Parenthood is a unique opportunity to assist The Lord in His work and His glory. As we bring children into the world, we give them the opportunity to enter mortality. As we teach those children about Jesus Christ and the power of His atonement, we help them to hopefully enter a path which will prepare them to eventually travel back to their Heavenly Father at the end of their mortal journey. In return, we have the opportunity to draw closer to God by learning about service, sacrifice, and unconditional love – all of the qualities that He has. As we watch our children’s’ trials and triumphs, as well as woes and weaknesses, we can gain a sense of how Heavenly Father must feel as he watches each one of us.
Yesterday I had the incredible blessing of being there as my daughter and her husband accepted the sacred privilege of stewardship over one of Heavenly Father’s children. Paisley Grace is here!
Mandy had struggled with swelling and blood pressure all week. On Friday she was not feeling well and Jeromy took her to the local fire station for a blood pressure check. With the bottom number of her blood pressure being 124, they headed to the hospital. Sure enough, there was no doubt then that preeclampsia was the culprit. The first night was spent trying to get Mandy’s blood pressure down, and she was scheduled to start the induction of labor at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. All of the stories that we had heard led us to believe that it would be a very long day, so Robert and I returned to the hospital around 9:00 on Saturday morning.
Mandy was lying on her side when we came into the room. She was in a lot of pain, and kept talking about “the pressure”. A nurse walked into the room as she was talking about “the pressure” and informed her that the pressure was there because she was ready to start pushing. Ready to start pushing? “Mandy, honey,” I exclaimed, “If you are ready to start pushing, that means you are almost there!”
It was somewhere in this conversation that Jeromy informed me that they had learned that they were allowed to have one other person in the room not only during labor, but also during delivery. I was actually going to get to see Pod being born!
Besides having my own children, it was just about the most exciting time of my life. Jeromy was on one side of the bed holding Mandy’s right hand, and I was on the other side holding her left hand. Together we were “Team Lackey”! During contractions Mandy worked hard, pushing with all that she had, while Jeromy and I cheered her on, reminding her to hold her breath as we counted to ten. I had forgotten just how much work having a baby is (is that why it’s called “labor”?), but Mandy did great. I was so proud of her! It wasn’t too long before you could see the top of Paisley’s head.
Lots more pushing, and then suddenly, there she was! Paisley Grace! The most beautiful baby ever! Here are some pictures to prove my point:
Here she is not long after having been born (they had just finished cleaning her up a bit):
Getting inked up for footprints:
A first family portrait, with two VERY tired parents and their beautiful daughter:
In the nursery: “Ouch! What are you doing?”
Taking measurements, getting shots, and getting her temperature taken – how much does she have to endure?
Here she is, in all of her scrawny, 5 pound 13 ounce glory!
Her mother was mostly bald when she was born, so I was surprised to see so much hair!
Sound asleep!
A grandfather is born!
What a wonderful gift is Paisley Grace! Our sweet Pod! May I always be mindful of her mortal journey ahead, and may her grandfather and I be adequate to the task of doing our part in assisting her with it!
When I should be finishing my lesson for Sunday school, I'm reading your post instead--I'm glad I did--It's a great way to start my day!! Congrats to your family Lori!! What a wonderful blessing for you and your family to have this precious baby as part of it!!
ReplyDelete~Keep the updates coming!!~