Awe and Wonder

How do you describe an event as full of awe and wonder as the birth of your first child? Wednesday night little Adeline Michelle Russo came bursting onto the scene of our lives around 11:04pm in the most amazing of ways!

This last Monday, three weeks before our original due date our doctor was concerned about our baby girls growth (IUGR) Intrauterine Growth Restriction. When she told us she wanted to induce I was thinking some time later in the week. Then the doctor said we needed to go on home to pack for our hospital visit that afternoon. A bit of shock and excitement filled us. We were overwhelmed that this was going to happen so soon.

We headed to the hospital bags packed  and hearts full of anticipation. Monday night passed quickly and Danielle began to receive Pitocin early Tuesday. By 5 that afternoon it became apparent it was not yet Addy's time. Another sleepless night and then wednesday morning the Pitocin began again. 

Danielle began labor that afternoon as small contractions grew into greater one's. At 10:30 pm after two days of waiting, the nurse said it was time for Danielle to begin pushing. Over the next 35 minutes I watched as Danielle worked. What unfolded was the most amazing thing I've seen with my eyes. Adeline was leaving the world of my wife's belly and entering ours! 

At 11:04 with a squeal and a deep breath of air, Adeline joined us! I gazed at her little body so frail and shaky. Watched her gulp down a big drink of air as her little lungs whirred to life. After some time with her momma I had the privilege of putting on her first diaper, picked her up in my arms, and experienced a glimpse of the "new life" of heaven right there in that hospital room.

My heart and mind burst with the significance and transcendence of that moment - the thin places where heaven touches earth. I was full of awe and wonder.  God's creative power! 

 "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth." (Psalm 139:13-15)