Lauren's Turn

This is a continuation of how those five beautiful babies came to be on the swingset. In a previous post, I told the story of Josh's birth. Now here's Lauren's:

When Josh was just over a year old,  I woke up one morning and I knew. I just knew. There was that gnawing sick feeling that can mean only one thing. If you have been pregnant and sick, I know your pain. If you have been pregnant without being sick, you don't know what you're missing. Things went a little differently with this pregnancy. Our house burned due to our neighbors going inside after setting their garbage on fire because the wind gave them a headache (honest-to-goodness -- that's what they told the insurance agent). Robbie, my sweet husband, lost his job, and with it went our health insurance. To make ends meet, I took a job in a sewing factory and Robbie worked every odd job he could find until he was finally called by a local grocery store. Life was hard, money was limited, and our prayer life grew by leaps and bounds. Josh was so excited about our family getting new baby. Every night as I lay exhausted on the couch, he would put his little hands on my tummy and talk to "his baby" - so sweet!!

At that same time, Mama and Daddy had decided to build an inground pool since it looked like there were going to be plenty of grandchildren. Finally, after many problems, the pool was finished on September 6th. My sister Pam and I decided to go in to try it out. Oh, how wonderful it felt! I was weightless -- not a feeling usually associated with a nine-month pregnant woman. The water was so cool. When I got out and started to go, Mama asked if I felt any different.

I should insert here that for the last month of my pregnancy with Josh, I was called multiple times a day to see if I "felt anything." I didn't know what I was supposed to be feeling. Imagine my surprise, then, when I called Mama to tell her it was time to go to the hospital to have Josh and she said, "I knew it! I knew I should have washed my hair! You should have warned me!"

So this time, when Mama asked, I knew. I told her that I didn't know exactly when, but it was different. Josh went to spend the night with my aunt, and Robbie and I went to bed.

I should also tell you that my entire family thought I had let them know WAYYYYY too early that I was in labor with Josh.

So I waited.

And I waited some more.

I waited until the contractions were four minutes apart. Then I gently work Robbie up and told him. And in one single movement, he was out of bed and in the shower, yelling at me to call Daddy, call Mama, call somebody -- why in the world had I waited so long???

(Just so you know, reactions to my announcements don't get any better with the next one either.)

We rushed to the hospiital an hour and a half away. No mention of going home this time!!! In fact, the nurses had to pull the rabbit out of the hat to make sure Lauren didn't get here before the doctor got to the hospital.
Lauren was a completely different baby -- and so precious! She cried more than Josh had, and sometimes I wondered if I was at fault. Soon though, the problem was uncovered -- I had been unable to nurse her, and her system couldn't handle her milk. Wonderful, wonderful days after the purchase of the new formula!!

We also discovered that Lauren had a fairly significant heart murmur, bad enough that the doctors did not want to put her to sleep to put tubes in her ears. Because of that, she had some hearing problems and was able to come up with some rather ingenious words on her own. Josh was the ONLY one who could understand her. She would come running up to me and say something like  "dalupaldlasda." After a brief pause, I would call Josh. Lauren would repeat that "word," and Josh would say something like,"She wants orange juice." Lauren was so happy that he could understand her. None of us have ever been able to figure out how he did it, but one thing we all agree on -- there is an incredible bond between the two of them, and I think her need for him to interpret is one reason.

Lauren grew up -- she learned to talk at the same time she learned to read. She was three years old then.Her life consisted of cheerleading, tumbling, and amazing grades. She won the right to go to Hawaii to cheer at the NFL ProBowl because of her cheering, and she was able to buy the gymnastics studio where she took gymnastics. Lauren is also a CPA and accomplished that on her first attempt on the exam! She is married to the love of her life, David, and has a beautiful new baby girl, Carsyn. That's the tiny baby girl on the swingset.

Lauren and David life just behind us. They have built a house there, so I know it won't be long before Carsyn will have a little trail to our house. How exciting to be able to watch your grandchildren grow up!

Check back soon--Robert's up next!