Miss Ruby Lynn,
You are the sweetest baby and after only 5 days your family is already head-over-heels in love with you. Before too many more days go by and the vividness of your birth is fogged up by sleepless nights I want to share with you just how special your story really is.
Your story didn’t start 9 months ago, at least not really. We had been waiting for you to join our family for much longer than that, three years to be exact. Mommy and Daddy knew we wanted a sibling for your brother but after four of our babies had to go meet Jesus we just weren’t sure how that was going to happen. The only thing we were confident of was that God had a plan for our family and it was going to be even better than we could imagine. So here we were…waiting…
It was the beginning of December and we were starting to wonder whether God wanted us to start thinking about a different way for our family to grow. Maybe one that didn’t involved a baby in Mommy’s tummy. I decided (silly of me to think I could make this decision) that we would start looking at adoption in January because I was tired of waiting. Again, God decided that we really didn’t know best because guess what? You were already growing in my tummy. When Mommy found out I just went to Daddy and cried and cried. Why the tears? I was scared and confused and hopeful and thankful, lots of different emotions! We held our breaths for those first twelve weeks as we watched you grow on the ultrasound machine…your little heart flickering so strongly on the screen. I held my breath a lot longer than that but God was teaching me something through this as well…to trust in him because he knew what he was doing.
After those first twelve weeks we became more confident that you would keep growing in Mommy’s tummy so we started seeing our wonderful midwife, Kate. She knew just how special you were because she had helped us when some of our other babies had to go to heaven and she rejoiced with us that you were so healthy and strong! I was so excited for every visit with Kate because it meant that I could hear your heart beating in my tummy and talk about all the ways that we were going to get our lives ready for your arrival. I could also share with Kate things I was nervous about because, well, I really really wanted to meet you and I sometimes couldn’t believe that I was actually going to!
We were getting nearer and nearer to your birthday and Mommy was starting to get a little impatient and uncomfortable. Your brother and I did our best to stay busy during the summer months but I was certain that your due date couldn’t come fast enough. We went to parks, played with friends, had special outings. all in hopes that my mind would stay off your impending arrival and some sort of patience would wash over me. You can ask your Daddy and big brother some day…I wasn’t very fun to be around those last couple weeks!
Well of course the day of your arrival did eventually come. And of course it was the day that I least expected because that is how life works. There had been a few nights during the week where I thought for sure you were trying to break free by punching your way out (at least that’s what it felt like!). But every morning I would wake up and you had calmed down, content to stay in my tummy for another day. And so I would find ways to keep myself busy for yet another day. Then Saturday came. I told Daddy that we simply had to go do something because I was going crazy so we decided to go the the farmer’s market to do some shopping and spend the morning together as a family. It was the perfect morning, we bought lots of yummy fruits and vegetables and then spent lunchtime at a park so your brother and Daddy could run around and play. I spent most of my time sitting on a bench and watching.
After our busy morning we were all ready for a nap so that’s exactly what we did. I woke up feeling refreshed but also really uncomfortable, you were so low in my tummy! I got to work making supper and we invited Nana to eat with us because Papa was at a dinner meeting. After enjoying some yummy stew for supper I started feeling a contraction every once in awhile. I would have to stop for a minute and breathe through them but then I could go back to cleaning up the kitchen and tidying up a bit. We said good-bye to Nana and your Daddy and brother went downstairs to watch the Vikings game.
Around 7:30 I started wondering if maybe you were going to be joining our family sometime soon because contractions were happening even quicker. I had Daddy start timing them and they were about ten minutes apart…probably a good time to call midwife Kate to let her know what was happening. I called Kate, Nana, and our friend Jenny because she was going to help Mommy and Daddy out while you were being born. It was probably 8:30 by the time I let everyone know what was happening and even though my tummy was getting nice and tight with each contraction I still managed help get your brother ready for bed. We were in the middle of reading a book (Berenstain Bears, I think) and all of a sudden I knew everyone needed to come to our house soon! I was planning on calling everyone around 9:30 to let them know how I was doing but at 8:45 I knew they needed to start arriving sooner than that.
Daddy was already busy getting the birth tub ready when Nana arrived to help out with your big brother. This way Mommy could concentrate on helping you arrive into the world…something that was going to happen really soon! Midwife Kate, her assistant Kelly, and Jenny all came to our house within the next hour. They were so wonderful because they all came in knowing exactly what they needed to do so that Daddy could just concentrate on helping Mommy stay relaxed and calm with each contraction.
The tub was filled and ready so Kate asked if I would like to get in. I was so uncomfortable at this point and I gladly said yes. The water felt wonderful and I was getting nice back massages from Jenny and hugs from Daddy with every contraction. Your Daddy was so helpful, giving me lots of encouragement. I sure needed it because this was a lot of work! All of a sudden I knew I needed to push because you were coming! Pop!, my water broke and guess what? Six minutes later you were born! Whoa, talk about a fast entrance into the world. The umbilical cord was wrapped around your neck and your leg so once Kate got you all untangled I pulled you up and held you close. And then I cried and cried (or maybe sobbed and sobbed). You were here! After three long years I was holding my dear, sweet Ruby Lynn. 
Just a little side note though. I didn’t actually know you were Ruby Lynn quite yet. We had promised your big brother that he could see if you were going to be a boy our a girl so I waited to see if he wanted to let us know. He was sitting in his room with Nana because Mommy had been making such loud noises and he didn’t want to be anywhere near that. Once you were born she carried him out but he was still too unsure of everything so he went back into his room.
That’s when I decided I would take a peek and was so thrilled to see that you were a girl. I couldn’t believe it. Our family had a little girl! God knew exactly what he was doing when he put you in Mommy’s tummy. We felt his grace pour over us that night, it was an overwhelming feeling. You are our precious gem, Miss Ruby, and we thank God every day that you are with us. 
My Life: Inspired 