the Event

Well, I figured I should at least start writing what I can remember about 'the Event' before I forget some of the finer details. The event, as I am referring to, is the birth of our 3rd child, Micah Christopher Zirk. It was not as easy and quick as the other two births were, but equally as memorable. There were highs and lows like the other pregnancies, but this one was different for some obvious and not so obvious reasons.

First of all, we knew what we were having. That was different. We didn't find out with the girls, so they were both surprises until they were evicted from the womb. We had prep time this go around, which was nice, but I still cannot decide which was more fun--the not knowing and preparing as much as possible, or the knowing and stressing out a little because you actually KNOW what you will be needing.

We were having the first boy in the Goedge family offspring. That was different. Micah will be showered with love and affection from all the girls in his family. He has 2 sisters, and 4 girl cousins. It will be cool to see how they love on him. And it will be cool for my brothers to teach him the finer points of sports and outdoors and such. We teach that to the girls, too. After all, a girl needs to be well rounded. But there is something different about teaching those things to a boy. The testosterone in him needs to know those things for a healthy outlet.

So let me start with a few weeks prior to Micah's arrival. I was large, uncomfortable and not sleeping at all. I was crabby, I was short with all of my family, and I was so ready to move forward. I had finally gotten my asthma under control, my reflux under control and I was peeing every half hour or so. My hips were throbbing and my sciatica would flare up unpredictably. This pregnancy was not kind to me at all. And so it was for the next couple of weeks; people at church would always tell me how they didn't expect to see me this week. "Me either" was my reply. I had been having contractions on and off, but nothing regular. So, we hit the last week of school for Christopher and Ava. I had gotten Ava's teachers their thank you gifts, Christopher had made sub plans for each day in case he wasn't coming in the following. It was Monday, and I was shopping at Meijer when all of a sudden I felt like I was about to pass out. I was getting the ring of sweat I get when my sugar drops. I had Paige in my cart, totally unaware, and someone who had never used the self-scan register in front of me. I was already cutting it close to be back to pick Ava up on time. I tried texting my friend to see if she could pick Ava, but I got no response. I was supposed to be picking up Gavin, our next door neighbor's son, too, that day because his mom (who I would've tried texting) was at a Dr appt. I was starting to panic a little. I didn't want them to call EMS for fainting--who would watch Paige and who would get Ava or tell her teacher I wasn't coming? I knew I had to do something quick. I grabbed a bag of Skittles and just downed them. Paige thought it was pretty cool that mom opened candy (I shared with her, too) right there in line and ate it. After buying my groceries, I grabbed a pop and rushed to the car. We were late because of the slow lady and me getting my pop. So everyone at preschool assumed when a 9 month pregnant mom doesn't show up on time, she is in labor. I wasn't. I was just late. When my friends at the preschool heard my story, they all told me I should've paged them. I replied, "I was kind of in the middle of passing out! I didn't think to send out messages".

So, I picked the kids up, and reassured everyone at the preschool that I was ok and had not had the baby (in case it wasn't obvious). I felt much better, and took the kids home. So comes Wednesday, the next day Ava had preschool. I wanted to visit a friend who works at a coffee shop in Saline, so I headed there after I dropped Ava off. I bumped into a bunch of people I knew that day, and had a fun time showing Paige the finer details of hanging out with a good cup o' joe. So we took off after a bit, and headed back to get Ava. To make sure I would get back to pick her up on time, I decided to get on 94 instead of Michigan Avenue. Bad idea. Down to 1 lane going in the direction I need to go. So, I was late again, for the 2nd day in a row, to pick up Ava from preschool. So, again, everyone was worried I went in to labor, and started sending panic text messages out to check on me. I promised Ava's teacher I would not be late again--after all, there was only 1 day of preschool left! And I wasn't. The last day of preschool, I didn't even show up.

Thursday evening, I started having contractions. Nothing new or stronger than what I had been having. I woke up around 1am because they had gotten stronger and a bit more regular. I was so tired of waiting and wondering, but I decided to see if they continued before I got Christopher up. They did. He made his call in to work, missing the last day of the school year. Heidi came over so we could head to the hospital. I tried calling the OB on-call, but the phone kept disconnecting. I wouldn't get the answering service or anything. I tried from both the cell phone and the house phone. I was not sure what to do--the protocol is to call the Dr on call so they know you are heading in. I said, "forget it. I 'm not waiting". We headed in. And in typical 'me' fashion, it seemed as though my contractions had stopped. In triage, we learned that I was dilated, but my contractions had almost completely stopped. They made me walk the floors of the hospital for about 2 hours before they would check me again. I was miserable, and it was from 1-330am that I explored and walked almost every part of the hospital with Christopher. I prayed almost the whole time that I would have some progress, and that they would decide to keep me and admit me to the birthing unit. I got checked again. No progress. The Dr on call spoke with the residents following me, and with the Dr who would be coming in. They decided it was close enough to the change of shift that they let me stay, and they finally admitted me to a birthing room. I was so thankful.

I got a hot tub room, which was nice. I thought I would try it out, since I knew this would be my last pregnancy, and my last chance to soak before this child would rock my world on the outside. And the muscles covering my entire body were aching. It was nice. The Dr said she would come check on me again after I was done in the bath. So I enjoyed it for a bit, and then got out and got back in to bed. The nurse came back, and hooked me back up to the monitors. As we were talking, there was a knock at the door. 2 or 3 men were asking to come in and look at the tub. They asked if anyone had used it recently. We told them we had just finished. Apparently, it had flooded the room below us. There was supposed to be a sign saying not to use it, which had inadvertently been removed. All I could do was laugh. I decided to get my epidural before anything else 'flukey' could happen. It was great, and didn't give me any trouble at all.

