Happy 7th Birthday, Isaac!

Our journey of parenthood actually began just short of 8 years ago. All during our first year of marriage I couldn't wait to graduate college because then I could think about having a baby! My dream was to marry and have children. Jeff and I hadn't really talked about when we'd start a family but I was itching to do it early. I wasn't sure I really wanted a career at all. I knew I kind of wanted to stay home but logically and financially I didn't think it was possible. Plus, if I quit my teaching job, how would I ever get back into the school system??

After graduation in May we started talking about what our future might hold. I did not have a job and Jeff was working at Builders Mart as a sales clerk making pay that most highschool and college students make. It barely paid our living expenses. Thank the Lord for overtime pay on a weekly basis or we would never have made it!

I spent all summer applying to teaching jobs within a one hour radius drive from our home. I also began a fun little business (in my mind) never knowing it would be a pivatol decision in my life. During that summer we began to talk about starting a family and when we'd like to do it. Apparently for us, all we have to do is talk about it and it happens because by the end of July we knew that our family of two would become a family of three.

To be honest, we were hesitant to tell people. I mean here we are, I have no job, Jeff is still in college and we are having a BABY!! I was ecstatic; Jeff was anxious. I can't remember my parents' reaction but I don't think it was one of true excitment but of worry about how we were going to make this work.

I remember the day I was laying on the couch sick with morning sickness and I get a call for an interview later that afternoon! Oh my, was that crazy! Yes, I got the job and started just a few weeks later. Talk about crazy....morning sickness and my first teaching job! I'm thankful that the Lord gave this to me. It put us at ease about the financial aspect. You can imagine the responses we got when I announced a few months later that I'd be quitting that same job to stay at home. During this time teaching jobs were hard to come by and I landed the only full time opening in Huntington County that year in the elementary area. Yes, the Lord is quite amazing! That job provided the money we needed to build our savings and pay in cash at the time of birth all our medical expenses. I knew it was only temporary and the Lord had other plans, so I was obedient and quit!

The day Isaac was born.....
I've been thinking back to this wild day that happened 7 years ago!! It started around 4am on a Sunday morning, March 21st. I was beginning to feel some pretty good contractions but trying not to get my hopes up. We head to church and I feel them very consistently through service and Sunday School class. After church we head to the Morris house for lunch and again, I kept feeling them. They weren't getting stronger but they were staying consistent. After we head home late that afternoon and into the evening they were getting strong enough to start timing them. Nothing too consistent to get excited about yet. We head to bed and by 1am I am having some pretty good ones. While Jeff is sleeping I time them for an hour. I have the piece of paper I wrote on but not sure where it is. I think they were anywhere from 5-7 min a part. Our doc had told us not to wait because we knew that the baby's cord was wrapped around his neck. I call the hospital to let them know I'm on my way. Jeff jumps in the shower and we get to the hospital around 3:45am.

The drive to the hospital was one of excitement but anxiousness! I even remember saying to Jeff, "if this baby comes out a girl I will be so surprised!" We didn't know Isaac was a boy but I just knew it was!

By 7am the doc comes to check on me and confirms that I am in labor and that I will be admitted. By 11am I get an epidural (wanted to try and do it natural but I can't handle pain!). By mid afternoon half of my body has feeling back so I feel hard contractions on half of my body. I can't walk because the other half of my body is numb. It was horrible. I can't even remember everything because I was so out of it. My early evening they finally give me more drugs and I'm completely numb. By 6:30pm they say its almost time to push and they bring all this equipment into the room. It was a very surreal feeling to think this baby was coming out finally!!

Isaac Anson Morris was born at 7:45pm on Monday, March 22, 2004. The doctor said, "It's a boy!" and I thought, "yep, I knew it!"

Our story could end there but it took a terrible turn for the worse. The next morning I get a phone call from the pediatrician saying something that I can't fully grasp. Long story short....Isaac was given a drug by accident that is meant for mothers in labor to calm anxiety instead of his newborn vitamin K shot. The shock and anxiety that came with that is unlike anything I can explain. This precious baby boy I had fallen in love with had been mistreated by medical staff and I didn't even know how to process it.

Praise the Lord for healing our little Isaac fully and completely as a newborn. We do not know if he has any lasting affects from this as he grows older. He does struggle with allergies which could be a result from this drug. We probably won't dig deeper to see if it is but trust the Lord to heal him. No one knows what can happen because this has never happened (at least not recorded). We did not seek legal action but the hospital dropped all charges of our stay. It wasn't worth the headache to us since Isaac was ok and the Lord was faithful to his healing.

Today, 7 years later he has grown into a sweet child that we are blessed to have. He's so much like me, it's scary! However, we are both first born children and have first born characteristics. :)