Our Dear Anna Caroline

This is the letter we penned for Anna on the day of her birth, reminding her of the reason behind her name. 


Our Dear Anna Caroline,

Welcome to a family of singers. We don't always sound so good, but we are always singing. And soon you'll get to join us when we dance around our living room strumming Daddy's "ba-tahg," singing, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," and "I love you in joy, I love you in sorrow; you can always come home to me." From what I've heard of your little lungs so far, you'll fit in quite well.

Our story is mostly a happy one, but our carols remind me of someone who had to wait a long time for a happy ending. Losing her husband after only seven years, just as long as your mom and I have had each other, Anna spent most of her life waiting. For years and years she waited in the house of God, worshiping with fasting and prayer day and night. It wasn't until she was eighty-four that the redemption and consolation of Israel finally came. Anna was one of the first people to see Him.

Her name, which means "grace," is now yours too. As you spend your first day in our arms, we pray you'll know that same grace and be as full of His song as she was. And, though your story will probably be very different, we pray it will end the same way hers did, your eyes adoring the face of Jesus Christ.

That face is the reason we sing in our house. He is the reason we'll sing quietly when we change your diaper in the middle of the night and the reason we'll sing loudly on Sundays. Nothing quite frees the tongue like knowing grace. Neither can anything else can sustain a song through all seasons of life.

As you walk through your own life, may you know God's unfathomable grace every step of the way. And may that grace make you faithful, and patient, and full of song.

Your loving parents,
David and Emily Cook
June 28, 2016

Anna’s Birth Story

I just love that each of our children have their own birth stories. We love to tell them the story of their birth, how they were anticipated and prepared for and loved even when they were just a thought. Now, we share with you Anna’s story!

We had a blessedly easy pregnancy with Anna. The last few months were particularly nice and I had even fewer pregnancy discomforts than I did with Lydia. They were treasured months where I certainly enjoyed her movements and, via my belly, the kids had the very physical reminder that she was part of our family.

The doctor I saw throughout this pregnancy checks progression weekly over the last month. I steady moved from 1cm dilated to 3cm and she was very pleased with our progress. The baby remained high.

For a while I felt contractions on Tuesday, June 21, Anna's due date. They were consistently about 30 mins apart and stopped by dinner time.
Our last appointment was Wednesday, June 22, the day after our due date. At this appointment we opted to have the membranes swept. It is a simple procedure that involves separating the bag of waters from the uterus a bit and sometimes can release hormones that begin labor. But not in our case! At this visit we also scheduled an induction for Tuesday, June 28, which was 41 weeks gestation. That is the longest our doctor would let us go over. It was charted at this visit that the baby was head down.

Induction Day:

3:30am Called the hospital and confirmed that they had a bed available.
4:20am Left home.
5:00am Arrived and quickly was checked-in and admitted to a labor and delivery room. We met our nurse, Jessica. I was still at 3cm.
6:00am By this time I was getting fluids and pitocin. Contractions were beginning, but active labor had not started.
7:00am We met Dr. Griffin (the doctor I saw throughout the pregnancy just so happened to be on vacation this week!) and he checked dilation (still 3cm) and broke my water. At this point I had to stay in the bed.
7:00-10:00am Labor progressed and they slowly turned up the piton. I was really feeling the contractions. Since my water was broken she explained they wouldn’t check dilation frequently.
10:00am Jessica checked dilation and I was at 5cm. The baby was descending. She said it appeared I was in active labor and adjusted pitocin accordingly.
11:30ish Jessica checked on us and watched me through a few contractions. She said she felt like she should check me again even though she had explained earlier she wouldn’t be checking very often. She said I was 6cm dilated, then kept checking. We inquired and she said she would get a second opinion, but she thought that now that the baby was much lower she was feeling a bottom rather than a head. Dave and I knew that would mean a C-section and we started praying.

At this point in the morning things began happening in a very orderly, but constant, fashion. Dave described it as a well functioning team with everyone doing their job calmly, confidently, and quickly. Another nurse came in and agreed that she was feeling a bottom. They called the doctor and brought in an ultrasound machine. He came as soon as they were set up and he quickly confirmed first a bottom by my pelvis and then a head by my ribs. I remember him pointing out how round her head was on the ultrasound since it hadn’t been bearing the brunt of the contractions into the pelvis. He said it was time to prep for the C-section.

