Our Baby is Growing

One of Those Years...

My mom pointed out to me this morning all that had happened in my life in the past year. Then I remembered that in the space of 13 months, I'd gotten married, moved from Washington to Georgia, honeymooned in Greece, had a baby, and graduated from college! Include in there trips to New Hampshire, Maine, South Carolina, and Washington. This next year should be a breeze!

Today was my college graduation in Louisiana. We were planning to go, but ultimately decided last week the trip would be too much with a newborn and his recovering mom. Kind of disappointing, but even if I missed the pomp and circumstance and it doesn't seem real, I still earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music -- a goal of a number of years now. I'm very glad I did it, however unconventional the route was! God is good.

It Came to Pass...

"There's no turning back now," I murmured to Dennis as I waited in pre-op, having just had numerous things stuck in and on me. A final ultrasound revealed what I already knew -- that the baby hadn't moved from his oblique breach position.

It was Tuesday morning, April 14. We had prayed that if it wasn't the Lord's will to have a c-section, the baby would move, but he didn't, so we were where we were supposed to be. This was going to be the most major surgery I'd ever had. But I clung to Isaiah 41:10: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee, be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

Nothing like an operating table to make you feel like a cold slab of meat. Even with the heated blankets, I would often shiver. The doctors actually started the operation a little before Dennis came in. I think the nurse forgot him! Dennis was wonderful. He sat by my head and kept talking to me and kissing me and encouraging me. I couldn't feel any pain, but just a lot of pressure and prodding and pushing on my tummy. Somebody said, "I see a foot!" Unreal. Then a little bit later I heard a newborn cry. Dennis said, "We have a baby," and I started crying! At last, after 9 months, our baby was here and I was a real mommy!

Then Dennis got a little, er, hot, and had to go lie down in another room. :-) They worked on me some more, getting me stitched up. A nurse brought Connor next to my head so I could see him. They had him wrapped so tightly that his lips protruded, but nonetheless, he was beautiful and perfect. Next step for me was the recovery room, where I started feeling the pain. But I won't go into the pain part. Let's just say that I was on some strong drugs for several days and could still feel something!

That's the gist of my birth story! We spent a couple of days in the hospital. My mom flew in that night, so I was very blessed to have both her and Dennis to help me and the baby, especially since I couldn't move very much. My dad came in on Saturday.

Now on to Connor! He is a very beautiful baby, which I'm told is common with c-section babies because they don't get squished in the birth canal. And I don't just say he's beautiful because he's my baby; others have said the same! :-) So far he shows more resemblance to Dennis than to me. But as he grows older, probably other similarities will show up. I chose the name Connor basically because I liked it. When I taught music at a Christian school, there was a cute little boy with that name, and I suppose that's where I became familiar with it. It's an Irish name, and means "wise one." Dennis and I chose Isaiah 11:2,5 for him: "And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord...And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." His middle name, William, is after my dad, and means "bold protector." Who knows what the days ahead of us hold or what Connor's life will hold, but our prayer is that he will be a mighty man of wisdom and courage whom God will use for His glory.

Since coming home, we have been trying to get him on schedule, but he still thinks that daytime is for sleeping and nighttime is for keeping mommy and daddy awake! So mommy and daddy are running low on their sleepometer, but are hopeful that his schedule will stabilize soon. Pray for us! He is nursing well and growing bigger every day, so we're thankful for that. And he's cute as a button!

In other news, today is our first anniversary! Hard to believe that it's been a whole year since I walked down that aisle and said "I do." A lot has happened in a year and the road hasn't all been easy, yet one thing is certain: we love each other a little more every day and are continually grateful that God brought us together!

Announcing...

Connor William Pass

Born April 14, 2009, at 11:58 AM

8 lb. 6 oz., 21 inches long

More details will be forthcoming later, but Mommy and Baby are doing well and we love our little son so much! We came home from the hospital yesterday. Here are a few pictures taken by my cousin Penny on his first day.

We are so thankful to God for this little miracle of life!

38 Weeks!

To Spend and Be Spent

"And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." (2 Corinthians 12:15) There are many qualities I admire about my husband and things I continue to learn about and from him, but one of the greatest qualities about him is his level of selfless, sacrificial love. He's got the stuff that great missionaries of the past were made up of. He's the type that would gladly be a martyr for Jesus or spend 40 years serving lepers, if that's where he was called. When I've asked him before what he would do if I died, he said he might go to India and be a missionary. He's not the type to sit around and feel sorry for himself, but is always thinking about the advancement of the Gospel of Christ, both at home and abroad.

Dennis practices sacrificial service in little ways wherever he goes. He sees the eternal value of every single person, whether it's the inmates he serves at the county jail, the deputies he works with, the person he meets at the store, the little nephew who wants to build a fort, the elderly man at church, etc. Everyone knows he's a very hard worker, but even after a tiring day at work, he comes home with a cheerful word and smile for his wife, helps out with dishes, does little things around the house he knows she would like, goes to a meeting at church, visits a little niece with a hurt eye, shows hospitality to guests, talks to the neighbor, or does a maintenance project at the church or for a friend.

I heard somebody on Christian radio the other day commenting that this present generation is probably the most "me centered" generation ever. Individuality and independence are exalted like never before, while community spirit, interdependence, and service to others is downplayed. It's about MY feelings, MY rights, MY comfort, MY uniqueness, MY preferences, MY time, and MY space. How opposite to the attitude of Christ and the apostles who laid down their lives, their ambitions, their rights, their comfort, etc.! Even in the church, we (I'm speaking in the greater church sense) have become so small-minded. As a woman, I can say that women especially (myself included!) can major on the most minor, trivial things and lose sight of the bigger picture, instead getting wrapped up in hyper-sensitivities and irritations. I'm grateful for a husband who sees that bigger picture -- that we are laborers for the cause of Christ, and sometimes that involves a little discomfort, although our discomfort is SO small compared to what Christians in many countries go through joyfully! I wonder how we would endure persecution?

For Dennis, being a follower of Christ doesn't mean just reading the Bible and praying and saying the right things; it means being a doer of the Word as well, even when it requires sacrifice. Sometimes we don't feel like going to a meeting at church, but we go because we love God, want to be part of His work, and also want to obey the injunction to "not forsake the assembling of ourselves." (Obviously, if we're sick or something, that's different!) We show hospitality to the saints because this is a command given a number of times in the Bible AND it's a practical way to minister love and grace to others. The same goes for giving to someone in need, whether financially or practically. We can bear and forbear the irritating qualities of others because Christ loved us and we are called to love one another. We can send an encouraging word or make a phone call or a visit someone who needs a pick-me-up. I guess the list could go on, and how we serve may look different than how someone else serves because we've been given different gifts and abilities.

Well, this is getting long and I'm rambling, but I felt like I wanted to get some recent thoughts on "paper." I'm grateful for the Godly example of my husband, even though it's often meant getting out of my comfort-zone! I still have a long ways to go in the area of sacrificial love. But I want to work now on not being small-minded, but having the mind of Christ, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:6-8) So what am I whining about today? Does it really matter in the light of eternity?

Happenings Lately

Here are some pictures showing life the past few weeks. I'm 35 weeks along today! You can see the progress of the nursery. It's been fun to get the room ready and get stuff needed for Baby's birthday. A couple weeks ago we went to Louisiana for a wedding. That's me at 33 weeks in the flowered dress, and the one with the mask was taken during a little detour in New Orleans. What a fascinating city!

Last Saturday I was surprised with a baby shower! It was a lovely time with friends, delicious food, games, and of course, presents. I wasn't expecting one this soon, but I'm so glad they did.