Wherefore art thou Juliet?

It was Thursday, May 9^th, at approximately 7am. This was actually our second visit to the maternity wing in three days, what with the false alarm we had on the 7^th. Since that visit came to nothing, we fell back on the original plan of a scheduled induction on the 9^th. Worked out better that way anyway: We had someone to watch the older girls and I had already planned to take those days off of work.

We got checked in and Bethany got her IV going – she was Strep B positive and had to have a course of antibiotics before they would induce. We were familiar with this process because the same thing happened when Cora was born. This time, however, I knew that if I wanted to leave the hospital to go get anything (a sub for lunch or Starbucks, for example), that I should go early in the process rather than later in the day (a lesson I learned the hard way when I almost missed Cora’s birth because I was getting a sub at Quizno’s). This time I made sure Bethany was set, then I scampered out to get my big coffee at Starbucks (I had a coupon).

I think Bethany and I both had it in mind that the day could stretch on for a while. How pleasant for all concerned, then, when it got to be 2:47pm and, after pushing for a mere 20 minutes, Bethany brought our third daughter, Juliet, into the world. In contrast to our older two girls, who both had light, sparse hair on their pink heads, Juliet came out with a full head of dark brown hair. She also cried immediately, a glorious sound that indicates her little lungs are working properly. Her name, Juliet Paige, is a combination of the two names we liked the most. Juliet literally means “soft-haired” and is associated with more than one strong female literary character. Paige means “servant,” and we as her parents take seriously our task of raising her to serve her Lord Jesus Christ.

 

She had a bit of trouble eating in the hospital, so the nurses rigged up this bottle-and-tube contraption to get some formula into her while Bethany was feeding her. The doctor was mildly concerned at her one-week appointment that she wasn’t gaining weight quickly enough, but a week later she had caught up and doctor and mommy relieved their worries.

Now, our dark-haired beauty is three and a half weeks old, doing well, sleeping 3-4 hours at a time during the night (as good as we could hope, really, at this point), and keeping us on our toes. It’s only been three years or so since we did this baby thing last, but I had forgotten some things: how much they spit up, how floppy they are, how great it is to have your Sunday School class bring you dinner every other night for a couple of weeks (thanks guys!), and how awesome and terrifying it is to be now wholly responsible for a tiny human person. Praise be to God for His grace, because the task is far above our heads.

Major life events for May 2013: Have baby girl – CHECK!

OK, what’s next?