So many things happened in the next half hour. They were so good to explain things along the way and never give us too much time to think about what was about to happen. I received more fluids, met the anathesiologist, had antibiotics rubbed on my belly and taken orally, Dave put on his scrubs, and they wheeled me down the hall to the OR. I was so glad the nurse described it to me before we went in. She said it would be very bright and there would be lots of activity, but that wasn’t because things were going wrong. Each person just had a very specific job to do.

Dave waited outside while I moved to the operating table and received the spinal block. (For a split second as it was going in a felt a lot of pain in my right leg and lifted my chin. A lot of this hour is blurry in my memory, but I remember every person in the room yelling “head down! hold still! right leg!” all at the same time and the pain immediately went away.) Up to this point I was still feeling hard contractions! Then they brought Dave in, tested the incision spot, and got to work. It didn’t take long and the anestesgiologist behind me and the main nurse talked us through it, saying things like “now it will feel like pulling” and “you’ll feel a deep pressure now, but no pain.” They were right every time. [The doctor spent some time talking to Dave while I was getting the spinal and they discovered that one of the doctors I saw during my pregnancy with Sarah in Louisville was the one who delivered his son. Small world!]

At 12:18pm, Anna was born! Dave tells me that they pulled her legs out first and then her body and head followed. They held the screen down so I could see, but I wasn’t able to and didn't have the where-with-all to explain that I couldn't see. Haha! Dave described her to me. We were amazed that she had hair! Making small talk as the worked they had asked us only a few minutes before how big we thought she might be (we said we hoped in the 9lbs) and if we thought she would have hair (we said no way). As they pulled her out they said “I don’t think she is 9lbs and WOW does she have some hair!” Then they took her over to crib to wipe her off, check her out, and weigh her. I could see all of this happening to my right. During this time they found that she weighted 8lbs 9oz, was 20.5ins long, and had three scratches on her bottom. They guessed that the crochet hock used to break my water was the culprit. Before the surgery began they asked if I would want her on my chest and I said yes, but when the time came I was feeling dizzy and declined.

It took about 15 minutes to seal me back up. During that time I smelled burning and we found out later that they had a little trouble getting the placenta to release and asked the nurses to keep an eye on how much I bleed. Amazingly, I didn’t pick up on any of that while they were working! Dave went back and forth between taking pictures of Anna and holding my hand.

When they finished we were wheeled to a recovery room and stayed there from about 1:00pm to 3:00pm for two hours of monitoring. (I am so glad we took the hospital tour, otherwise I wouldn’t have had any understand of the recovery phase!) I spent most of this time giving Anna a chance to nurse. Dave also spent some time doing skin to skin. She was fussy and most happy being held or giving nursing a try. We gave her a good look and decided for sure on her name, then Dave shared the good news with family. It was a happy time!

At 3pm Dave took Anna on her first drive as he wheeled her to the mother/baby wing of maternity floor. I was rolled into a bed and we were all settled into our home for the next 72 hours, room M11. That evening my parents brought the kids to meet their new sister!

We are so thankful for wise doctors, kind nurses, and a smooth recovery. Anna is a very, very good gift to our family!

Our last pregnancy progresses picture!

Biding our time with selfies.

Anna's here!!!

footprint time

Our first photo as a family of 6!

Lydia's Birth Story

[Originally written one evening in the hospital in the post delivery fog of those first couple of days!]

Baby Sister was due August 25, 2014. We went to an appointment on the 25th and another on September 2nd. At the final office appointment we opted to give Baby Sister until the 42 week mark before we induced. After our final appointment (Tuesday) we went straight to the hospital for a non-stress test and ultrasound. The nurse/doctor team gave us the go ahead to keep waiting and scheduled another non-stress test for Friday.

Friday, September 5, 2014

6am Pappy and Gigi head home after spending two weeks with our family. Dave went back to sleep and I went to Panera for a little quiet time before the day began. Before heading home I started writing down regular back pain I was experiencing.

