Gasp...A Granddaughter
Shannon Elizabeth Freedom Sadler is going to be a life-changer for me, that's for sure. She popped out of mommy (with quite a bit of excitement when she made her first appearance with the chord wrapped around her neck not once, but twice, and her face looking a drastically horrible shade of purple). Jen's doctor never panicked...he knew exactly what to do...and as soon as the chord was cut and lifted from around her little neck, she turned the prettiest shade of pink I've ever seen.
Shannon set to squalling when the nurse so rudely tried to clean her off...can you even imagine? Dark eyes peering out from under a headful of dark hair...and growing quiet at the sound of her mommy's voice. But for me the miracle was watching my oldest son lay eyes on the tiny girl...and watching her study his face intently. I know she can't really see him yet...but she sure seemed to want to memorize everything about him.
She looked all around her new world. I got to hold her and sing "Welcome to my World"...just a little line because I was almost too choked up to do anything. The little package...6 lbs 15 oz and 19 inches of love...just absolutely took my breath away. I had done my best all day to post tidbits as the labor moved along because so many were praying and rejoicing with us. But the culmination...the birth...was so astounding.
It was different than LeeAnne's birth...rushed into an emergency C-section followed by the adjustment to learning about how special a gift we'd been given in Holden. It was different from Enith giving birth to Orlando...where we waited a whole 4 minutes in the waiting room to get the announcement that his early arrival was also not going to be without complications...and rushing home to throw something in a suitcase and head to Buffalo to be with him his first night at Children's. It was different than Luke's birth...a long way from here and we didn't meet him till he was about six weeks old. It was different than Roman's birth...because we sat home caring for his big brother and didn't get to the hospital till later in the day to meet and hold him.
No...this was almost like having a child again...only without the pain. I watched Jen deal with the early contractions of induced labor and saw that look of worry on her face as the pain started to get unbearable. I saw her disappointment that her few hours of labor in the morning had not caused any more progress beyond 4 centimeters. And then the miracle hour happened. Mommy settled down to rest once the epidural was in...she tried to doze (but the blasted machines seemed to have a sixth sense about when she was dropping off and alarm bells would startle her back from slumber land). Only an hour later she started to "fret"...wondering why they weren't coming to check on her because her contractions had become very strong and regular. We knew this only because the machines and internal monitor told us so...Jen was enjoying the oblivion that comes only with the epidural. I stepped into the hall to ask the nurse when they were going to check on her...answered when asked, "Is she feeling pressure?" with "I think she's feeling 'nervous'."
And then it seems like everything moved into fast forward. The nurse's face changed...eyebrows rising...and she smiled and said, "I need to call the doctor." As she moved from the room, Jen said, "Where am I? Have I dilated more?" and the nurse said, "Oh, yes...I'd say you were a 9." After making the call the nurse returned and refused to let Jen roll to her side, saying, "I think you need to stay right where you are. I've brought everything in and I'm prepared to help you if the doctor doesn't get here in time...but let's see if we can't keep you relaxed till then." And you've already read the results of his appearing.
He pulled that precious baby from her mother and I could only stare in awe...and I was supposed to be capturing the event on film! Perfection....10 toes....10 fingers....curly black hair plastered to her head...really not messy at all like I'd anticipated. I stepped to the bassinette with the nurse to get some pictures and found myself cooing and staring and marveling at what I was seeing.
There's another part of this that needs to be told. You see, twenty-seven years ago today I married Andy's father. We did everything we could to make that marriage work and 3 kids and 17 years later, Sherman was the one that realized it wasn't working and walked away from it...painful...I thought mostly for us then, but have come to realize the high price he paid for that decision. We're both in better, healthier, more loving marriages now. But he missed this day...missed the joy of seeing his first granddaughter come into the world. He'll be here in a couple of weeks to see all the kids and grandkids. But as I sent some video to him of today's happenings, I thanked him for helping me make the biggest mistake of our lives...loving each other enough to have three beautiful, strong, healthy children...and now watching God "work things to good" in their lives...and the lives of their children...our grandchildren.
Today I am blessed beyond measure. In a world living in economic turmoil, all of my children have jobs. In a world filled with war and hate, I am surrounded by my children's children and about all the love one woman can stand. I have the most remarkable, giving, unselfish, godly, sacrificing husband that I do not deserve. My life is not without heartache...I will celebrate my first Father's Day without a father to call this year. My mother is home in Louisiana in pain and I can't be there to help her. I found out today my sister-in-law will have a biopsy on a lump in her breast next month. I have friends who are in physical pain and emotional pain and turmoil in their lives. But for tonight...for this one night...I will selfishly and gloriously give in to the overwhelming joy in my heart at the miracle of having a granddaughter...with curly dark hair, her daddy's (and his daddy's) nose, her mom's beautiful lips, long fingers, health......so much to celebrate and enjoy tonight. And now a treasured written memory of the day that brought more change and another new chapter in "The Afternoon of Life".
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