"Uh, Brian, something's happening."

Guess who decided to join us out in the world this weekend? That's right, little Madeline Elisabeth decided she had had enough of her cramped quarters and joined us at 11:24am on January 22, three weeks and three days early. Before we went to bed Saturday night I told Maddie that I was ready to see her now if she wanted to come out (as I had for the last few nights). Well, I guess she believed me because at about 11:30 that evening, a mere 45 minutes after we went to sleep, Kars returned from the bathroom, sat down on the bed and said, "Uh, Brian, something's happening."

Karsee had had maybe three rather uncomfortable contractions over maybe 30 minutes when, much to both of our surprise, her water broke. Karsee had, after my pestering her about packing her bag for the hospital for the last two weeks, packed half of her bag Friday night. So, after an additional 45 minutes of groggy and directionless gathering of clothes and toiletries and bedding, we headed for the hospital (I still didn't have a coat on which I realized after only a few minutes of driving in the 30 degree car). Eight minutes, two cops and no speeding tickets later we arrived and were directed to a triage room.

The on-call OB doctor had to be paged three times and finally wandered in 30 minutes later still half-asleep and with incredibly funny disheveled hair. She confirmed that Kars' water was indeed missing, that we would be admitted immediately and that she was going to have a baby now (I think we both were expecting to be turned away and sent home until this point). We were guided to a labor and delivery room and settled in for the ride. One of our nurses, who were nothing short of incredible, set Karsee up on and IV and started the Potosin flowing. This drug is used to increase the severity and frequency of contractions. I had heard only bad things about it, but it seemed to be exactly what Karsee needed in this situation. With no amniotic fluid left, Maddie had to be delivered soon and though Karsee was already 3cm dialated, her contractions were just not in the right rhythem or strength to have Maddie in time.

I need to take a minute here to express how incredibly amazed I was at how Karsee hadled this whole ordeal. I know she was a bit scared in this new experience, as was I, and she was in immense pain for the first couple of hours after the potosin began taking effect. The nurse said she could have her epidural at any time including right when we got there. Karsee opted not to do it until the pain was more than annoying. Lisa and Colby showed up just after 2:30am to keep us company, so they can attest to this: Karsee was having major contractions and laughing at Colby's being freaked out about the whole baby thing. She handled her labor and delivery with the most awe-inspiring grace that I have ever personally seen demonstrated. She eventually got the epidural and was feeling no pain or anything else form the waist down from that point forward. Graceful. That's the only word I can think of that would describe her. Graceful.

Okay, back to the story. Edgar and Patricia (Kars' Dad and Step-Mom) showed up also about 3:30am. Edgar was quite a handful that morning, coffeed up and excited to have victory in his sight. You see, he and his sister Miriam had this contest going. They were the only two of seven siblings that had not become grandparents yet. Both Miriam's son's (Jeremy) wife Katrina and Karsee became pregnant around the same time and so both began boasting about how they were not going to be the last. Katrina was due a few days before Karsee, and eventually, due to complications, was scheduled for a cesarean for Monday, January 24th (she had little Jeremiah and both are doing well). Karsee (and Edgar) had all but conceded defeat last Saturday, then Kars went into labor and Edgar pulled into the lead and won. Anyway, Edgar was full of nervous energy that morning. Patricia was very glad to have married into the family when she did so she could experience grandmotherhood. They're both going to make great grandparents.

Okay, so fast forward a few hours. Karsee is now at 10cm, 100% effaced and at a station of +1. Time for the hard labor. The doc showed up and Karsee pushed through four contractions and Maddie arrived. This part of delivery could have easily lasted two hours. Karsee got through it in about 20 minutes. Hallelujah!

Madeline Elisabeth was three weeks and three days early, but in excellent health. At birth she was 19 inches long and six pounds. As you can see from the pictures she had a full head of long (for a baby) dark brown hair. She is quite possibly the most beautiful baby girl ever born on the face of the earth, ever. I would never have believed that I could love someone who I had known for only a few days as much as I love this precious little girl. She has already made friends with Jen and Darren's (friends) little girl Katie and met Elliot Gordon last night. She's still not sure about him.

We're at home now. My mother drove up and is taking care of us as we take care of little Maddie. We are so grateful for her help. Not sure what this would look like without it. We're both still pretty exhausted from no sleep during labor and the subsequent nights of feeding and diaper changing. Madeline is a little jaundiced and so she is in a "wallaby belt" that is showering her with UV light to help do what her liver still isn't capable of. It's sad, she can't be very comfortable and it's a bit hard to swaddle her with the belt and a big tube coming off of her. But it could be a lot worse I guess. We're happy to be home and are having a hard time not kissing her to death.

We are so grateful to God for entrusting this little one to us. It's overwhelming to think about at times and Karsee and I have both shed a few uncontrollable and unexpected tears. We're excited to see who Maddie is and who she will become. We're also very excited to teach her about what this whole world and life thing is about. This is so incredibly cool. Thank you Jesus.