No one was expecting it. It came as a complete surprise to me. After all, he wasn't due until the end of March. But as we all know, babies come when they are good and ready. And this one was ready!
On Thursday morning February 11, 2010, I was on my way to work. My cell phone went off at about 7:40 am, normally an unusual event for that early. On the other end was my youngest daughter, Brittany. She was pregnant and expecting sometime the last week in March. Her words caught my speechless (which is hard to do!) "Dad, my contractions are two minutes apart and I'm on my way to the hospital!" As I said, I was caught off-guard, but I continued my way to work.
At 8:50 am, my phone went off again. This time it was Matt's mom, Gloria. She was with Brittany because Matt was on his way to the hospital from his job site. She informed me that Brittany was 7 cm dialated and they were wheeling her into the delivery room! She said she'd keep me posted.
At 9:50 am my phone rang once more. This time it was Brittany. Calmly as could be she announced that Kyle Matthew Gurtzweiler was born at 9:21 am, weighing in at 5 lbs. 1 oz, and measuring about 18 inches long. Welcome baby Kyle!
Now comes the rest of the story. What Brittany didn't tell me was that Kyle's birth was a little out of the ordinary. First, Matt arrived about 5 minutes before the birth, so he was able to witness the event. Then, as Brittany began to deliver, both the doctor and the nurse could be heard to say..."There's the head, it's beginning to crown." However, as Brittany, Matt and Gloria watched intently via the mirror, they didn't think the head looked quite right. Suddenly, almost simulataneously, both the doctor and nurse exclaimed "he's breach!" What they thought was the head was actually his little behind!
Now, here's the cool part...you know, where God steps in and says, "I'm in control!" The delivery was too far advanced to reverse the process and remove the baby by C-section. So the doctor and nurse did their best as quickly as possible to remove the breached baby. As his head finally appeared, it was discovered that the cord was wrapped around his neck. Now maybe some of you know more about this than me, but my thinking is that had Kyle been born the other way around, things might have ended quite a bit differently...perhaps even tragically. Yes, Kyle suffered some major bruising, but as of Sunday night, his bruising was almost all gone already.
Baby Kyle is still in the hospital. Being born almost 7 weeks early, his little body just isn't quite ready to tackle baby life just yet. He is having some difficulty learning to swallow. So, they have a feeding tube inserted through his nose and into his stomach. He does take a bottle once a day, but so far, this wears out the little guy, so his other "meals" are through the tube. We have been told that he will be able to go home just as soon as he gets the swallowing thing down pat!
All this baby stuff got me to thinking. This miraculous birth only confirms in me the undeniable truth that God is in control. Even when we think that things are going horibly wrong, He takes control and events work out in spite of our efforts. What at first appeared to be a panic event turned out to be a life saving moment. God takes care of us in spite of ourselves.
Today, Kyle is a week old already. We welcome our fourth grandchild (first grandson!) into our growing family. We eagerly await his trip home to begin his life with mommy, daddy, and big sister, Kaitlyn. Welcome baby Kyle! We love you!!