Well, I had still not progressed any, so they decided break my water to see if it would get things going again. 3 out of 3 times I had to have my water broken because it didn't do it on it's own. But unlike last time, where it did the trick, this time, it did not. So after a little while, they decided to start the pitocin. That worked. I was ready to push after about an hour of pitocin. I had Micah after about 45 minutes of pushing. It seemed like a long time, since both girls I pushed for about 15 minutes and they were out. There was a good reason it took quite a bit longer. When I heard the Dr said, "oh my" as I was pushing, I knew there was something crazy going on. It turns out, Micah was a pretty big baby! After they measured him and weighed him, they announced his birth weight as 10 lbs, 9 oz! I didn't know anyone who had delivered a baby that large. I have several friends who have had 9 lbs babies (Paige was 9 lbs, 1 oz) and even one who had a 10 lbs baby, but this was so unbelievable to me. As the Dr said shortly after, "imagine if you had gone the last 4 days to your due date. This baby would've been 11 pounds easily". God's timing is good. And I am really glad to have not gone the last 4 days! It took a little longer to heal up after this one, but I didn't have nearly the trauma I would've expected for delivering a baby that large. Micah was born on Friday, June 17, 2011 at around 3:30 pm.

3 cm and 50%

So, I am 38 weeks and a couple of days along, the end in site. Last week's OB appointment left me excited and scared both. I was checked for dilation, and usually they tell me, "well, dilation doesn't necessarily mean labor is coming, so don't worry that you are still at 0-1 cm." Well, ok then. And I leave the office feeling a bit bummed. But I know once the contractions start for me, the delivery isn't far behind. I was told Thursday I was at 3cm and 50% effaced. So, this is new for me. I'll be honest--I don't expect to go early. But if it were to happen, I wouldn't be sad. Christopher should just be done with school (17th) before my due date (20th); just in case though, for this last week of school, he has made sub plans. The way our luck goes, that should guarantee we won't go early--being prepared is one of the best ways to delay anything premature. I didn't shave my armpits today, though, so it might balance out our chances!

On Christopher's work front, we had some good news yesterday. He has officially been called back to teach next fall. He had been pink slipped several times in the beginning of his career, and always been called back, but we had gone a few years without the pink slip. It returned this year.

He also got to select what courses he will be teaching next fall, and got some of the classes he had always wanted to teach. Usually the higher math and the honors classes go to the teachers with the most seniority, and they are the envy of most teachers, because a lot of the discipline and behavioral issues don't occur with the higher math. College prep classes tend to have students more serious about their education. Well, Christopher got some higher math classes, which will include more prep because he hasn't taught them before, but the mental health relief from having better disciplined students will be such a welcome change. You would not believe some of the things a teacher hears from students and parents until you are a teacher, or their spouse. It is an incredible burden a teacher bears when the people who should be taking responsibility for their children's behavior decide it's the teacher's job and not their own parenting responsibility. It borders on ridiculous! There has been so much negative press about teachers lately, and I assure you, there are bad teachers out there; but not all teachers fit in that mold. And I STRONGLY caution anybody from pigeon-holeing teachers based on what they see on TV or read on the internet. I live with one who carries a world of burden he shouldn't have to, because he cares enough for his students and doesn't want them to fail. But he can't do their homework for them. He can't take their tests for them. He can't study for them. Some of the initiative HAS to come from the home front. And if the parents aren't putting in time with their kids and their education at home, it is crazy to expect the teacher to do it in their stead. Teachers have 28-32 kids in a class, times 5-6 classes. If the parents expect the teacher to carry each of those students because they aren't working with their kids at home, that is easily over 150 students the teacher is responsible for in addition to his normal, expected job responsibilities. There has to be some help from parents at home. And it is fairly obvious when there is help at home. If the state wants students to reach certain goals by the time they are done with high school, teachers can't be reteaching the fundamentals that kids have already been taught and students are presumed to know. There simply isn't enough time in a semester to do that. All this being said, it is a welcome relief for Christopher to have a few classes where the students are more serious and the parents are more involved. It is such an eye opening thing for me to see, realizing how critically important it is for parents to be involved in all aspects of a child's education. It makes a world of difference.

We have also been so blessed recently by all the generosity of our family and friends. The girls are getting to go to a week long day camp soon after the baby arrives, and they get to attend a summer ballet class, because of people wanting to help us out. It is a struggle to go from 2 incomes to 1, which is what we have to do each time I go on maternity leave. I do not get any benefits or pay whatsoever when I go on leave, because I only work part time. I do have a good chunk of PTO coming, which they cash out to cover any time off on a leave, so thankfully, knowing that ahead of time, I worked extra to build up my PTO bank. It was tiring to do so, but I am glad I did it now....

We have so much to be grateful for, and we have so much we are fearful for. Thankfully, Jehovah Jireh, our provider, will not forget us now. He never has. His ways are so much bigger than our little minds can comprehend and eyes can see. And thank goodness they are. I have no idea what the summer holds in store, but I sense some changes coming that might be tough, but necessary. Continue to lift us up in prayer as we turn to God to navigate us through all the craziness we call 'everyday life'.