God's Handiwork

Today we got up at 4:45 a.m. to ready ourselves to leave for the hospital at 5:00 a.m. Grandpa Bob arrived at 5:15 a.m. to take over the care of the other kiddos. We headed for the hospital with Joel, got him settled and then waited in the lobby. The doctor came about 8:15 a.m. to tell us all had gone well. We headed up to the pediatric ward to a screaming Joel. He screamed for about and hour until the anesthesia wore off. The doctor said Joel could eat a regular diet, so I got him his favorite food--a banana. Instead he decided he wanted the yogurt I had gotten for Daddy. Joel quickly gave up on the inefficient spoon and decided to drink the yogurt right out of the cup. Then he ate the banana. That's my boy!
The doctor came to check on us at 9:30 a.m. and told us we could leave whenever we were ready. We hadn't expected this at all, but were quite pleased because it meant that Matt could accompany me to my ultrasound at 10:30. God is good. We called our friend Peggy, who had offered to be with me during my appointment so that Matt could stay with Joel, and told her she didn't need to come after all. We changed Joel's shirt and diaper (the doctor made more room in his diaper area--so much nicer than before). Then we headed to my appointment.
The ultrasound went very well. We're pleased to announce that the Lord has blessed us with a healthy baby boy. After a trip to the ER the week before Christmas and a diagnosis of "miscarriage," we couldn't be more overjoyed that all is looking well with this little guy. His kidneys, his 4-chambered heart, his bones, his spine, stomach, diaphragm, brain--everything looks good. He is being knit together in his mother's womb by an awesome Creator, who is worthy to be praised. This is why we plan to name him Jude (which means praise and thanks) Christoper (his Daddy's middle name).
Matt and I went to pick up the other kids, who had spent the morning with Miss Cami (Jenny's daughter). She spoils the kids silly and they love it. The kids had been tossing coins and couldn't decide whether the new baby would be a boy, a girl or twins. Our announcement of "it's a boy!" ended the controversy. Then we all headed home for a much needed quiet time.
Tonight we will finish packing for the home school conference. The Lord has truly made the way straight for us to go. We'll leave tomorrow and are praying for a weekend of extraordinary encouragement and blessing. Thanks for all the prayers. We are truly blessed to be supported by the Body of Christ in such an awesome way.