10:30 Our friend Kim came and picked up the kids for the morning so that I could go to a non-stress test at the hospital. Since I was having regular back pain, I asked Dave if he by any chance had anyone to visit that day. He did and was able to drive us.

11:00 The non-stress test started with an audible dip in Baby Sister’s heartbeat. The rest of the test was great, but the doctor wanted us to have another ultrasound to check the level of amniotic fluid. This was one of the neatest ultrasounds I have ever seen. The techs were very excited to have an OB patient and delighted in showing us our girl from every angle possible. We could even see her lips moving as she sucked her fingers!

Dave and I went back upstairs to the L&D triage nurse and waited to talk to the doctor. Dave ran out to pick up a quick KFC lunch and was back in time to hear the doctor say that fluid levels were on the low side of normal. Then he offered to induce us right then! One of our main goals with this delivery was to not get to the hospital too early and end up waiting for labor to really get going, so we gratefully declined. Dave took me back to the house and he went back to work.

3:00 By the time Sarah came down from nap time I was definitely calling my regular back pain contractions. I spent time sitting on the exercise ball and playing with Sarah. Contractions were about 10 minutes apart and painful enough that Sarah knew when I was having one. And not to touch me :)

5:00 My parents arrived just after Dave came home from work. Contractions were more like 7 minutes apart. As I sat and visited they got a little farther apart.

7:00 From past experience we knew that when I rested contractions spaced out and when I was on my feet they sped up. We put these contractions to the test by going for a walk around the neighborhood while my parents put the kids to bed. Sure enough, contractions dropped to 4-5 minutes apart and were painful enough that I needed to stop and lean over.

7:45 We went home and I laid down. Contractions did space out to 7-8 minutes apart, but were quite painful.

8:09 Made the call to call the doctor. We knew at this point we were ready to head to the hospital. (When we saw him the next morning he said that he checked on me with the nurses in the middle of the night and was quite surprised that I had already delivered. Based on my tone over the phone he thought it was going to be longer. I'm glad we didn't take our time getting to the hospital, as he kindly recommended!)

8:40 Arrived at the hospital and headed to triage. They hooked me up the monitors and we talked about how back labor would be a little different than traditional labor. After a long pep talk by a kind nurse about how I might not have progressed past the 3 cm dilation I was at my Tuesday appointment, they check me and said I was at 7-8 cm. Woo hoo! With that news they promptly found a room for us and we got started on paperwork.

At this point I can’t be sure of the timing of anything. I can only testify to the intensity of those contractions and the resilience and endurance of my husband, who pressed hard on my hips and my back with every contraction while helping me answer questions and sign forms during breaks. At one point the midwife checked me and I was at 9 cm. At another point I elbowed Dave in the face.

It wasn’t long before there weren’t really any breaks and I felt that the time to push was upon us, ready or not! Thankfully the midwife agreed and said to just go for it. In past deliveries there were practice pushes and counting to ten and such, even though both of the kids came in a just a push or two. With this delivery she just said push when you feel like pushing. Since that was pretty much the only option my body was giving me at that point, I did, and just kept pushing as her head, shoulders, and body were delivered quickly. It was 10:55pm. Dave helped to catch her as she was born. They broke my water as she was being delivered. The nurses guess it was in the 60 seconds before she was born, which was significant since I didn’t get my four hours of strep B antibiotic and Baby Sister was technically exposed, but only for the less than 60 seconds as she was delivered.

The nurses put her right on my chest and Dave took pictures. She cried right away and then was quiet and serene. She was born with her hand by her face just like the ultrasound showed us less than 12 hours earlier, and even had suck marks on her knuckles. They let her lay with me for more than an hour while they finished up their work and she worked on eating for the first time. She was so good at pacifying herself with her hand that she wasn’t very interested in eating right away. During this time Dave and I decided for sure that she was Lydia Elizabeth. When everything slowed down the final nurse weighed and measured her and declared her perfect in every way. We couldn’t agree more!

Lydia Elizabeth Cook

September 5, 2014

8 pounds, 15.5 ounces

22 inches

Our Letter to Lydia

We are so thankful to share with you the news of our third child's birth. She was born in good health late Friday night, September 5th, to a healthy mother and happy father. Following the tradition we set with out last child's birth, here is our letter to her, written by her daddy. 

