Connie didn't sleep well Thursday night. She thought she just had a belly ache. Well this 
sounded familiar! In the morning she told me to answer my phone if it rings. Apparently I'm 
not very good at that. So my phone rings at 10am in the middle of a meeting. I got up and 
walked out to find Connie saying I should come work from home in case things start progressing 
quickly. By 11:30 I was at home and Connie was at Avery's school working on a class project for 
the upcoming auction. She got home and tried to take a nap while Isabelle slept, but about the 
time she would fall asleep a contraction would wake her up. A little after 2pm she said it was 
time to get ready to go. I started sending a bunch of emails, which Connie did not find amusing 
as things were starting to progress. Keep in mind we had a 35+ minute drive to the hospital, plus
we had to drop off the kids. As we are driving up 322 (a notoriously slow road with a 45-55 mph 
speed limit) her contractions are 4 minutes apart and 40 seconds in duration. We called Gwen to 
ask her to meet us to pick up the kids close to the highway on-ramp so we could save some time.
But we were concerned that we would get there before her. Just then we see Connie's 
brother-in-law, Floyd, pulling out of a parking lot. I called him and asked him to take the 
girls. We met a mile down the road, dropped the girls with him and headed towards Lancaster. On 
the drive in Connie was sure her water was going to break. Her contractions were 3 minutes apart. 
This already seems further along that we were with Isabelle and she was born 25 minutes after we 
walked into the hospital. I called the OB's office to let them know we were coming. Of course 
they asked if this was out first. No! Third! We get there and the Valet guy (yes, our hospital 
has valet) asked if we would like valet parking. I just said, "The keys are in it." He then saw 
Connie and asked if we needed a wheel chair. Connie figured she could make it in after her 
contraction ended. She did, just to be asked to wait in the triage waiting room for like 5 
minutes. Hello! Again Connie thinks her water is going to break. The girl that came to register 
us was a little clueless, but she did offer to get a wheelchair, but she needed help to get it 
opened. She wheeled Connie into the assessment area and began asking for insurance card and 
license. Connie said, "This is my third child and I feel like I have to push." That finally got 
some attention. A nurse came in and checked Connie and found that she was 8cm dilated (10cm is 
time to deliver - so almost there). They quickly whisked us off to a delivery room (they call 
them Labor and Delivery rooms, but we took care of half of that on the way!). The nurses were 
rushing around in the room getting ready to deliver. This looks familiar, just like when Isabelle 
was born! The doctor came in and checked Connie and said she could push whenever it felt like she 
had to. After a couple of pushes on the first contraction, Connie asked for Nubian (pain killer). 
They said they had to call for it. Ok, do it already! After about two more contractions and a few 
more pushes the pain was becoming very intense. This brought about repeated requests for Nubian. 
"It is on its way." I think there were two more contractions (I remember 5 total in the delivery 
room) before I saw the head pop out. It was amazing! They laid him up on Connie. He was slimy and 
purple and peeing. Hey it's not a pretty scene at all, but it is very emotional. I cut the cord, 
they wiped him off and our family grew by one. I didn't even come close to passing out this time. 
When the doctor was examining the placenta I took a quick glance and decided I didn't need to see 
that. I just stayed up with Connie and Judah. Connie then asked me what his name was (I had 
previously been given an ultimatum - his name is Judah unless I come up with something better). 
She did say it would be OK to name him Judah Oliver. I didn't like the way those names went 
together, so I decided on Judah Kai as we had discussed many months earlier. Somewhere we read 
Kai meant "New Life" which seemed appropriate for this year (a year filled with death for us, 
Connie's mother and sister died in April and my grandmother died in March). So that is the story. 
Judah and Connie are doing great. Connie has very little pain. She even forgot to take more 
Motrin today. Judah only cries when something is wrong, which is great. He seems easy to soothe 
and is a great nurser. He does have a wicked scream, but again it is easy to figure out the 
problem. Mostly he sleeps or just looks around. He seems to want to sit up if I hold him laying 
down. He is a handsome looking fellow. We're not sure who he looks like yet. Connie first thought 
me, but we think a little like Avery. He has his great-grandpa High's folded down ears. Can't 
wait for all of you to meet him. We have been blessed with this beautiful baby boy. By God's 
grace we will raise him to be a fine young man.