She is here and she is precious. She is perfect.
There I was, after being in and out of that hospital for the past 33 hours, in the gift shop. We’d put Ezra and Colleyanna, the excited, but very tired little cousins down for a nap in the lobby of that birthing center. I’d promised them if they closed their eyes and took a nap, I’d have a surprise for them when they woke up. We’d moved the chairs and benches around. We’d read a Little Critter story. We’d even turned on a sound machine so they could hear the ocean and they had complied. 
So, while they slept, I went around the corner and down the hall to the gift shop.(Little did I know they really would have a HUGE surprise by the time they awakened and I did not even need to go to the gift shop!) You know how gift shops in hospitals are. So I opted for two rolls of Life Savers for $1.09 each rather than the plastic pink flamingos for $12.99 each or the ceramic basket of cookies shaped like feet with the “Get back on your feet” card that bore the $39.99 sticker. The little credit card reader said “approved” and I was waiting for the receipt that I needed to sign. The “pink ladies” behind the counter were chatting about the weather when it happened. The lullaby on the hospital speaker system played. In clear tones, the bells pealed the first three bars of “Lullaby and Good-night.” The sweet ladies both exclaimed “Another baby has been born.”
“That’s not just another baby! That’s MY baby!” I shouted. Grabbing my card and my little bag I ran out of that store and down that hall.
“But you need to sign…” shouted one of the ladies
“Aww, let her go!”…I heard the other one say.
And then I ran smack into Hannah who was literally running to find me. “Mom, That was OUR lullaby!”
And it was. Maggie waited a couple of weeks past her due date to come. That’s the part of her that she comes by honestly. She’s running behind from the get-go, just like her paternal mammy. Then she waited a considerable time after her mama was admitted for her birth. But good things come to those who wait. (And can I say right here that her mom was a CHAMP of a “waiter”?!…I mean “waiting” all that time without anesthesia?! She never ceases to amaze her mother-in-law.)
After driving 12 hours or so without my license (still have not found that thing), cajoling the security authorities to let me in to see my baby without a photo ID (that’s the moment I found that I had no license), having two different house guests here in Huntsville while I was in Florida, helping my husband to get to the Nashville area for a seminar where he was to speak that, in the end, turns out to be NEXT weekend (…yes, he missed the birth, yes, he was crushed– devastated, even, and yes, with the heroic help of our son-in-law, Ben, he DROVE from Jacksonville, Florida to Murfreesboro via Columbus, Georgia and Huntsville, Alabama, so they could both get their suits and sermons for their respective speaking engagements, just so Glenn could get up at 5 am and drive a couple of hours more to an empty parking lot)…after all this and so much more, I am home. But this mammy is wishing she could kiss those newborn cheeks one more time.
Notwithstanding the chaos, every birthing room prayer has been answered and in perfect ways that we could not have imagined and could never deserve. He is so good. We are blessed beyond what those who are without the Lord in moments like these can even approach. We praise Him for she is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).
Now, for the contest drum roll! Three ladies guessed the exact weight, six pounds and 15 ounces.… Courtney Clark Grice, Michelle Giselbach Nicholas, and Heather Bear Yarbrough! But Courtney broke the tie by guessing her length as 21 inches. Her actual length was 20.5 inches. (Heather and Michelle both guessed 19 inches) So congratulations to Courtney! Send your wish list, Courtney, for $50.00 worth of free merchandise from www.thecolleyhouse.org to byhcontest@gmail.com. Please remember to put your address there. Heather and Michelle, you both will receive one free book, dvd, or cd from The Colley House. Just email the same address. Include your postal address and what you would like! Congrats to 3 great guessers!
