Benjamin's Birth!

Benjamin turned 2 on Monday. Our dog chose to celebrate by digging out and getting thrown in the pokie, so the time I usually would of spent writing about our sweet boy was spent negotiating her release...

On July 9, 2004 I woke up and called my mom and sister in Africa and told them I thought I was beginning labor...They were coming home the 15th (Payton's birthday and Benjamins due date) and both said they hoped I was not. I knew I wanted them there but I was also so excited to see who this baby was....we had not found out if this baby was a girl or boy and we were anxious.

Later on we took Payton to a friends house and headed to the hospital where they told me...I was not in labor. I was stunned...Tony was too- we did not have maternity coverage so before we left we had to write out a 500$ check...Ouch.

On the way to get Payton we stopped to get lunch at Cracker Barrel (you will soon notice this is a running theme in our birth stories) and I told Tony over lunch.."I am having some hard contractions..." I believe he said something really romantic like, " I will be able to see the head before we go back up there...." I continued to have hard contractions throughout the day but nothing regular so we swam with Payton and just enjoyed our day together. I went to bed early while Tony stayed up to watch a movie...around 11:30 I came in told Tony I knew I was in labor. We decided I would start timing the contractions and then we realized we had no idea how far apart they were supposed to be (I was induced with Payton.) Our computer was down so we called our friends Danny and Jody Allison-(Its midnight by now) apologized for waking them up -(Danny said , "No big deal, Jody just walked in from Wal-mart.") Jody googled contractions and we realized mine were coming regularly every 3 minutes...Jody drove over to keep Payton while we paced, breathed and tried to find my dad. (He had left his phone downstairs at the ranch and was sound asleep.) I called Sam and Emille and woke them bawling about how I could not find my dad...let's say that was pregnancy hormones. Sam was so encouraging and said he would take over calling my dad. Meanwhile we are on the way to the hospital...I am actually using my lamaze and cool as a cucumber Tony was actually starting to sweat.

On the way to the hospital Tony said, "We still do not have a boy name..." I said, " I know its a girl , we don't need one...if its a boy we will just see who he looks like." We both wanted another boy so badly knowing Payton would have a brother so close in age that we had decided not to find out on our sonogram...We knew we would be absolutly thrilled with a girl...we just thought we would do better finding out on the spot when she was actually in arms. We got to the hospital at 1:30 and I was dialated to a 7 and 1/2 ...The nurse said, "looks like you are going to have this one naturally." I said, "Actually I saw on TV the other day there are drugs to slow a labor down, I will have one of those and then get my epidural. (For all my natural friends that do not know, I had tried to have Payton naturally, the result was not pretty and I knew I coudl not do that again with a 2 year old at home.)

They were able to slow my labor down, I got an epidural and began pushing at 6:30. After about 15 minutes the Dr. said, "Ok- on your next push you will have your baby...ok GO" and Tony's cell phone rang and he answered it...The Dr. said, "Ok lets wait till dad is off the phone." I beleive my word were, "Babe, are you serious?" Too which he responded, "Its your dad, you have been crying all night wanting to talk to him..." We both burst out laughing then as I explained I was now focused on something else. (My dad had awoken to find he had 68 missed calls, had figured out what was going on, and was headed back to the Metroplex. ) I started pushing again, heard a cry and heard "ITS A BOY!" We were thrilled, beside ourselves, overwhelmed with love, shocked and speechless.

Tony cut the cord (this was a story that is vivid in my mind but must be told in person.) and then said, "what's his name? he does not look like anybody." We pondered names for awhile and then decided that Deuteronomy 33:12 was a verse we loved and wanted to claim at birth for our son.

" About Benjamin he said: " Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, For HE shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders."

I love it even more in The Message, "Benjamin is, God's beloved, God's permanent residence. He is encircled by God all day long, within him God is at home."

That continues to be our prayer for our precious son. He is Benjamin Jeffrey Brooks Born at 6:47 AM on July 10th, 2004, 20 inches long and 8lbs, 9 ounces. He is ours, He is the Lords.