Saturday, October 13, 2012

Family of Four

On Friday, September 7th, we welcomed Matthew Dennis Waldroup -- 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 inches long.  After lots of early contractions through the third trimester and "taking it easy" (partial bedrest), we had a smooth labor and delivery at 38 weeks and 2 days...praise God and thank you to all who prayed for us the last few months.  I continue to thank God for my OB, Dr. Emily Cunningham, and I am thankful for her grace to not put me on full bedrest and wisdom to see us safely to 38 weeks...as well as a wonderful delivery.  My contractions were regular and about 4 minutes apart on Friday morning around 7:00 am but not much stronger than all the early ones I'd been having for months.  We went to the hospital and were 4 cm (which we had been on Wednesday at our 38 week appointment).  After walking around the hospital for an hour or so, we were closer to 5 cm.  Dr. Cunningham broke my water around 1:30 followed by a nice epidural, and we welcomed our little man at 5:39pm after only 15 minutes or so of pushing.  You just can't ask for much better!

God also brought us two blessings from our anesthesiologist.  First and foremost, a great epidural.  Second, she has a son from Russia who is about seven.  She showed us pictures and encouraged us to do whatever we could to finish the adoption.  To be honest, with all the early contractions, our adoption had been somewhat out of mind the past few months.  But even during labor and in the delivery room, God began to bring our son/daughter in Russia back to my mind, and it's stayed that way the past few weeks.  He/she has come back to front and center in our prayers as we wait to update our paperwork next year.   We're uncertain (as most adoption stories) how long we will have to wait once we resume, but we know we will welcome this third child in God's timing and that Matthew's birth and the change in schedule that created was fully in God's plan all along. 

Matthew turned 5 1/2 weeks old and is doing great.  He's gaining weight and starting to sleep in longer stretches (4 to 5 hours at night), so I feel like the sleep-deprived fog has lifted somewhat.  Joshua has done beyond amazing.  We've surprisingly seen almost no jealously.  I think the time of partial bedrest made him more independent just in time and gave us plenty of time to talk about what it will be like to have a new baby.  His love for Matthew has truly brightened our hearts.  Our favorite new pastime is "family stories".  I usually feed Matthew while Andy reads or we all sing, and Joshua is about to bust with joy.  It's such a sweet time for Andy and I as we gather as a family of four, thank God for our children here and pray as a family for the son/daughter across the world. 

Thank you to so many of you for your prayers for us and for your encouragement and support through this pregnancy and time of transition.  We are truly blessed!  Please continue to pray for Waldroup #5 and for God's hand on our adoption process. 

Our family of four in the delivery room

Matthew's thinking face while Pops held him at the hospital

After a bath at Grammie's house

Joshua couldn't be more thrilled with baby Matthew