Our dear Lydia Elizabeth,

This morning I planned to teach our church’s Hospitality Team about the way God welcomes strangers into His home. It’s important for a church to reflect the character of God in the way they greet strangers, so I knew we needed a glimpse of God’s wise and glorious hospitality before we rebuilt the team. 

But instead of teaching about hospitality I was at a hospital, doing a different sort of welcome. 

You came last night, through the faith of your mother and the grace of our God. You were easy to welcome, because you were already our own. Your big brother and big sister even came to see you this morning, to hold you for the first time and greet you with a picture Sarah had drawn for you. We have all been waiting a long time to meet you: our Baby Sister.

But God is different. He is as faithful as an oath to His own, yes, but He welcomes even strangers into His home.

That’s why I wanted to be there when the team learned about a woman named Lydia, whose short story teaches us this same thing. She was a stranger to God, born far from the land where God once rested his Name, but she sought to worship Him anyway. Because of the way our sin alienates us from God, it keeps surprising me that He would honor the worship of a stranger. 

But Paul and his companions, all strangers to her, were traveling through Phrygia and Galatia to preach very Good News- through Jesus, God was bringing back those who were far away, to be near Him again. There were other places they were considering taking this message, but God directed them toward Macedonia. Why would he tell them to go one place over another? I don’t know why- that’s what He does. I’m just glad He did. 

When they arrived, many heard them preach. But one is mentioned above the others: Lydia. She has, up to this point, never been mentioned in the Scriptures, nor has anyone she knows been mentioned, nor has the place she is from or the place she is named after been mentioned. She is a complete stranger in this story.

But God brought His messengers to her, and then opened her heart to pay attention to this message. They spoke of Jesus, who had died and risen to bring us back to God and make the Jews and the Gentiles into one kingdom. She trusted this Jesus, and then followed Him in Baptism. Suddenly, a stranger was a part of God’s royal house. Her name’s meaning, “noble,” was becoming more realized. 

Then a funny thing happened. These travelers who had shown her the way home had nowhere to stay themselves. Knowing what it meant to be welcomed as a stranger, Lydia knew what to do. She invited them to stay in her home. The one who had been welcomed into the greatest house in history turned around and welcomed strangers into her own house. 

This is an even greater picture of God’s glory. Not only does He pursue strangers to bring them into His house, He makes them into the sort of people who mirror the same mystery. I wanted to see the faces of our Hospitality Team when that story came alive, to see if it clicked, but I got to see another face instead: my own little Lydia. Sometimes what you get is better than what you ask for. 

Now that you’re here, we hope to mirror toward you the faithfulness God shows to His own. As your mother teaches you to nurse and I remember how to change a newborn sized diaper, we remember God’s heart-melting consistency. He’s even described as an oath, which we remember with your middle name. Elizabeth, very near to the heart of God’s house, knew the meaning of her name, “my God is an oath,” in the way she waited upon her Lord. Her faithful waiting was not in vain- it never is. 

When you want to see a picture of that faithfulness, you can always look to the string of Elizabeths in your family, including your mother. You can hear their stories of the faithfulness God shows us and the faith that waits for it. Now that string has another thread: you. 

Another example you can look to is your Great-Grandma Lynda. Having cared for three husbands on their death beds, one after another, she is one of the few people who have kept three marriage vows all the way to their end. She has been a member of the same small Methodist church for all of my life and more. Over and above that, the kindness she shows to our extended family has a consistency that is hard to rival. You were born on her 76th birthday, and will forever share that birthday and most of your first name with her. I pray you share much more in common with her as you grow.

Lydia’s story is one of unusual welcome; Elizabeth's and Lynda’s are both of unusual faithfulness. May you receive the same welcome into God’s house and the same faithfulness as you explore its rooms, and may you turn to show those same things to everyone God brings your way. 

You are our Lydia Elizabeth Cook. Welcome. 

