I’ve wanted to do this for a while, especially before I forget all the ways the timing of Cade’s birth was perfect. He was considered premature, but the more and more we’re around him and consider the whole thing, we’re confident he was right on time. God has a way of taking our plans and showing us He knows better. Think about these things:
* Cade was born at 34 weeks. He weighed 5 lb., 11 oz., and was 19” long. Some full-term babies are not that large. If he would have been born on his due date of August 3rd (which we’ve still not reached), he would have been huge, and the birth could have been extremely rough for Susie, possibly even requiring a Cesarean.
* Susie was not allowed to drive for over two weeks following Cade’s birth. If Cade would have been “on time,” her inability to drive could have been even longer, requiring someone to drive her to Bloomington at the start of the fall semester. As it stands, she’ll be able to drive herself without any restrictions. Also, there has been plenty of time to establish a routine with him before beginning school.
* The week after Cade’s birth was our church’s youth summer camp. I was supposed to go to this camp with our youth, so I had done a lot of work in preparation for being absent from work. I had also worked pretty far ahead in my school work. This allowed me to take the time I needed to support Susie and Cade and stay in the hospital without worrying about schoolwork or work issues. If Cade had showed up later it may have caused some scheduling issues with finals or other end of the semester work.
* During the week I was to go to youth camp, Susie was planning on spending the week in Alabama with her parents. It would have been extremely stressful for her and me (and Cade, I’m sure) to have to give birth in a different town with a different doctor.
* During our week at the hospital Cade had a night-shift nurse named Katie in the special care nursery. She had previously worked at the hospital in Lexington in the NICU unit. So while Cade was at the higher end of the severity that most of the nurses were used to (he was close to being sent to Evansville the first couple days), Katie had seen much worse and wasn’t afraid to try things with Cade when the other nurses were more cautious. It was under her care that most of his major improvements took place, things like coming off oxygen, having his first bath, and having his feeding tube removed. The week we were in the hospital was her last week in Owensboro before she moved to Iowa, so if we’d been in there one week later we’d have missed her and her care of Cade.
* My dad was supposed to go on a trip to sea with my uncle on a research ship this summer. He was going to be gone for six weeks getting back at the end of June. My uncle was unable to go, and so my dad was replaced with a grad student. He was originally bummed about it, but if he’d gone he would have been on a ship in the middle of the ocean when Cade was born.
* Susie’s doctor was on vacation, and the perfect doctor was on call that night. I’ve mentioned this in a previous blog, but of all the possible other doctors to walk in that night and deliver her baby, Dr. Ottman was the best.
* We had actually discussed the option of driving to Evansville if Susie went into labor prematurely. But when I got home from work that Monday, she was so far along that it really didn’t make sense to drive to Evansville. I’m glad we didn’t attempt it, because if we’d have tried, there’s a good possibility we may have been stuck in traffic since it was rush hour. If we’d have been stuck in traffic the hour-long drive could have been much longer and he may have come in the car (seeing how he came so fast even with the doctor’s efforts to slow labor). It would have been impossible to get the required care for his lungs if he’d have been born in the car.
* There were four things we wanted to do that we weren’t able to fully commit to since we didn’t know when Cade would show up. We wanted to go to two weddings (one in Colorado), I was supposed to play guitar at our church’s kids camp, our church hosts a church-wide retreat down at Kentucky Lake in the fall that we were hoping to attend. Cade’s early arrival has allowed us to go and do all of these things. The event we were least confident we could attend was my friend’s wedding in Colorado in late August. If he’d been on time or a little late he would have been too young to take on a plane, but we’re going to try it since he’ll be two months old when we go.
* The fact that Susie went into labor six weeks early allowed her to avoid the discomfort of late pregnancy. She had a nearly picture-perfect pregnancy without any major swelling of her hands or feet, no major problems sleeping, she didn’t grow to an incredibly huge size, and just didn’t really have any major discomfort. After Cade was born I think she actually missed being pregnant a little because it was such an enjoyable experience.
I’m sure there are more things I can’t think of right now, but this is a pretty good list. I’m guilty of thinking I have my paths planned out better than God can plan them for me. This is a perfect example of His timing being the best. I wasn’t seeing it when we first went to the hospital. It was a very stressful week. I had a multiple commitments (a meeting at work, a haircut appointment, and a meeting with friends) that I completely forgot about until way after the fact and someone reminded me (usually the jilted party). I lost 8 pounds in less than a week because I neglected taking care of myself in an effort to tend to Susie and Cade’s needs. I couldn’t understand why God had Cade show up when he did because I was focused on the immediate situation. God sees everything from beginning to end, and life is so much better when we submit to His perfect plan. As the week went on and we started coming up for air, it was humbling to start to take account of the ways in which the timing was perfect. In my opinion there is no way to look at this situation except to stand in awe of God and give Him the credit and praise.
