Witnessing the Miracle of Birth once again.

My Aunt Sara had asked me to be with her when she had her baby. She's about my age; so she's really more like a cousin or even a sister than an Aunt. On Thursday my mom called me and talked to me about how Sara was coming along in her pregnancy. I had heard so many different due dates that I wasn't sure which was the right one; but Mom told me that Sara was due in about 2 weeks! Time had crept up on me! I hadn't talked to anyone about watching my kids while I went up there or anything. I had plans to get that all figured out on Friday.

Well about 3 in the morning Sara called me and said she was probably in labor. She was early enough that I wondered if it could be false labor, but she sounded like she wanted me to come be with her; so I packed up some things along with my kids and headed to brownsville. I had to make a last minute phone call to Sis. Connie to see if I could take my kids to her house. It is sooo wonderful that you can call the sisters in the middle of the night like this and have them willing to watch 4 small children at a moments notice! Sis. Connie if you are reading this I REALLY appreciated this!

When I got to my mom's house Sara was definitely in labor; and for the rest of the day we all played the waiting game. Sara did really well during labor, but of course she was getting tired of being in this much pain with no immediate results. There were no complications whatsoever, but it was just taking time. Especially with a first baby this was very normal, but hard. We were getting into the evening, and there was still no baby. Sara was getting to that point where she was feeling like she needed to get some extra strength from somewhere. She asked me to call the brethren and tell them that if any of them felt like coming to pray for her that they could and she would really appreciate it. When I left the room the pains just didn't seem quite hard enough, Sis. Cindy could feel the baby when she checked, but we couldn't see it yet; so I was telling everyone that it would probably still be awhile, but Sara was getting tired and needed some extra strength. I hadn't finished my phone calls when I heard a commotion in the bedroom. Me being the person that I am didn't want to miss out on anything; so I abandoned my phone calls and rushed into the bedroom. Within a minute or two we had a little baby boy!

I have to say that I really thought that things would be worse than they were. I didn't expect any fatalities or anything, but I just thought it would be harder than it was. I guess the Lord heard all our prayers and things went REALLY well. I guess that's what I get for shortening God's arm as they say. I'm so glad the Lord proved my ideas and fears wrong!

Here are the important details:

Jack Dean Elliott, born January 25th 2008, 5:20 p.m., he was 5 1/4 lbs., 18 in. long.

He's pretty small, but seems healthy. We have been a little worried about him getting the nourishment he needs since he's so small, but we've all been working hard to get him to eat; and I think he's doing pretty good.

My job was being the picture taker; so I'm posting some pictures.

Here's little baby Jack with his proud new Daddy.

Here he is with the midwife, Sis. Cindy.

Little Jack on his first day after getting cleaned up, dressed and bundled.

Here he is on his second day. I just think he's sooo cute! I of course went wild shopping for him on Saturday!

Here's the proud new Mommy!

Little Jack sleeping in the family cradle. It was originally made for Eric (Sara's brother). There's been a lot of family babies that have used this crib. He's also bundled up in an afghan that was made for Eric.

Here's Jack on his 3rd day. I, of course, requested he wear one of the many outfits I got him before I left! This one was small enough to fit him OK; and it's soooo soft.

On Sunday I finally brought my kids over to see the new arrival. Here I am showing him to them. They thought he was pretty special.

Well now I'm back home, but it was such an honor to get to see and have a small part in the miracle of birth!