Your loving parents,

David and Emily Cook

September 6, 2014

Brother and Sister

Josiah is a month old, we haven't posted in almost as long, and we've said hello and goodbye to two sets of grandparents. It's hard to even remember the month we've had. But we're going to catch up a little today and tell the story of Sarah and Josiah meeting each other.

I had been testing the water every once in a while the weeks prior, picking up a baby in view of Sarah and watching her reaction. All signs pointed to jealousy. Yet she loved to talk about her baby brother inside Mama's belly. If only she knew that Mama's "baby" bump and that "baby" I was holding were so similar. We really weren't sure how she would do with this little guy.

So we made plans that my parents would take her to the hospital the day after he was born. We prepared her, and they coached her all along the way. Soon enough, we could hear her little feet pattering down the hospital hallway. We still didn't know how she would do.

We didn't realize it at the time, but it was a sweet providence of God that pastor Nick was holding him when they arrived. I walked out into the hallway and carried her to him, introducing her to her little brother. When anyone but Emily or I are holding a baby, she is very interested. She was quite taken by this baby and his hat, telling us all about it. So I set her in the bed next to Emily and put her new little brother in her arms. She was a little nervous for fewer than 5 seconds, but quickly filled with delight. Soon enough, she was tenderly touching him, holding him all by herself, and even tickling his toes.She loved her new baby.

Looking back, I wonder if being introduced to him in the way she was helped her quite a bit. She saw him first as a little baby she was helping us to take care of, and she's continued to look at him that way. If she had walked in to the sight of Emily or me holding her, perhaps she would have felt threatened. But that day he wasn't something that was stealing our attention from her, and she still doesn't see it that way. She rocks him to sleep, gets all compassionate when he cries, and always tells us what he's up to (baby rockin', baby ky-in', baby eat, baby nite-nite.) Somehow the Lord is using it to bring out her compassionate and maternal side, rather than her selfishness. I'm not sure how He's doing it, but I know at least some of it was due to a factor totally out of my control.

Sarah's father didn't know what she needed that day, but our heavenly father did. And we have one more thing to thank him for.

The Story of Josiah's Birth

If we could have picked any day for our baby boy to be born, it was Friday, May 4th. Emily could still attend OBC's Women's Connection event Thursday night, I would have time to lead the singing Sunday and then take a whole week off- it would be perfect. Though I didn't want our child to forever hear chants of "May the 4th be with you!" on his birthday, it sure seemed convenient in the immediate. People asked what day to pray for, so we told them Friday the 4th.

So there was some sense of expectation as we went to bed on Thursday. Would it happen. It was a restless night of sleep. Did that mean anything? Sarah came a day early, on a Friday. Would it happen again?

Just before 4 a.m., the questions appeared to be answered. Her contractions were regular, although still only 7 minutes apart. So we got up, showered, packed our bags, and told ourselves we would decide later what to do about breakfast. We tip-toed up to see Sarah and say goodbye to my parents, and then headed to the Daily Paper for a classic breakfast.

Breakfast was great, of course. Plenty of workmen and older gentlemen creating a perfect atmosphere, and great food. We timed the contractions while we ate, called the doctor, ordered an extra muffin, sipped some tea, and had a great time. We could have spent all day there. But don't worry, eventually we left.

Just not for the hospital. It didn't matter that it was cold and a little wet, or that we didn't bring our coats, or that we told the Doctor we were going to the hospital- Emily wanted to go for a walk. It was a beautiful day, after all. (I didn't question her.) So we walked up and down Hyannis Main Street, until I broke the bad news to her that it was indeed 50 degrees and misty, and that we had a baby to meet.

We arrived at the hospital around 8 a.m. But things had slowed down. Still, even though the contractions had waned off, they admitted us because second pregnancies can be unpredictable and they wanted her to have 4 hours of antibiotics before she delivered. Apparently I should have extended our Main Street walk, because the prescription was to walk up and down the maternity hallway.

When we tired of walking, we went back into the room and Emily tried the birthing ball. But still no progress.

Maybe sitting in bed would make it happen. Nope.

Soon enough, it was mid-afternoon and the contractions were anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes apart. But the midwife was confident that labor was underway, so we put the epidural in and broke the water. It actually didn't break on the first try, and when it finally did it was quite minimal. Some babies, they say, just don't have much fluid around them.

