The Flight and The Light

Welcome

To the story of our dear, little Lucy.  Before we get into the story -- which Chris would probably call 'Epic,' we'll share some pictures from our Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations.  Here are Chris and I dressed up in our Hindustani best.  This was at a Thanksgiving party with our other American friends in Kite City.  We were actually able to put together a meal of roast chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, creamed corn, cornbread, pumpkin pie, and apple pie.  What a treat!

 

 Here's Daddy giving Abe a Superman ride.

 And here's a family picture that Thanksgiving day.

 After dinner, we participated in one of our friends' family traditions: a gingerbread house making contest!  Jed had a great time putting candies on the house.  Abe had a great time eating them.

 Our house was the one on the left.  We were the only ones with small children working with us, but Chris had a lot to do with the construction.  We had a helicopter pad on the top of our house and wheels on the sides, so it was really more of a trailer.  There was also a monkey who knocked down one of our bears and stole our bananas.  Fun was had by all.

 That Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent and we had family worship, just like every Sunday.  Jed and Abe helped with the music part of things.

 Then we lit the candle and learned about the first week of Advent.  They really got into the wreath and, also, the knowledge that we were going to do a fun activity every day until Christmas.  We've had to put that plan on hold until we get back to our city, but we will complete the wreath then!

 That first week, our first activity was getting a Christmas Tree and decorations.  Jed and Chris found the tree at a roadside plant stand and then we found some ornaments and lights at a random shop downtown.

 Jed decided we needed to have candy on our tree like they did at our house in Minneapolis, so since there aren't candy canes in India, we bought some suckers and tied string to them and hung them on our tree.

 We received a wonderful package from Grandma Lee and Papa Jim with coloring books, crayons, scissors, baloons, and candy!  The boys were so excited, they wanted to do everything at once.

 So, now we head into the saga of Lucille Josephine's birth . . .

We thought we had everything set up in Kite City for the baby's birth.  We had midwives who were coming from Delhi, a hospital checked out for emergencies, a friend who would help Chris until the midwives got here, some friends who would watch the boys, a driver set up to wait at our flat in case we needed to get there.  So, a few days after my due date, I started having stronger contractions and we set our plan in motion.  Problem was, that as soon as the midwives got there, the contractions slowed down, but kept going for the rest of the day and made me feel like it could start up for real anytime.  The midwives spent the night, but nothing happened.  Grrrrrrr!!!!!

So, now we had used our plan, but it didn't work.  Also, one of the midwives had small kids that she couldn't leave for another day.  She was also the one with the car.  Now what????  They couldn't make another trip for the real occasion, so Chris and I decided we needed to visit the hospital and talk with the doctor to see if everything would work to have a normal delivery there.  So, Friday morning, we headed to the hospital.  Enter new problem:  as we talked with the doctor, she didn't sound as welcoming and helpful as the first time we had been there.  She started trying to convince us to go to the government hospital where I had visited and felt so sorry for the women who had no other option but to deliver there.  We knew we couldn't do that.  Then, she told us that, in essence, Chris would maybe or maybe not be allowed in the delivery room and that I would not be able to hold the baby until about half an hour after birth.  Anyone who knows Chris and I knows that these two things were deal-breakers for us.  So, we left the hospital knowing that we wouldn't be back and that we had to get to Delhi where we knew that Chris could witness his child's birth.

We went ahead and had an ultrasound done before we left so we would have something to show a Delhi doctor and the ultrasound tech told me that the baby was measuring about 4 weeks smaller than it was and that its movements were 'sluggish'.  Well, I called my midwife who reassured me that small babies can still be very healthy and that babies sleep in the womb and might have just been tired.

We got back to our apartment very confused and stressed.  Where would we stay?  What would we do?  How soon could we leave?  Our baby was already 8 days overdue!  (And I was having some decent contractions, but didn't want to bring that up to Chris).  During the next few hours, we looked into friends' homes, hotels, everything we could think of and nothing was working.  We also spent time in prayer.  Right after one of these prayer times, we called our friend, Kevin.  He was trying to help us with a hotel when he mentioned that his aunt had a vacant, unfurnished flat we could use.  Well, up until a few weeks ago, we were living in an unfurnished flat and this seemed like the best possible option.  We hurriedly packed up mats and beds, dishes, food, shower stuff, bedding, baby stuff, homebirth stuff, etc.  Our car came and we hopped in.  Chris' friend, Lareb, joined us on the trip to Delhi to make sure we found the flat okay.

