Every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17
I had run errands every day and didn't worry much about getting caught of guard by the onset of labor, even though we would have to do some major shuffling to get on the road to make it to the midwife's office...but this particular trip to town on November 30th, I had taken Mariah to a meeting and ran to the grocery store for a few last minute items while I waited for her to finish up. As I was shuttling about, I noticed a change in my usual and frequent BH contractions...and I thought...WOAH!!! That was a REAL one! I picked Mariah up from her meeting, and made it home...all the while, I was contracting regularly about every 10ish minutes. I cooked and served supper. I cleaned up the mess. I did a few loads of laundry. We did our normal bedtime routine. As we were laying the girls down for the night, I alerted Marion and Andrew that we needed to go over our middle of the night head out scenario, just in case. Marion was a bit stunned, because I never mentioned that I was having contractions until then. With our plans in place, I felt confident enough that I decided to lay down and try to get as much rest as I could...only to be awakened around midnight with that uncomfortable feeling every 5 to 7ish minutes. I prayed for a while....and I did ask the Lord for enough time to get some rest and let the kids get theirs. My contractions all but stopped around 12:30...and I didn't feel another pain until around 8 that morning.
So, I clued in Diana, as to the situation. I told her that Marion and I were heading that way and asked when her last apt. of the day was. She told me 3pm, and I said, "Well, if nothing exciting happens, we will see you then...then!" Marion and I loaded up our stuff in the van. Not sure how things were going to go...but by this point, I was sure that labor was progressing. We planned to just go mill around close by and wait it out. We planned to go out to eat and do a little shopping while we timed everything. I had REALLY wanted to go to PF CHANG'S for lunch, but Marion said, "THAT is TOO far away from the midwife! I DO NOT want to get caught over there and not be able to get you back in time for delivery." So, we settled for a nice Chinese place right off the freeway that was about 15 minutes from her :o) We don't get the chance to dine out together with 'JUST US' very often, so it was a nice treat. I would have the regular contractions, all the while trying to keep silent and inconspicuous to all of the others that were dining around us. I mean, who wants to eat lunch with a lady in labor around? As we checked out, I had a few strong ones and had to prop myself on the doorway as people around took notice. Marion explained the situation and we were covered in prayers and encouragement by sweet strangers. It meant so much to me! I would grin through my pains :o) After lunch, we headed out to do a little shopping. Marion needed some new shoes and we felt confident that we had time, so we went to the western store that was near the mall to look around. My contractions were becoming stronger and more frequent. The ladies that were helping us in there probably thought we were crazy, but I smiled like all was well...and the spoke encouraging words regardless of what they were thinking. Marion tried EVERY PAIR of shoes on in that place! I thought I would have that baby RIGHT THERE in the floor by the time he picked out his most comfortable shoes EVER! O.o We finally checked out and I told him that we should head on over to the direction of the midwife...I was getting uncomfortable. We had to make one more stop before we could do that. We needed to pick up some food and snack for our stay. We spent about 30 minutes in there while Marion tried to decide what he wanted to snack on...peanuts, ice cream, coffee...gotta have coffee, oranges, (not just 1...had to be a whole bag), chocolate candy bars (Reese's i think), and some other stuff that I can't remember because i really didn't care by this point! 
With contractions every 3 minutes, we headed over to see Diana! YAY! Her last appointment was still there, and I tried very hard to just hang tough. I spent most of my time waiting outside walking around the tennis courts because that helped my contractions progress. When I would sit, they would settle down some. Activity during labor is good! I did visit for a while and talk to the young mother of 4, pregnant with the 5th, and her husband. They didn't even realize that I was in labor until Diana fussed at me a little about not rushing them out...LOL! I Finally got my privacy as her last appointment left. Diana checked my progress and said, "Well, I was going to go home and fix my hubby some dinner and change...but I am NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" She quickly began getting things set up and Marion helped like he was a pro or something ;0/ She called in her backup, and we settled in. I made calls to my mom and checked on the kids. I was chatting away and kept trying to convince them to go get some dinner while we waited. Diana decided to order pizza and have it delivered. I seriously thought that they had time to go eat. But, between her ordering the pizza and the 30 minutes that they waited for it to get there, things got really busy. I can't say that I was in too much pain...but I know that things were changing. They followed me around with their stuff and we talked about everything under the sun. I finally said, "Let's get this over with!" I crawled into bed and began to push...and PUsh...and PUSH!!!! I had never had this much trouble pushing before!!! I sensed that something was different. I tried sooooo hard to get her out...after about 30 minutes, I was pretty tired. Marion quietly prayed for me and I called out to the Lord for some help! I began to feel some major pressure and FINALLY got her head out as Diana grabbed Marion's hands to finish the delivery, I looked down and saw this HUGE head (my babies' heads aren't usually THAT big!) I was so baffled by the size of her head that I almost forgot what I was doing. She had gotten a little stuck and after a few twists and turns, Marion held her up and Haded her to me. I was so relieved...and THANKFUL! I could NOT get over her size though! She was so precious, and healthy, and as Diana checked her out, she said...she weighs 8lbs 14oz!!! That is nearly 2 lbs bigger than the biggest of my other babies! I immediately began to nurse her. She went right to her job like a pro! After we were all cleaned up, they finally got to eat their pizza and we just sat around chatting away about how beautiful and peaceful the delivery was. Diana actually said to a lady that came to take a peek, "This was the easiest delivery since I started delivering!" I felt so honored! I spent the next several days just getting to know this chubby little baby that had come along and stolen my heart, for the umpteenth time ;o) Never forgetting how gracious the Lord is for honoring the desires of my heart! I am truly grateful! The girls were so proud of her. They checked her over repeatedly and couldn't stop cuddling and oooing over her. It is such a blessing to not have to be concerned about acceptance from the other siblings. There has never really been any rivalry issues for that to be any real concern 
