Saturday, April 24, 2010

Look who's here!





Timothe Joel Allen
Born 4/23/10, 3:23pm — at our home!
19.5", 7.1 pounds



It was quite a day!

Valerie passed me word, at work, that Rachael and Kermit had gone to the hospital. So I let my boss know that I'd be leaving shortly, and headed out.

About ten minutes after I'd gotten home, Rachael and Kermit made a surprise arrival. They'd gone to the hospital, had all mom's and baby's vitals checked, learned that Rachael was (at least) fully effaced and 3 centimeters dilated. Then they were given a choice, since the hospital was pretty full: they could stay, or they could begin labor at home and return when matters had well progressed.

So, they were asking, would it be okay if they stayed at our house, which is about five minutes from the hospital?

Would it!

We all happily flew into action, cleaning and changing and moving and arranging, and the Allens took over the master bedroom and bathroom, with the nice big bath tub. And then we all just let them be. They knew what they were doing, they'd ask for help if they needed it.

Kermit popped out a time or two, resulting in me dashing off to do this (lock the car, fetch the bags) and that (emergency Sprite run).

Five hours later, Valerie and I had been going back and forth, and were just about at the point of suggesting that they should consider going to the hospital to help them move the labor along before they wore out — and out runs Kermit. "He's here! He's here!"

The lusty little first cries led us back to mom and baby. They'd just been doing what they had learned and decided to do, then Rachael gave two pushes, and boom! Baby!

Rachael (and Valerie) had preferred the idea of a home birth, but Kermit (and I) liked the security of the medical staff at hand. Everybody was happy: she'd gotten checked, then honored our home by giving birth in it, then an ambulance took her to a nearby hospital for followup.

When we left them last night, Mom and baby (and Dad) were doing great, and their grandparents are grateful to God and very happy for them.

55 comments:

Family Blogs said...

Fantastic news, wonderful story - many many congratulations to you all.

SolaMommy said...

WOW!!! What a story! You must be so proud of both Rachael and Timothe! He's a beautiful little guy! Congrats!!! :-D

Rachael Starke said...

Okay. I had to read this three times to check the math.

She went from 3 cm to baby in five hours?

And it's her first baby??

Wow. Seriously. That girl of yours is made of really strong stuff. Must be in the genes.

And that grandson is just precious.

Congratulations, Grampaw. Great news. And very, very well done to Rachael!

JackW said...

Wow, that was fun.

Much Joy to you and yours!

Colloquist said...

You and the missus must be about to burst! :)

Wonderful, amazing, awesome. He is gorgeous. Praying God's blessing over all of you!

Autumn Beck said...

Congratulations!!! What a wonderful blessing! We have homebirths and love it! My mom would freak with joy if we had one at her house.

Unknown said...

Congrats you guys! How awesome!!!

Angie B. said...

What a cute newborn.

Merrilee Stevenson said...

Yay! I'm all smiles for you and your family. Congratulations.

Terry Rayburn said...

Wonderful! Congratulations to all!

GrammaMack said...

What a wonderful birth story, and what a beautiful boy! Being a grandparent is a great blessing and tons of fun--and what a way to start!

sem said...

Wow, that's some birth story! Congratulations!

Chris Brauns said...

Hey, hey! Wonderful. What a beautiful baby. Praise the Lord.

Mike Riccardi said...

Congratulations, Dan. Great to celebrate with you.

Gordon Cheng said...

Great news! God bless baby and the rest of the family too!

Rebecca Stark said...

What a day! What a story! And what a boy!

Gilbert said...

Wow, so cool! Congratulations to both of you...and Dan, way to go on thee hospitality!

Brad Williams said...

Congratulations!!

Man of the West said...

Excellent! Couldn't o' scripted it no better!

100 Mile Pants said...

Awesome story!

Congrats, Grandad!

SandMan said...

He's a handsome lad! Praising God with you and your family.

Unknown said...

What an absolutely fantastic story! Those parents will savor this memory for the rest of their lives! (Here's guessing that you will too ;)

Congratulations to you and yours!!

Rebekah said...

Congratulations!

Moon said...

Congratulations Mr. Phillips!!! He's adorable! :D

threegirldad said...

Wonderful! What a story! Congratulations to everyone!

Herding Grasshoppers said...

