Throughout my pregnancy, we were in a joking race with Micah’s cousin David and his wife Emily, who were expecting a baby boy at almost the same time we were. Patrick arrived first, but we just received word that their little one, Joshua, arrived today. His birthplace was much more exotic than San Antonio, since his parents are doing missionary work in Lebanon.
Joshua’s nursery theme is lambs, so here is the blanket I made for him:
To my great relief, we’re back in Houston. By some miracle, power has been restored to our house–even though the other side of the street is still dark. Our drive from San Antonio was fine, and Patrick was for the most part a good little traveler. He isn’t wild about getting into his carseat, but he likes interstate driving, so he got some sleep.
We found our house in good shape, and Micah’s wonderful cousins had stopped by yesterday to clean out the refrigerator and turn on the air conditioning. Since we weren’t really expecting to come home with a baby, we have a lot of organizing to do, but we’re settling in just fine.
This is what Hurricane Ike did to our yard:
Remarkably, our house sustained no damage at all.
For the contents of our freezer. A week’s work of baby-prep cooking, all for naught.
We’re free–and Patrick has stepped out (well, been carried out) into the big world! We were discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon, after lots of waiting and much paperwork. Our time there wasn’t exactly fun–such things never are–but I have nothing but praise for the wonderful staff of Christus Santa Rosa Hospital. They were under extra stress and strain because they took in many storm evacuees, especially from the Corpus Christi area, but we received excellent care and lots of great advice. I was sorry my regular OB didn’t get to “finish the job” by delivering Patrick, but I was relieved to end up, largely by chance, in such capable hands. (By the way, I always think it’s kind of funny when you enter the hospital under your own power and leave in a wheelchair.)
Reports from home are coming in, via phone and email, and things in Houston are slowly improving. Our house is secure and sustained no damage, though there’s still no power, and the backyard is piled with debris. Inconvenience abounds, but we’ve heard from no one about any injuries, thank God. The worst news from work is that the hurricane tore off part of the roof of the architecture building, causing flooding in the Architecture and Art Library. The books are being moved to the main library as damage is assessed.
I guess I’ve neglected to let you all know that Snow is fine. Our wonderful friends rescued her from our house and are taking care of her until we get home. She’s probably really enjoying her visit, since not only does she get to hang out with her old buddy Jeremy, she’s also made a fast friend in their new dog Pixie.
Boy oh boy, do we have a lot to be grateful for these days!
Last week on the Writer’s Almanac, Garrison Keillor read Paul Goodman’s poem “I Planned to Have a Border of Lavender,” and I was struck by the line “it has blest me silly.” This perfectly captures the way I feel right now. We have been given such an amazing gift with this little baby, and having so many wonderful people to share him with is, well, I don’t even know how to say it. That’s why we have poets, anyway: to describe how we feel when we don’t even know where to begin.
Some of you may be curious about the origin of Patrick’s name. He is named in honor of several limbs of his family tree:
So he is the fifth-generation bearer of these names and has quite a lineage to look to for inspiration.
But who are we kidding? What you really want is pictures!
He’s here! He’s here! He’s finally here!! (Of course, “here” is San Antonio, which is a bit of a surprise, but that’s fine.)
B3 will henceforth be known as Patrick Word Bennett, and he arrived safely–and squalling–at 8:50 this morning. I went into labor naturally at about 10:00 last night, so it turns out all the induction planning was unnecessary. Little Patrick had his own ideas about when he would show up, and we were very happy to meet him a day earlier than expected. He weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces, and measured just under 21 inches long.
Mom and baby are healthy and happy–if both very sleepy–and we are enjoying the Invasion of the Grandmothers, who were both able to change their plans and travel to San Antonio instead of Houston.
Addendum: My mom noticed that this post shows up dated September 14; Patrick was born on September 13.
Okay, here’s the latest from San Antonio.
I had an appointment with a local OB this afternoon, and after reviewing my medical history and performing various tests, he recommended going ahead with induction as soon as possible. B3 looks good, but because of the gestational diabetes, it’s advisable to get him out sooner rather than later. After weighing our options, we decided to schedule the induction for Sunday, as we had originally planned, but here in San Antonio instead of Houston. The doctor I saw is on-call this weekend, so he’ll be available to perform the delivery, and we were able to see the relevant areas of the hospital and get our questions answered by an exceptionally helpful nurse.
B3 is showing significant signs of interest in moving into the outside world, so I’m hoping the induction will be a way of helping things along rather than starting from scratch. The doctor here seems optimistic that I’m in good condition for a safe and successful induced delivery. Your prayers and good thoughts are welcome!
Of town, that is.
We decided early this morning to beat the potentially nightmarish traffic out of Houston and are now safe and sound in San Antonio. I feel like I’ve traded one worry (Houston in a state of Ike-induced chaos) for another (labor and delivery in a completely unfamiliar setting), but most people seem to agree that the latter is the lesser of the two.
My doctor called off Sunday’s planned induction, so I’m not really sure where things stand with that. I’ve been making a lot of calls here, trying to put a plan in place, in case B3 decides he’d like to be born away from home. I actually managed to get an appointment with a local OB tomorrow, so I should be prepared if anything happens. Thank heavens for kind and understanding doctors, nurses, receptionists, and customer service representatives (the Blue Cross people are so nice on the phone!).
At the moment, we’re hoping to get home on Saturday or Sunday, depending, of course, on conditions in Houston and between here and there. For now, we’ll just settle in at the hotel and enjoy our unanticipated getaway!
Dog and Baby Show 
