to install. No maternity (or paternity) leave.

Just a birth. Just a son. But what a gift! And what a Savior!

Lord, don’t ever let me forget the miracle and wonder of birth and especially your birth. Amen.