IT'S A GIRL!

Our baby is here! The sweetest little girl in the world was born at 8:20 on Saturday morning. Her name is Ruth Elizabeth Klassen. We call her Ruthie. She came into the world in a swirling storm of drama. Barb woke up Saturday morning at 4:00 am and told me “I think my water broke.” “Uh-oh” I thought. The baby couldn’t possibly come this soon. (The due date was March 17th!). So we called the hospital to ask them what they thought we should do. “Come in and we’ll take a look” they said. So, we came in and I was expecting to be sent back home and told to not be alarmed. Instead they said to stay and they put Barb in a hospital gown. Still not sure if this was real, I began to take notice when they gave Barb an IV and called the doctor. Then they called the doctor again and told him to come in sooner. It was now about 6:00 am. This was the first time I met Dr. Wright and the second time for Barb. He calmly informed us that he was going to stop Barb’s labor and send her to San Francisco by plane because the baby was to early to be born here. But before he could make the plans to send us off, Barb’s labor made a big leap forward. She all of the sudden passed the point of no return and the doctor quickly made it clear the baby was going to be born here and SOON! By this point I had already lost it. I was so worried about my wife and my baby. I was crying and felt like we were very alone in all of this. Then Barb started having strong contractions and they were coming close together. This development sent the nurses into a frenzy. They were running around the maternity ward and Barb was put in a birthing position. I could hear the doctor and the nurses whispering in the hallway. It was becoming very clear that our little girl was racing into the world. Barb did so well. She made everything look easy and natural. I think she was made to be a mom. After a few big pushes and a lot of encouragement from me and the nurses she pushed little Ruthie out of her body and into the world. It was magical! Defying all the odds, I thrived throughout the birth and even watched my little girl come out. I surprised myself. The doctors whisked Ruthie over to a special bed for premature babies and they told us that there was a 90% chance she would have to be flown to San Francisco by herself and be given special breathing help because her lungs were undeveloped. All of this time I was praying like I have never prayed before. God answered each and every specific prayer. Before they took her to the nursery for monitoring they gave us a moment to hold her and be a little family. It was the best. Over the next couple hours we were preparing ourselves for the possibility of being apart from her. Instead they gave positive reports that she was doing well in every respect. Ruthie was a champion in those first hours.

Fast forward 48 hours…it’s a sunny day in Fort Bragg and our little girl has moved into our room to be with us. Barb has successfully fed her several times. Her weight, blood pressure, breathing, everything is good. While I write, mom and baby are having a nap next to each other, both tired from all of their hard work to get to this point. I am just so happy to have her with us now. She is the most beautiful girl there has ever been and we just love our little family.

Ruthie had to be in phototherapy for a while. She was under a blue light and was given some fantastic sunshades!

All the nurses agree that our little girl has a big temper. Yikes!!! She has cried several times to the point of turning purple. What are we in for?!

Mom and baby eye-to-eye for the first time.

Ruthie's got the hook-ups.

Just precious. Perfectly precious.