Here are a few pictures of Cade. We’re taking tons of them. I’m sure he’ll be sick of seeing himself when he gets older.
* Cade was born at 34 weeks. He weighed 5 lb., 11 oz., and was 19” long. Some full-term babies are not that large. If he would have been born on his due date of August 3rd (which we’ve still not reached), he would have been huge, and the birth could have been extremely rough for Susie, possibly even requiring a Cesarean.
* Susie was not allowed to drive for over two weeks following Cade’s birth. If Cade would have been “on time,” her inability to drive could have been even longer, requiring someone to drive her to Bloomington at the start of the fall semester. As it stands, she’ll be able to drive herself without any restrictions. Also, there has been plenty of time to establish a routine with him before beginning school.
* The week after Cade’s birth was our church’s youth summer camp. I was supposed to go to this camp with our youth, so I had done a lot of work in preparation for being absent from work. I had also worked pretty far ahead in my school work. This allowed me to take the time I needed to support Susie and Cade and stay in the hospital without worrying about schoolwork or work issues. If Cade had showed up later it may have caused some scheduling issues with finals or other end of the semester work.
* During the week I was to go to youth camp, Susie was planning on spending the week in Alabama with her parents. It would have been extremely stressful for her and me (and Cade, I’m sure) to have to give birth in a different town with a different doctor.
* During our week at the hospital Cade had a night-shift nurse named Katie in the special care nursery. She had previously worked at the hospital in Lexington in the NICU unit. So while Cade was at the higher end of the severity that most of the nurses were used to (he was close to being sent to Evansville the first couple days), Katie had seen much worse and wasn’t afraid to try things with Cade when the other nurses were more cautious. It was under her care that most of his major improvements took place, things like coming off oxygen, having his first bath, and having his feeding tube removed. The week we were in the hospital was her last week in Owensboro before she moved to Iowa, so if we’d been in there one week later we’d have missed her and her care of Cade.
* My dad was supposed to go on a trip to sea with my uncle on a research ship this summer. He was going to be gone for six weeks getting back at the end of June. My uncle was unable to go, and so my dad was replaced with a grad student. He was originally bummed about it, but if he’d gone he would have been on a ship in the middle of the ocean when Cade was born.
* Susie’s doctor was on vacation, and the perfect doctor was on call that night. I’ve mentioned this in a previous blog, but of all the possible other doctors to walk in that night and deliver her baby, Dr. Ottman was the best.
* We had actually discussed the option of driving to Evansville if Susie went into labor prematurely. But when I got home from work that Monday, she was so far along that it really didn’t make sense to drive to Evansville. I’m glad we didn’t attempt it, because if we’d have tried, there’s a good possibility we may have been stuck in traffic since it was rush hour. If we’d have been stuck in traffic the hour-long drive could have been much longer and he may have come in the car (seeing how he came so fast even with the doctor’s efforts to slow labor). It would have been impossible to get the required care for his lungs if he’d have been born in the car.
* There were four things we wanted to do that we weren’t able to fully commit to since we didn’t know when Cade would show up. We wanted to go to two weddings (one in Colorado), I was supposed to play guitar at our church’s kids camp, our church hosts a church-wide retreat down at Kentucky Lake in the fall that we were hoping to attend. Cade’s early arrival has allowed us to go and do all of these things. The event we were least confident we could attend was my friend’s wedding in Colorado in late August. If he’d been on time or a little late he would have been too young to take on a plane, but we’re going to try it since he’ll be two months old when we go.
* The fact that Susie went into labor six weeks early allowed her to avoid the discomfort of late pregnancy. She had a nearly picture-perfect pregnancy without any major swelling of her hands or feet, no major problems sleeping, she didn’t grow to an incredibly huge size, and just didn’t really have any major discomfort. After Cade was born I think she actually missed being pregnant a little because it was such an enjoyable experience.
I’m sure there are more things I can’t think of right now, but this is a pretty good list. I’m guilty of thinking I have my paths planned out better than God can plan them for me. This is a perfect example of His timing being the best. I wasn’t seeing it when we first went to the hospital. It was a very stressful week. I had a multiple commitments (a meeting at work, a haircut appointment, and a meeting with friends) that I completely forgot about until way after the fact and someone reminded me (usually the jilted party). I lost 8 pounds in less than a week because I neglected taking care of myself in an effort to tend to Susie and Cade’s needs. I couldn’t understand why God had Cade show up when he did because I was focused on the immediate situation. God sees everything from beginning to end, and life is so much better when we submit to His perfect plan. As the week went on and we started coming up for air, it was humbling to start to take account of the ways in which the timing was perfect. In my opinion there is no way to look at this situation except to stand in awe of God and give Him the credit and praise.
Here are a few pictures of Cade. We’re taking tons of them. I’m sure he’ll be sick of seeing himself when he gets older.
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