Resolutions and Revelations: July 2013

I remember the day she was born just like it was yesterday.

A few days prior to delivery at my routine doctor’s appointment, because I had already begun to dilate, my OBGYN said we would schedule an inducement for Sunday morning if I didn’t deliver over the weekend.

I remember feeling so relieved that I had made it through nine months without any problems and that very soon we would be holding our precious angel in our arms.

My parents and grandparents had made the trek down to Mississippi to be present for the birth of their first grandchild and great-grandchild, respectively.

We had a celebration dinner at a Mexican restaurant on Saturday night, naturally. I started craving Mexican food while pregnant with Zoë and still today it’s our go-to food of choice when we have the option.

I remember having back pains that night when leaving the restaurant, but any woman will tell you that you get used to aches and pains throughout a pregnancy. (I didn’t realize at the time that it was early contractions.)

The next morning, we were scheduled to be at the hospital at 7am, so we said goodbye to my mom and dad and grandparents at the crack of dawn. They planned to come over to the hospital later in the day supposing labor would take awhile.

We arrived at the hospital and got settled in a room. There was some last minute paperwork to be done, but I remember the doctor arriving promptly at 9am to get things started. At the time, I was feeling great. CJ and I both were happy and excited, I thought delivery was just gonna be a cakewalk.

After checking out the situation, the doctor looked at me and said, “You’re at 5 centimeters dilated and having contractions every 2 minutes!”

I was completely surprised.

“Wow,” I thought to myself. “This is nothing like what they show on tv or in the movies. This is easy!”

Yeah, that was until the doctor broke my water.

I remember him saying he was going to break my water, but when it happened instead it felt like he had shot fire into my body.

We had planned ahead of time to have the epidural and at that moment I realized it was the best decision I had made in my life up to that point.

We have a funny video from that day that CJ made on our new video camera. He was going around the room explaining all the different machines when he got to the one that showed the contractions. In the video he says, “See look, she’s having a small one now.” To which I screamed, “That’s no SMALL contraction. It’s a BIG ONE!”

CJ’s family was down in South Florida, but I remember that CJ’s dad kept calling the phone in our hospital room every 10 minutes for the latest progress. About 1:30pm when the doctor said it was finally time to start pushing, he instructed CJ to take the phone off the hook until after delivery.

At precisely 2:34pm on July 30, 2000, Zoë Gray Johnson made her appearance into the world.

She came out screaming, but the moment they placed her in my arms and CJ and I greeted her, she quieted right down.

It was love at first sight.

13 years ago today, the Lord bestowed upon CJ and I this most precious blessing. He’s allowed us the privilege of parenting this special girl and getting to walk with her throughout her life.

She is truly unique, talented in so many ways. She’s musical, sporty and a socialite. She never meets a stranger and little children always seem to flock to her.

Her heart’s desire is to serve Father and she pursues opportunities of sharing His love with others.

Now we are embarking upon the teenage years, and new adventures and challenges are surely ahead. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Just like she breezed into the world 13 years ago, she is still breezing through life bringing joy everywhere she goes.

Happy 13^th birthday, Zoë!

We love you and are so proud of you!