Ignoring The Barking Dogs: Introducing a New Little Angel

Why the title?

"Pioneers take the arrows"

Oh, wait. I should be upbeat and taking arrows doesn't sound like an upbeat thing to say.

So, let me amend that statement.

It was courage and vision that led the pioneers to leave behind a comfortable, settled life and trek West to begin a new life in a new place. Many of those from the East that went West found a strength within themselves that they didn't see while they were in their old life. Instead of being one of those that just kind of went along with the others in the old life, they became leaders and visionaries in their new lives.

The sentiments of that last paragraph come from a favorite author, Louis L'Amour, in many of his books. So, I can't really say that it is an original thought from me. However, what he said is truthful.

Welcome to being a pioneer. Look ahead and ignore the "barking dogs" that give you negative opinions and comments. Louis L'Amour also spoke of the barking dogs.

In some of his stories, it was usually a father or older man telling a young boy how it was that when the Westward bound Conestoga wagons rolled through towns, the dogs came out to bark at them. His character then told the young listener that the barking didn't stop the wagons from going on to their destinations.

Following the advice of the Louis L'Amour characters, may we all forge ahead with our plans, after carefully considering all consequences and leave the "barkers" behind.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Introducing a New Little Angel

Our oldest son and his wife have just had the 4^th, and probably their last, child. So, God delivered to them, and to us as grandparents, a new little angel by the name of Genevieve Ruth. I know God delivered them because Nate, their oldest boy told his parents that he had seen the hand of God in the hallway of the hospital.

They had a 5:00am appointment to be at the hospital so that they could induce labor. And, along with Prissy, the maid in Gone With The Wind, “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ babies.” You see, two or three days ago, Amy was having contractions about 3 minutes apart. But rather than allow the birth to go as what I would call natural, they chose to give Amy morphine to delay the arrival of the baby for two more days so she would have a full 39 weeks of development.

Excuse me, but could someone tell me what two days difference would have been?

Anyway, Jo was at the hospital during all this and when she first called me, she said that they were taking Amy in for an emergency Caesarian because they “had lost the heartbeat” of the baby. Needless to say, I immediately choked up for fear of losing this little baby before she really had a chance of life. I was so choked up, that I couldn’t even explain to my co-workers what was happening.

All I could do was sit at my desk with my head in my hands and offer prayers to God to help this little one. Some of the words of my prayer went like “please put your hand around this little babe” so that she could give us the joy we expected and that we could provide some joy to her as well.

About 10 or 15 minutes later, Jo called to tell me that both mother and baby were just fine. Genevieve Ruth, to be called Genny in the future, had a knot in her umbilical cord and it was also wrapped twice around her neck.

So, did Nate see the hand of God that I had prayed for? I don’t know about all of you, but I think he did. I have one other little note about Nate. Prior to Moira’s birth, Amy and Kevin were using a midwife service for her birth. About a week prior to her birth, the midwife was asking Nate if he had any ideas as to when “the baby would be born and whether it would be a boy or a girl.” Nate’s answer was that it would be Saturday and it would be a girl. It was a cute prediction from a 3-year-old boy for a baby.

Kevin and Amy had chosen to not know from ultrasounds as to what the baby’s gender would be as they wanted this one to be a surprise. So, the next Saturday, September 13, 2009, Moira was born. Nate had hit two for two. So, anyone want to doubt a 3 year old? I won’t anymore.

Thus, please allow me to introduce the world to Genevieve Ruth, born the morning of September 29, 2011, weighing 7 pounds and 1 ounce and measuring 19 ½ inches long.

Well, much to my chagrin, the photos I had Jo download to Photobucket and that I then copied to my computer from that account all came out s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d and really un-viewable, so I will have to post a link to start with and will add pictures to a later posting.

This image is of a hospital person, Genny, and her three siblings. Nate is to the left, Liam is in the center, and Moira is to the right. (Note that they are all beautiful kids…..must be my genes.)

http://s1190.photobucket.com/albums/z458/TerryandJo/Grandkids/?action=view&current=_DSC4702.jpg