On the way, Chris and I talked about how fitting this trip was so near Christmas.  As we bumped hurriedly along the Indian roads, passing bullock carts and families on scooters, I thought of Mary and her donkey.  As we headed to an unfurnished flat to make a nest for ourselves, I thought how there was no inn for Jesus either, but He got a stable!  Chris also was reminded of the flight from Egypt and we talked about the difficulty for pregnant women or women in labor!  Meanwhile, my labor pains got stronger and closer together . . .

We reached the flat and set up the beds, ate some dinner, and called the midwives to meet us there.  Our friend, Lareb, headed for his parents' house and our other friends, Kevin and Suzana, brought us a few supplies that we needed.  At about this time, we took this picture:
Lucille Josephine still on the inside :)

 So, after the midwives arrived and all the others left, we put the boys to bed and my labor started getting more serious.  At about 5:30 we knew the baby would be here soon and about that time, Jed woke up.  Chris ran to put him back in his room and tell him that the baby would come soon, Mama was working hard, and Daddy would come get him as soon as the baby came.

As her head came out, Jed poked his head back in the room!  Chris threw him his phone to play angry birds as Abe started crying in the next room and I pushed her body out at 5:52am.  This chaos combined with the darkness of the room and the stress of the day might explain why, as Lucy was passed to me to start nursing, Chris proclaimed, "It's Caleb, Em, we have Caleb!"  Well, the midwives and I didn't think to check, and she was immediately wrapped and put on my chest.  So, for the next 2 hours, we thought we had a beautiful baby boy!  Chris brought Jed and Abe in to meet their 'brother' and this was the scene that morning around 6:00am.

 Here's the first time Chris held Lucy.  This picture was taken right before he gave 'Caleb' his blessing.

 Here Abe is learning how to touch the baby gently.  He has such a hard time containing his excitement!

 And then, about 2 hours later, the midwives took off the towels to do the weighing and measuring and such.  As they opened the towels, I heard Chris say in a shocked voice, "It's Lucy!  Em, you have your girl!"  I looked over and Chris and Manga, our midwife, were just staring in shock.  I started laughing and didn't stop for a while.  Here's Manga weighing her: 8lbs 3oz.  21 in. long.  So much for a small baby! 

 And here are Lucy's feet.  They're exactly like mine!! Thin with long toes and the second toe longer than the first one.

 And here is our girl.  She was very frustrated that we took her from her warm blankets and Mama!

 I wanted to put in a good picture of our wonderful midwife, Manga.  We didn't get a picture of her assistant, Carrie, though.  These ladies were absolutely wonderful!  They helped to make this day such a blessing for our whole family.  They knew just when to jump in and help and when to step back and let us have time.  I couldn't have asked for a better experience -- except maybe not having to pack the house and drive 4 hours beforehand . . .

 Here is our wonderful friend, Suzana.  She came over that first afternoon to watch the baby and play with the boys so Chris and I could get some rest.

 And her husband, Kevin, came by to help Chris out, too!

 Now a few shots of our precious Lucy Jo's face!  Her eyes are dark blue and her peach fuzz hair is medium brown.

 Jed loves to hold his sister and sing to her!  He's already wrote her a few songs.

 I finally wrote her a song, too.  I had already written Caleb's song while I held her those first few hours.  It took my mind a while to wrap my head around the change!

 Here's our goofy boy!!!

 Abe has been needing a little more hugging and loving -- though he's always been a cuddler!  Besides figuring out how he fits with the new sister, his stomach hasn't been doing very well.  So, I've been trying to give him some extra Mama time.

 Lucille's guys giving her kisses!  She's one blessed little girl!

 There's a difference in how Daddy holds his girl!

 They already love napping together!

 And here is our friend, Lareb, who helped us pack up and get here.  This is the youngest baby he has ever held!

 To end this post, here's evidence that with a new baby, not everything changes. 

 Abe and Jed still love to wrestle . . .

 and run . . .

and little Lucy Jo will have a lot of growing to do if she wants to keep up  :)

For now, though, we are so happy with our little girl and are trying to rest when we can.  She is already holding up her head, lifting it when she is on her stomach, and she even rolled from her left to right side yesterday!  Sluggish?  I don't think so!

The one thing I know, is that God has truly directed our steps through this whole experience.  We have felt him with us and known that He has watched us every step of the way -- even when we were close to despairing.  The name Lucille means 'Light Bearer' and Josephine means 'May God Add'.  Our prayer for Lucy Jo is that God would Add Light through her life to those around her -- that He would shine His glory in the girl and woman she becomes.  That others would be added to His kingdom because of His work in her life.  So far, so good!  We love you all and can't wait for her to meet you!