Gifts, The Giver and Grace

"Every breath is a gift and if life is a gift, there is a giver and if there is a giver- all's grace. When all's grace- we give, because a gift never stops being a gift to be given." - Ann Voscamp

Emily Ann is a gift from a generous Giver.

I want to tell you about her name.

About Emily

I love everyone, seriously, it takes a lot for me to not connect with a person.  However, even massive extroverts like me, have people that they connect with on a deeper level. Emily Hudelson is one of those people.  She is a high-schooler at my church that I see a lot of myself in, only she is wiser at her age than I was.  I feel very strongly that I would be honored to raise my Emily to be like her.  I want my Emily to be like her because she loves Jesus, she tells her friends about him and is kind and helpful.  I have always loved the name Emily and not many kids under age five have that name.  When I look at my sweet Emily, I think of the older Emily that brings me so much joy!

About Ann

Once the pieces came together, this was a slam dunk for her name.

Sully and I were sitting at lunch one day discussing middle names  and I wanted to use Mae. Mae is my middle name and I always thought we would name our little girl with the middle name Mae.  Sully felt like there was really only one Mae in our life right now. Little Baby Mae, she is our first baby love.

Then he suggested Ann.  The initial connection was to the author Ann Voscamp.  God has really used her book as part of our story and continues to do so.  Ann mentions in the book that the Hebrew meaning of her name means "full of grace".  Adoption is full of God's grace.

Ann is my Nannie's middle name. Ann is Carrie's middle name (if you know me at all, you know how I feel about Carrie Ray!)

Added bonus(because God does things in splendor)- Kristy, the friend who introduced us to Her and started this whole thing, her middle name is Ann, no e.  I mean, really?!

Earlier that day, Tummy Mommy and I were texting and I told her that she was giving us a priceless gift. She is Irish, so she was always looking up the meanings of the name suggestions. We mentioned Ann at lunch and she said the Irish meaning was "priceless gift".   I mean, really?!

The most priceless gift I know is grace.

Emily Ann is a gift from The Giver. She is full of Grace because all is grace.  The fact that we waited so long for her, had a failed placement and nights of tears is God's grace.

This story is better than I could have imagined.

All really is grace.

"I have loved you," says the Lord. Malachi 1:2

We got the call Tuesday night about 9:00pm.

Sully and I rushed home and collected our things.  The car was out of gas  and we hit every red light between here and Williamson Medical Center.  I thought I was about to burst!

We get all checked in and settled with Her and her friend who was there to support her.

They ask Her what the name is and She waits for me to answer.  I reply, "Emily Ann with no e".  (more on the name choice later)

The nurse then says, "That is my full name too, no e".

She and I give each other a wide-mouthed look at how incredibly cool that is.

Then the nurse who is going to help deliver the baby comes in. She is a petite spunky nurse named Carly.  She goes over the birth plan and then tells us that she is adopted!

Again, She and I look at each other with this baffled look at how all of this is coming together.

Time passes(rather quickly) and the doctor comes in to prep and talk through the transitioning. We had the on call doctor, Dr. Heather Rupe.  She was amazing.  Added bonus, she is an adoptive momma!   The doctor went on to affirm Her and she even said, "Birthmoms are VIP when I am here because I know how special they are." 

Is this real life?

She starts to feel pressure and shake, it's go time!

If you would have asked me a month ago how I would feel at that moment, I would have said terrified and dizzy.

The spunky nurse coached me through how to hold her legs and help her in the process.  I felt totally at peace and calm.  Luckily, one of my best friends made me watch her birthing videos in the past so I was prepared for the scene.

So there I was, one hand holding Hers and the other hand holding her leg.

Again, is this real life? I can't believe I get to be in this moment. 

They asked Sully if he wanted to hold the other leg and coach her through with us.  He hesitantly agreed.  About 10 minutes into pushing, he starts looking pale.  I told him to go sit down. The doctor took one look at him and put him in a chair with a cold compress.  Then She had her friend take his spot. Five minutes in and he was down too.

Me? I was rocking it! It was all Jesus. I have to lay down when I get shots and can faint when people just talk about medical procedures.  If you know me personally, you know this was the Holy Spirit because I watched everything with amazement and felt so strong and sure.

30 minutes later, she was here.  When she came out, She and I both cried.  I have never in my life seen anything more amazing.  How a person can deny the existence of a Creator God is beside me.
They told me to go look at my baby and surprisingly I wanted to stay there with Her and just tell her everything that was on my heart at that moment.  She said, "No, you go look at your baby."

She was amazing at first site.

After the fact, the queasy boys were the talk of the floor. :)

The rest of the night really was a blur.  Emily ate so well! Initially, the hospital told us we could not bring in breast milk. I did a little digging and with advice from friends, we were able to make it work!

She did not want us to have visitors due to the privacy and vulnerability of the situation.

I was so thrilled the next morning when a nurse came in and said good morning.  It was our friend Jill Thyen!  I said out loud, "Jill!".  I was so excited that she was the nurse for Her.

Jill even went and got a little gift for both of us.  I am so grateful for the compassion.

God's provision doesn't stop there.

On our way to the hospital, I texted our friend Mary Ellen. She works in the nursery at WMC. I asked her if she was scheduled to work and she said no.

The morning Emily came,  I go out into the hall and who do I see? Mary Ellen! They had called her earlier to ask her if she could fill in and of course she jumped at the chance!  She told all the other nurses she had dibs on sweet Emily!

Two of our sisters in Christ from our church family got to experience this with us! What a gift!

The rest of our time there was really special and I will treasure the moments forever.

We are so thankful for all the calls, posts, texts and gifts that you all have given. This has truly been amazing.

I don't think the magnitude of this has hit me yet.  I feel like I don't deserve such a precious gift.

Emily is a work of heavenly art.  Her long fingers, thick hair, tan skin and sweet lips are perfect.

Every time I look at her, one verse comes to mind.

"I have loved you," says the Lord. - Malachi 1:2

Yes, indeed He has.