We had gotten used to the pattern by now, so we pulled up an episode of Psych on Hulu. About halfway through it Emily remembers feeling some crazy things happening inside of her, but she was so used to the pattern of nothing happening that she thought it was just that, nothing.

It was getting to be about 6:00, so the nurse came and checked on her again, hoping that she had moved from 4.5 cm to something more like 5 or 6. That craziness Emily felt turned out to be her body dilating from 4.5 to 10 cm in a little over an hour. Suddenly, she was ready to rumble.

One thing that was different for Emily this pregnancy was the effect of the epidural. Last time she couldn't feel her toes, much less any pain from the birth. But this time it only muted the pain of the contractions. This left her free to feel everything that was going on elsewhere.

Emily did one practice push (which I still think is a farce), while the midwife showed me what to do. I had asked if I could, as it were, "Tom Brady" this birth, much like I had with Sarah. She did let me, and she made a great Bill Belichick. Rather than let me get in the way while she delivered the baby (which I expected because the Louisville doctor did just that) she put her hands on the outside of mine and just told me what to do. It was awesome. At 6:23 p.m., he came out clean as a whistle. We put him on Emily's chest and let her hold him while I threw off the gloves and picked up the camera.

It was great. He was here!

Within a half an hour, we pronounced his name as Josiah Michael Cook. We thank God for him and for a safe delivery. We hope you will join us in prayer for his life, that God would give him great wisdom and much faith. As his name proclaims, The Lord Saves. We pray He will save our little Josiah.

The Story of Sarah's Birth

Now that we're home and attempting to adjust to normal life with a little girl, we can sit down for a few minutes and tell you the story of her birth. The two most common requests we have gotten from family and friends are pictures and the story. Hopefully we can show and tell well.

On Friday morning, Emily woke up around 6 AM with what felt like gas pain in her abdomen. It was strangely regular and uncomfortable enough that she couldn't sleep any longer, so she decided to go for a walk around 7:30. Dave stayed in bed, since it was early in the morning, having no idea that the pains weren't stomach related at all. Dave remembers waking up to the sound of the shower going after the walk and thinking, "she showered last night, so either she really walked herself good or she wants to get one last shower in before she goes to the hospital."

So Dave got up when the shower ended and Emily showed him the list she had been making of the possible contractions. They were somewhat regular, and very frequent, so maybe they were real. But not very long, weren't growing, and were only felt on the lower part of the abdomen and back- so maybe not. Dave decided it was time to call the doctor, who told Emily to lie on the couch for an hour and, if she had more than five in that hour, to check herself in.

Dave finished packing the bag and showered, until twenty minutes and five contractions later it was clear that we needed to go to labor triage. Dave finished packing, got the car completely loaded, and realized that it was worth eating one finial bowl of Cheerios before we left.  One last Green-Shirt Picture and we were on our way around 11:00.

We called Emily's mother on the way to let her know that it was probably the day, and to start packing her back, but not to leave yet. Then, after spending a seeming eternity waiting to register, we checked in and had Emily examined. An hour later, the doctor confirmed . . . it was time!

Emily, herself a very happy girl, chose to walk down to the L&D room rather than ride in the bed. We arrived, unloaded, and let them hook Emily up to all the wires she could stand. Dave called work, parents, and other essential figures to let them know it was time and we sent out a text to our immediate family and some friends asking them to pray for us. Then, once the epidural was in, we began our wait. The contractions didn't seem to be making much progress, so the nurse decided to start some Pitocin and break the bag of waters to really get things going. Sure enough, before we knew it we went from 4cm to 9cm dilated!

The worst part for Emily seemed to be the waiting and anxiety, as she couldn't feel any of the contractions and couldn't move much of anything lower than her belly button. We passed the time by playing cards, reading the whole book of Hebrews, and reading some of our old emails from when we were dating. Waiting for our little girl was a somewhat more somber experience than expected.

The only real trouble came when the epidural wore off for about five minutes and Emily got a taste of anesthesia-free Pitocin-enhanced labor. But the nurses were quick to reapply and get her feeling good, leaving Emily with a new-found perspective on all those wires that were coming out of her.

