Shav's Story, Part One

I am eager to record and share the story of Shav's birth (although doubtful that I'll be able to finish the whole story in one sitting). Each birth story is so wonderfully unique, and I never get tired of hearing and reading about how each person comes into the world in such a personal manner. Isn't it great that babies aren't mass-produced in an assembly-line factory somewhere? :)

Before I get started with the birth story, let me answer one important question: what does "Shav" mean? "Shav" is a Hebrew word that means "return, restore"; and the Hebrew root is used many, many times in the Bible, sometimes for something as commonplace as a priest returning to look at a moldy wall or a woman returning to her father's household when her husband dies, but sometimes for themes which are much more profound than that. I hope to have more time to write about his name in the coming days; but for now, I'll say that the aspect of his name's meaning that speaks most powerfully to me is the idea of Shav being a gift from God, a son whom we will do our best to raise in the ways of the Lord until he returns to his true home in heaven with his Maker, until he's restored to his rightful place as a citizen of heaven and face-to-face friend of our great and glorious God!

Shav's birth story begins when my water broke... But before I get to that, I'll mention that on Sunday evening, as we drove home from the concert in the park, I casually remarked to Jeff, "I don't really know what to do tomorrow. I don't have any big plans." And it was true: I was actually reaching the point of being a little bored with life and the limbo stage in which I found myself...I didn't have any great ideas for fun diversions for the boys and I on Monday...didn't even have any idea what to cook for supper that evening! :) The Sunday concert was actually the last thing I had written on our July calendar as a maybe-we'll-get-to-do-this-if-the-baby-isn't-born-but-it-probably-won't-work-out kind of thing. After we made it through that, I didn't know what to do with myself next! :) God knew what to do with me!

On Monday morning, Jeff had gotten up early (even earlier than normal for him, which is always early) and had gone to the barbershop to meet David Sacra at 5:30 AM for their weekly Biblical Greek lesson. I had fallen back to sleep after Jeff left and was--as far as I can tell--quite sound asleep when suddenly I awakened because I felt (or heard or something) a pop inside me. I thought, "Either that was a mighty big kick, or my water just broke." I looked at the clock and made a mental note that it was 5:55 AM, then laid in bed for a few minutes before I decided to get up and see if indeed my water broke. Indeed, it had. I mentally calculated that with Tobin's birth, there were five hours from the time my water broke until he was born; and I grew hopeful that with this birth, I would be holding my new baby in my arms by lunchtime. I had no idea it would be even faster than that!

I called Jeff right away; and he answered the phone at the barbershop by asking, "Is it time?" "I think it is," I answered, and went on to tell him about my water breaking. He quickly ended the Greek lesson and called Starla, one of the other barbers, to come into the shop to cover for him, which she did even on her day off, for which we are very grateful! Jeff hurried home then, and I was glad to hear his old Jeep roaring up the driveway. :)

Meanwhile, I called my parents to let them know what was going on so my mother could be getting ready; and then in the early morning stillness before the boys awoke, I hurried around doing all the last-minute things I thought necessary before we left for the hospital. Unlike my previous birth experiences, I felt a greater urgency this time about getting to the hospital. Usually I like to stay at home, relaxing in the shower, waiting for contractions to pick up, making sure it's really time before I head to the hospital...but not this time. I knew that was where I needed to be. I was having some contractions at home but wasn't timing them or paying much attention to them, although occasionally I would announce to Jeff, "I'm having another one, if you care to take note!" I was much more eager to ignore them rather than time them however. :)

More later, as I have time...