Over a month and a half ago my doctor warned us that our little girl might be coming early... Automatically I made a mental list of everything going on in March... a visit from Uncle Norman, “the Extreme Makeover Beginning” (I still want to write about that...), El Jordán hosting a 10 day team from a Kelowna Christian School (including special events for different groups within El Jordan plus “poverty simulation” activities for the team...) ...the regular Bible classes I teach... and my parents arriving on the 28th... My plea to God was...please help her not to come at least until Mom and Dad get here...
I’m not indispensable – but I also know that we are very stretched at El Jordan and shops for workers. With one less person to help – whether that person is me or someone else, gaps would be left - and others, who are already busy, would have to stretch a little further to cover those gaps.
I made it through March fine... No complications. Thank you God... Then I allowed myself to look at the first week of April... Two days with a team from Saskatoon... Lord... if Marlee could just come after that... and my days followed that pattern until last Friday when Marlee finally came... Each day thankful for health, strength and being able to do a little more...
Last Thursday, the day before Marlee was born, a company who is giving free internet to El Jordán for a year said everything was approved, but I needed to personally present certain documents to their legal department downtown and sign the final agreement... By the time the documents were all together, the lady in the office was already gone... I’d have to try again on Friday morning...
Lord... if Marlee could come AFTER I sign the papers...
Before I went downtown on Friday morning I phoned my doctors to warn them that I was having some pains but nothing regular at all... We (Keiden, my dad and I) got home from downtown at about 10:30... I didn’t want to interrupt Marco’s leather class... nor did I feel like hurrying everyone up just to be sitting around the hospital... so I started working on lunch...
Marco came to pick me up at about noon... mom served him his lunch to go... but there was no time to eat it because we were just worried about getting to the clinic... and the doctors being there... Toni (a missionary doctor who kindly offered to accompany though this... she was with me when Keiden was born as well) said she was close by the clinic, to call her when I got there... she’d check how far along I was and call the other doctor... I called her when I was still a couple blocks away... and she said she could be there in half an hour... so I called the other doctor... and said that I was needing her right away...
To make the long (not really) story short, the doctor told Marco to tell the nurses to get us right down to the delivery room... the nurses there didn’t want to do anything with me because there weren’t any doctors around so they had me sitting right outside the delivery room in a wheelchair, imagining poor Marlee Jae being born right then and there...
The doctors got there just in time... a great relief to Marco and I! =) It was all quite a whirlwind... and at 1 p.m. Marlee Jae made her appearance!!!
We came home the following day...almost exactly 24 hours later... Marlee gave us an almost sleepless first night (since then she has been quite an angel)... which was topped by a phone call at 5 a.m. from the couple who lives at the boys’ shops... saying that someone was trying to rob the place...
Marco had to race off... and I stayed (obviously)... and tried to get a hold of the police... “tried”... because I phoned the emergency police line - 110 – who said I had to phone a police office closer to me... The closer office said our place was out of their jurisdiction... but they didn’t have the number of the one that was closer... to phone 110 for that number... I finally got a hold of the police who were supposedly going to go and rescue us... “supposedly” because they never did show up...
By the time Marco got to the shops there was no sign of anyone... either the thieves were scared away by the dog or something...
Anyhow...its hard to believe that it has been exactly a week since Marlee was born... we are so thankful to God for her... and thankful to you for your prayers during all this time...
I know some of you prayed specifically for a quick delivery... thanks! I figure this was an answer to your prayers...
...or maybe God just thought Marlee better be born quickly before I started my next prayer, Lord... if Marlee could please come AFTER...
Lots of love,
From Corina... for Marco, Keiden and Marlee Jae!