Some time in the evening, a nurse came in for some some practice pushing and told us that as soon as the doctor arrived we would be ready to go. A half hour or so went by while the doctor delivered another baby in another room. Once Dr. Case came in she probably wasn't there but 20 minutes. Two sets of three pushes was all it took. After the first set, a nurse had to tell Emily to stop smiling! The second set came, and the baby was out.

Dr. Case even let Dave play co-quarterback and catch the little girl with her. She was a meconium baby, so once the head came out they had to empty her nose, mouth and ears before we pushed the rest of her out. We got her the rest of the way out, and set her on the warmer while Dave threw off his gloves and Emily rested. Dave went over to take her first picture and a doctor asked, "will you tell us the name now?" Dave, sure he liked it, asked Emily if she was sure. She nodded and Dave announced, "she's Sarah Emily."

It wasn't even five minutes before they let us have her back, took a picture for us, and left us alone. We spent an hour together doing what they call "skin to skin time." We would just lay her with only a diaper on one of our bare chests and put a blanket on top of her. This is supposed to regulate her body temperature and be a lot of fun. It did the former fairly well and the latter very well. We also had our first chance to nurse and Sarah was a champ!

We wound up staying in the L&D room overnight, as the theme of the weekend would be dealing with an overcrowded hospital. About 2 AM Emily's parents arrived and we soon went to bed. Saturday we had two spurts of 8 or 10 visitors each, both of which were perfectly timed. Then Saturday night they finally moved us over to a postpartum room. Dave made a quick trip home, showered, put some pictures on Facebook, and came back. Sunday morning Dave went to church in the morning, came back to his girls, and we got ready to check out. Then the family came home to a nice sign made by Mama Suz.

She's mostly a happy little girl, although she can have her spats of unsolvable crying in the middle of the night. She usually eats and sleeps very well, and sometimes she even opens her eyes to make eye contact with us. Sarah is a great cuddler and loves to be swaddled. She's completely beautiful, and we hope to make another post soon about what we've learned from her.

Sarah Emily Cook

Today has been, without a doubt, the most blessed day we have shared since the day many of you watched God first join us together.  Our first daughter, Sarah Emily Cook, was born today.  She was born here at Norton Suburban Hospital, weighing 8 pounds, 5 ounces and measuring 21.5 inches long.  What follows is a prepared statement we began writing in June, so that today we could click a button with her in hand, have it out to the world, and go back to holding her.

The original Sarah was a heroin of faith in the book of Genesis.  God changed Sarai's name to Sarah, Hebrew for "princess," and birthed the kingdom of Israel from her barren womb.  Kings like Saul, David, and Solomon came from her.  Prophets like Isaiah, Nathan, and Moses came from her.  Priests like Aaron, and Joshua came from her.  But eventually the final king, prophet, and priest would come from her: Jesus.   It was because she believed God when He promised that her offspring would bless all the earth, and because He did so, that she truly became a princess in the Kingdom of God.  We pray that our Sarah too will become a princess, not in this world but in the Kingdom of God- one of whom the world is not worthy.

Emily is a family name from the Mississippi side of our family, meaning "industrious."  Emily Elizabeth Cook, Emily Susan Robertson Howell, and Emily Berryhill Poole were/are all strong-armed women known for working with willing hands.  From them came Ole Miss football players, triathlon runners, and faithful wives.  After them Madeline Emily Howell was named, and we proudly give the name to our daughter as well.  We pray that she will live in the spirit of Proverbs 31, working with skilled hands to bless her family as her mothers have done. 

We chose two of the names, but the name Cook was given to both of us by another.  It is also the name she may not keep for her whole life.  The Cooks have been explorers, musicians, teachers, miners, and immigrants.  In as much as we know of the Cooks, they have always been about adventure.  We pray that such a spirit of adventure will be set in her by the Lord God, a spirit that makes her willing to follow Him to the ends of the earth if necessary. 

So we named her Sarah Emily Cook shortly after her birth, praying that she would become a princess in the Kingdom of God, one with skilled hands and an adventurous spirit. Our God is good to His people.