Waiting on a baby girl

Let's rewind for a moment as I reminisce about the arrival of McKinley Ruth. To celebrate her due date, which was January 7, 2010, we dined at the Olive Garden, along with my parents who had arrived into town a couple days earlier.  We struggled to stay busy while anxiously anticipating McKinley's arrival. Another week went by, and our midwife suggested we schedule to induce.  As McKinley's actual birth day grew near, my Dad wrote a beautiful poem for his unborn granddaughter....entitled "Waiting On A Baby Girl."

Sitting here at Sonya’s house in Oregon

Waiting for this baby girl to finally come

Looking out the window as raindrops fall

The sun, as this baby girl, are yet to be seen at all

She’s late by 5 days today

Does she not realize that Grandpa Fred will soon be on his way

Has she no concept of timeliness

The anxiety being built in each one of us

What is this inherent trait in the female species

To make us men wait, and wait, and wait

Does she not realize that men do not understand

The concept of “Fashionably Late”

Why won’t she consider Ben and Me

Is it that she’s not able

To understand just how important we are

Why we have places to be, things to do, and people to see

Will today be the day

As we wait with anticipation

Or will this baby girl once again

Choose her womb of gestation

Perhaps God is teaching me

A lesson about time

For he told us in His Holy Book

To wait on the Lord and everything will be just fine

Don’t worry He said for I’m in control

Why He knows each and every hair

That’s dwindling on my furless little knoll

So I suppose its time for me to chill out

This little girl will come and in that I have no doubt

I’m not in control, I cannot ‘fix it’

So I guess I’ll just have to change my airline ticket

After 24+ hours of labor, McKinley finally arrived around 1 am on January 16, 2010, weighing 7 lbs, 3 oz and measuring 19 1/4 inches long.  We'll never know if the spicy appetizers from PF Changs or the lunges and squats Benji made me do the night I went into labor had anything to do with it, but we were thankful that our daughter made her appearance without the introduction of the dreaded balloon catheter.  Here are some of my favorite hospital memories:

 

My favorite newborn shot of Miss McKinley.

 

I can't believe she use to be this little!