WOO-HOO!

What wonderful news! Congrats to all!!!

Five minutes from the hospital sounds like a perfect scenario for a homebirth :D And TWO PUSHES? (I'm envious.)

And what a beautiful baby! (Even boys can be beautiful when they're infants... )

What an amazing thing that God lets us participate in. Joy to you all,

Julie

Herding Grasshoppers said...

I suppose you'll be needing a new acronym, to refer to the new family member, hmmm?

DJP said...

Thanks, everyone.

Absolutely right, Philip. We're so happy they came, and that the blessed event took place under our roof.

It's yet another cherished,happy memory Kermit and Rachael have given us.

Fred Butler said...

...learned that Rachael was (at least) fully effaced and 3 centimeters dilated.

For you single, non-baby people, that's tech talk for "the baby's getting into position."

Congratulations.

Andrew D said...

Congratualtions, Gramps! This store totally dade my day! Thanks for sharing with the bibchr family :)

tobekiwi said...

Great news- congratulations!! Praise the Lord everyone is well!
He is a beautiful baby :o)

Paula Bolyard said...

What joyous news! Thanks for sharing it with us! He's such a cute little bit of a thing : )

I have to ask...what were your boys doing during all this?

candy said...

Waht a great story. What an absolute blessing for the parents and grandparents. We are happy for you all. You will love watching your grandchild grow up, and the time will go by so quickly. I was at the birth of my first grandchild, Jeslyn, and she is entering high school next year!

Barbara said...

Yay! Yay! Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!

Pierre Saikaley said...

Great joy, Dan.

He's a handsome lad.

Zaph

Unknown said...

Congratulations! There is nothing in this world like a new baby... God bless you all.

Stephanie Dunlap
Bakersfield, CA

Sonja said...

Congrats to your family. There's nothing more amazing than birth itself, but a home birth? That's icing on the cake. Praise the Lord for such wonderful news.

Rick Potter said...

Congratulations Dan (and family). May God richly bless little Timothe Allen!
Amen!

Susan said...

1. My congrats would have been posted a lot earlier today (say, around 1:30 p.m. or so) had my "smart" phone been smart enough to show my word verification!! Alas. My sentiments remain the same, however:

YAY PHILLIPSES AND ALLENS!!! :D
What a birth story for the family chronicles!!! :D
Congrats to you all!!! :D

2. Dan, am I right to say that Valerie just broke her "no show" rule for her DGS!?!? :D (Oh, what one would do for a grandchild....) :)

Joe W. said...

Congratulations!!
I think we found the new face of Gerber. What a cute kid.

Stefan Ewing said...

Dan:

Congratulations, but the two of you look too young to be a grandpa and grandma.

David said...

Congratulations, Old Man!

DJP said...

Very perceptive, Susan. I would have honored a "no," but it was such a great picture that I asked, and she graciously consented.

VcdeChagn said...

Congratulations Dan and family.

We've had five at the hospital, and I think we're going to try a home birth next, Lord willing of course!

What an incredible blessing!

Lilian said...

Congratulations Grandpa and Grandma... or whatever you're going to call yourselves...
Best wishes to Rachel and Kermit... too!

NoLongerBlind said...

Wonderful news!
Thanks for sharing it with all of us.

Praising God for His wonderful Sovereign Grace in blessing you and your family with such an amazingly blessed experience.

Best wishes to the new parents and grandparents!

Desia said...

Congratulations young "Ouma&Oupa", he is beautiful!

Jackie said...

congratulations!! what a special gift for you and your wife!

Mark Patton said...

Congratulations!

Aaron said...

Congrats to the whole family. Great pictures of the new boy.

@Rachael: I was thinking the same thing. I was also thinking I missed all the running around,panicky feeling as both of my kids were delivered on an appointment basis at hospitals that felt closer to a hotel than a hospital.

TAR said...

He is a beautiful baby..."Children are a blessing from the Lord"

We know that in our hearts cause we all say AWWWW together
Blessings on the entire family

John said...

Congrats. Looks just like you...

Has to be the most beautiful baby I've ever seen.

DJP said...

Bald and drowsy?

(c;

zostay said...

Awesome! Congratulations! God bless baby and parents and grandparents.

Kay said...

You write a birth story like a professional, Dan. I have tears, many congratulations to you all!