Now
that we've covered all the obligatory stats, let me answer your real question:
How do you pronounce her name? I'm glad you asked. Think of it like
"Chanukah." The "Ch" makes an "H" sound (although
if you want to be technical it is the gutteral "chet" sound in
Hebrew) and both a-sounds are long. HAH-nuh.
"Channah"
is (obviously) a Hebrew name meaning "grace" or "gracious,"
which makes her name "Grace Grace." In keeping with the meaning of
her name we have chosen 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 as her life verse:
"To
this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his
calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his
power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in
him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."
Channah
arrived as scheduled, via c-section. I was very much relieved that we didn't
have a surprise trip to the hospital since that meant that my parents had
arrived to care for the other three children,
we were able to finish our homeschool year, my doctor of choice was able to do
my 4th c-section (about which I was a little extra nervous), and we were able
to have our photographer friend come to the hospital and capture the special
day.
We
arrived at Labor & Delivery around 6:45am, were checked in by the
receptionist, and were escorted to Room 13. Obviously knowing the drill, I put
my hospital gown on and sat down in the rocking chair to wait for my nurse. 40
minutes later we were still waiting for someone to come in and get the party
started. My cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, but answered anyway,
out of pure curiosity. It was a labor & delivery nurse from the hospital
wondering if I was planning to come in for my delivery. Totally confused, I said
something super-intelligent like, "But I'm here!" She responded,
"Oh great! Are you on your way up to Labor & Delivery?" "No.
I'm here. Like...here...in Room 13." I don't exactly recall how that
conversation ended but less than a minute later several nurses rushed in the
room. The nurse who had called me started apologizing profusely. Apparently
since we came close to shift-change we had just sort of fallen through the
cracks. We thought it was hilarious and once they realized that we weren't
upset we had a great time joking about it and laughing about the mass chaos
going on to get me ready for surgery at 9:00. There were four nurses working on
various preparatory procedures as well as the nurse from the nursery who would
attend the birth, the anesthesiologist, and several other people in and out of
the room. It was fun to recognize several of the people involved in Channah's
birth who had also assisted in the births of our other children. For example,
the nurse who called my cell phone was actually my (very much beloved) labor
nurse when I delivered Benjamin.
After
a rather frenzied hour of prep it was a case of "hurry up and wait"
as my doctor was in another surgery so we waited for about half an hour before
they were actually ready to take me to the OR. Once I was there it seemed to
take longer than normal to get things started. People kept coming in and
introducing themselves to me - an assisting nurse, the anesthesiologist (a
different one than the one who came to my room earlier), the assisting surgeon,
the neonatologist, etc., etc., etc. - but they still had not brought Seth in.
They were putting up the sheet that prevents me from seeing what they are doing
to my poor gigantic belly and getting ready to start and he still wasn't there.
I was honestly panicked that they had forgotten. I remember saying, "WAIT!
Where's Seth?" (They hadn't forgotten him, I guess I was just a little out
of it. :) ) He came in a few seconds later.
I
was really nervous about the c-section this time. There was a slight
possibility that it could have been a little extra complicated because of where
my placenta was attached in proximity to where the incision would be, but my
doctor had told me she didn't think it would be a problem. I'm not sure why I
was scared, but I spent the first few minutes tensely listening for signs of
how everything was going. It wasn't long, however, before I felt the gigantic
push and heard the sweet sounds of my precious baby girl. That first cry is
always my favorite part!
One
of the most exciting parts about the birth was that I actually got to see
Channah just seconds after she was born. I was in an OR I had not been in
before which was set up differently. With the other three children the warmer,
scale, etc. for the baby has always been at the foot of the operating table so
I have never been able to see more than a glimpse of the babies for the first
10 minutes or so after they were born. My first memories of each of their lives
are of what I could hear alone. This time they had the equipment for the baby
situated near the head of the table so I was able to watch all the cleaning and
diapering and weighing and foot stamping sweetness. I am so thankful I was able
to share in these moments.
Channah
is very much adored. The kids love their new baby sister. The girls,
especially, love to hold her and amuse her during her brief periods of
wakefulness. Benjamin is also very sweet and patient with her crying. We aren’t
sure who she looks like. She is unmistakably a Rodriquez baby, but she doesn’t
look exactly like any of the other kids. When she was first born I could see
Benj in her face at times and Talia at others. I was fairly certain she didn’t
look much like Leila, but over the past week she has started to look much more
like Leila. Her hair is lighter than any of our other babies, more medium brown
as opposed to the black/dark brown hair the others were born with. So far she
does not appear to have curly hair (Leila’s was curly at birth!), but in true
Rodriquez fashion she has plenty of it. One distinctive feature is her
super-long toes. They are adorable.
This
delivery was by far the smoothest, even though it was my fourth c-section. One
of my nurses told me that she read in my chart that I barely had any scar
tissue at all! Considering that I had so much 2 pregnancies ago that I had
stretched internally to “paper thinness,” this is beyond amazing to me. My
recovery was also amazingly easy. Many of the normal symptoms that I have
experienced each time were not an issue at all. God has truly answered our
prayers and blessed us immensely through Channah’s birth. Another amazing
answer to prayer is that I am feeling emotionally normal. Usually by the third
day I start to feel mildly depressed or at least weepy and slightly irrational.
By the time I left the hospital I was still feeling totally like myself. During
our first week home Channah developed some issues with nursing and I had a few
meltdowns due to frustration and the sheer pain of it, but overall I think it
is safe to say I am avoiding the postpartum depression I have experienced with
previous deliveries. I am so thankful!
We
are definitely experiencing an adjustment period with the kids. They
immediately loved and accepted Channah as a member of the family, but we are
seeing the transition take place in other areas like obedience, getting along
with each other, and responsibility. Already this week has been much better
than last week, our first week “on our own,” but we are currently in the midst
of obedience boot camp and would appreciate your prayers.
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