Family of Five

He's here!  Our beautiful boy is here: Asa Everett Horn.

This precious bundle arrived on Wednesday, September 16, right on my due date!  We had been praying specifically that the baby would come last week.  Eli worked his last shift at the ER a few days before, and we were only a couple weeks from our move date.  We were praying that God would bless us with this baby once Eli was done working and would be around to help, but also before it was too close to moving day.  And God was good!  I started having contractions on Tuesday afternoon.  It was the first time my body has gone into labor on its own, which was a blessing in and of itself.  I was induced with the other two boys and since the new hospital policy is that no one can get induced until at least 41 weeks, we were concerned that I would go past my due date and cut it close to moving day.  Hence our fervent prayers that this baby would come on its own before crunch time!  And God, in His mercy, let Asa come right on time.  By 5am on Wednesday, my contractions were close and painful and it was apparent that we'd be having a baby that day.

Asa did not come right away, however.  It wasn't until 4pm that I started pushing, and even then we had no idea how long of a process that would be.  I was hoping the delivery wouldn't take long since I pushed out Hezekiah in three pushes last time.  It quickly became obvious, however, that this babe was not facing the right way and was not going to make it easy to bring him into the world.  Long story short, he was sunny side up - facing upward - and because of that he basically got stuck for quite awhile.  My doctor knew what the problem was and did everything she could to get this baby to turn around on his own.  Long story short, he wouldn't budge.  After pushing for over 2.5 hours and being completely exhausted and out of strength, I turned to Eli and asked how much longer this could go on.  He solemnly said that after a few more pushes without progress, they'd probably start discussing a C-section.  That comment made me panic and become angry and motivated all at once.  I remember saying,  "No!  Please, God, no!"  And a truly God-given adrenaline came over me.  I suddenly had strength and energy that had long since faded and I pushed like a mad woman.  The doctor had briefly left the room and the nurse had to call her back because, within a few minutes of Eli making his comment about a potential C-section, it was obvious this baby was finally coming.  A few more pushes and that baby was out, sunny side up and all!  The threat of a C-section was enough to motivate me to finish the job :)

We didn't know beforehand whether our baby was a boy or girl, so it was delightful to get the news: a boy!  He was absolutely perfect!  He did come out with a major conehead from being stuck so long, but otherwise he was the image of perfection :)  Lots of hair, lots of cheeks, lots of him.  Asa looked big in the way our other boys did, but I didn't realize just how big he was.  The nurses immediately started making comments: "Look how big his hands are!  He's so long!  What a big boy!"  Since they see newborns all the time, I took their word for it.  He wasn't weighed for almost an hour, but the scale finally revealed just how big this moose baby was: 11 pounds, 1.6 ounces!  We broke our own record.  Biggest moose baby yet!

It was only a month ago that we finally picked a name for a boy.  We had already used the two we knew we loved, so it took us awhile to decide on another name.  We knew we'd keep the theme of using Old Testament names because there are so many we like and because we love their meaning and the significance of many biblical characters.  The name Asa was in the running for a long time and ultimately came out on top.  Asa means "healer" which of course drew our attention because we are called to do medical missions and believe strongly in the ministry of healing.  Our hope and prayer is that our son will be a reminder of our call and will offer healing to those around him as he grows in the Lord.  Also, King Asa was someone who "did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God....He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands.  He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him" (2 Chronicles 14:2-5).  Furthermore, "Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life" (2 Chronicles 15:17).  Our prayer for our son is that he too will be fully committed to the Lord all his life and do what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord.

The name Everett means "strong and hardy, brave" and is also the name of Eli's maternal grandfather.  We pray that our son will also be strong and brave as he follows the Lord.  

Asa's name and size have already led us to adopt a few nicknames for him: Ace, Mt. Everett, Moose...  I'm sure there'll be more that pop up along the way :)

Asa is joined by Caleb and Kai, who came to meet their brother at the hospital the day after he was born.  Caleb was a bit shy and didn't want to get too close, although he did know the baby's name and wanted to show him some "animal friends" (as he calls all of his toy animals).  Kai was completely uninterested in Asa and didn't even want to see me, which was highly unusual.  Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa Horn had thought to bring donut holes along, so both boys were content despite being in a weird place and not understanding what was going on.  They also loved watching the crane and construction site just outside the window :)

So we are thrilled to be a family of five!  Life is a little more crazy, but more full too.  Full of joy and full of gratitude and full of all things moose baby :)  Asa is tugging our hearts and we are delighted beyond measure to call him ours and to add him to the Horn tribe!