Happy Veterans Day

On November 11th, 1918, the Great War came to an end. Twenty years later the US made Armistice Day a federal holiday. We began remembering the 11th day of the 11th month as Veterans Day in 1954. Let's remember and thank all who have served.

Some of Eleanor's favorite veterans.

Ed Lovelidge, United States Army

Great-Grandfather

Jerry Smith, United States Marine Corps

Great Uncle

George Smith, United States Marine Corps

Great-Grandfather

Patients of Job

As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. (James 5:10-11 RSV)

I've found the book of Job to be a difficult book of difficult difficulties. We move at a pace of about 2 chapters an hour in our Bible Study and it doesn't seem like enough time to unwrap all these ideas of suffering, difficulty and destiny.

Things felt pretty difficult around here today. Explaining after exams why glasses won't help, why surgery won't help, why medicine won't help. And that's after fighting through an exam. Why so difficult?

Does anyone vote for less difficulty? The idea comes up quite a bit in the form of the Question of Evil. As in, if God is all love and all powerful why so much nasty stuff around here? I see sickness, I see death and I see lots of people that can't see.

We would probably all vote for less difficulty. I don't think we would get rid of it all together though. That would be too strange and we wouldn't appreciate the good things if nothing was ever less than good. So how much difficulty would be enough?

That's the problem. We don't know. God pointed out to Job there was a lot he didn't know and there is a lot we don't know. How much evil should we allow in the world? I'm glad I don't have to give the answer.

I do know good can come from difficulties. My wife was sharing a devotion the other day (here) about how I had been sidelined with an illness and knocked out of my normal flow. That turned out to be an important time of listening God used to lead me to Haiti.

Passport photo. Difficult.

Hike. Not so difficult.

They Were Right

St. Augustine was right. He said basically that we forgive infant's their selfishness because we know that they will grow out of constantly crying for everything. I was a little worried that I would resent the baby being so needy and I was feeling some pre-guilt over my pre-sin. Well, the wonderful thing is, I don't resent her. When she needs I want to give. Resent the baby? Parents know that you don't. If you are not parents yet, know that you won't. I think Augustine left out the other reason we forgive children so quickly. They're so cute.

Everybody that said forget sleep as you know it was right. Even if the baby ever did go to sleep at a normal hour or sleep through the night, Dad wouldn't. Dads have to go over and make sure the chest is moving up and down even if it means a quick poke. In which case the baby won't sleep through the night. They don't like pokes. Dads in Haiti have an extra duty. Mosquito patrol. A weak, wind-up flash light and a tattered fly swatter can add up to hours of non-fun.

And when I said I probably wouldn't blog as much after the baby came, I hit it right on the head. A few of these blogs are post dated with old ideas or writings I came up with at the time. Self-fulfilling prophecy?

What do you look like at 2:00 am?

What a Difference a Day Makes

I picked the bow.

Our little gal is so much better. The neonatalogist didn't press for a lumbar puncture today because her other lab work was good and she is looking healthy and acting hungry. Her breathing slowed down after a few hours and she was able to start holding her temperature. We've gone to nurse her 5 (?) times today. I say we; Teresa does the work and I hold her afterwards until she falls asleep. Her Aunt Sara and Tom and Carla (we're still debating "Mimi and Grandpoppy" vs. "MeeMaw and Poopsey") all got to hold her today. Hopefully mother and daughter will be released into the Minnesota wild tomorrow.

Thanks for all the prayers, encouragement and inquiries. Her first hours mirrored the hair, dirty and spikey. Now she's looking and living pretty clean and smooth.

I'm putting some video from day one and day two below. They should be small enough for even those using Haiti internet.

I'm a Dad. She's a Mom. It's a Girl!

Eleanor Nancy Price everybody!

Our little girl came into the world at 2:33 this morning. We had been in the labor room since for about 33 hours, and T had been pushing for an hour and a half, but when she came it was all a blur. Since T had a cold and a fever she had been put on antibiotics earlier in the day and we had been warned Eleanor would need them too when she came out. When she seemed a little distressed during delivery we knew we wouldn't be the only ones poring over her when she was out. Our doctor whisked the little purple one out of Mom and over to the neonatal Nurse Practitioner standing by. As Teresa caught her breath, Eleanor wasn't allowed to catch hers since they were clearing her airways of mucus and any meconium that could have entered. She wasn't overly responsive at first and only started to show good color and muscle tone after vigorous rubbing. Teresa got to hold her for less than a minute, but since she wasn't breathing well we turned her over to the NP's again to take her to the special care nursery. All the grandparents got a good look at her as she made her way down the hall, but I was the only one that got to accompany her into the nursery. She eventually became nice and pink and her breathing slowed a little. Since Teresa's water was broken about 10 hours before delivery and Eleanor's white blood cell count is elevated, they are checking her for signs of infection today. The chest x-ray looked clear and she will get a spinal tap later to check out the meninges. After about an hour of sleep Teresa got to go with me to the nursery.

We enjoyed hanging out with our girl for a little bit. Her vitals signs were good and breathing improved while we were with her. She's still huffing and puffing too much for T to nurse her, but we hope she can later today. She already makes some neat faces and although she prefers bright lights as fixation points, she would occasionally look at her parents as we spoke to her. She's got this really cool spikey hair-do right now and we found her first freckle. A few million more and she'll catch her Mom. We prayed for as we left and it was so good to finally touch her hand and not just Mom's belly as we blessed her and committed her day to the Lord. Pray for us, T's recovery and our little daughter today as she faces her first trials.

286 days

That's how long T has been pregnant. Wow. We are in our labor and delivery room and I'm accompanied by constant lub dub of the fetal heart monitor. I don't know how we've gone without one. Maybe they make a travel size one we can have the whole time for the next baby. The nurses here at Fairview Southdale have been very nice and Teresa is situated and just trying to get comfortable. Pretty much everything between her shoulders and ankles hurts, itches and is cramping. I brought the camera along so I can include some pictures of our situation.

Our view from our big baby room.

Me in the daddy chair.

Here we go.

Hospital time

Teresa has done a wonderful job making a home for our baby. She's so comfortable in there that she doesn't want to come out on her own. We had hoped and prayed this week that things would get moving naturally, but they did not. We had a doc visit this morning that comfirmed that our little one has battened down the hatches. The doctor's fall back plan is now in effect and we are going into the hospital tonight. They will start my wife on a therapy that will open the passageway for the baby. In the morning if all is well, she will be given another medicine to induce uterine contractions. Hopefully we'll have some exciting news tomorrow.