A New Life

I have been meaning to write this post for the past couple days but time has not allowed. So, here it is. On Friday, July 18th at 4:40 a.m. my nephew, Hunter Jonathan Dimmick made his grand entrance into our world. He was delivered in Sudbury, with my Mom and David in the delivery room. Kristin's labour began Wednesday evening and so they ventured to Sudbury on Thursday morning. Once there, her doc told her she was, indeed, in labour and it would be wise to check into a hotel and wait. The labour did not progress too quickly over the course of the day but once we (Mom, Dad and I) arrived around 9 p.m. Hunter knew it was time!! (We are all claiming that he was waiting for us).

Within an hour of us being there, the contractions started coming closer together so we left for the hospital around 10:30 p.m. Due to hospital procedures, only David and my Mom were permitted to accompany Kristin to the L&D ward. Dad and I dropped them off, gave them our well wishes and returned to the hotel to get some sleep. Of course, I hardly got any sleep as I was anxiously waiting for the phone call.

At around 4:45 a.m. the phone call came. It's a boy!! Mom decided to come back to the hotel room to catch some ZZZ's while Kristin, David and Hunter got acquainted. Kristin's nurse was very kind and graciously snuck Dad and I in at 4:55 to quickly meet the little man. I have never seen a more precious site! We had to get out quickly though, before we got caught. So Dad, Mom and I returned to the hotel where we slept for a few more hours.

Visiting hours began at 11:00 a.m. on Friday so we headed back over to get a really good look at the little man and introduce ourselves to him. They kept Kristin and baby in the hospital until Sunday morning (standard procedure). Dad returned to Tillsonburg on Sunday morning as well, as he had to head out on Monday to Tennessee for convention. So, David, Kristin, Hunter, Mom and I piled in the Kia and headed up to the island to show Hunter his new home.

What a blessing Hunter is to us. He is my sister's first child and my parent's first grandchild. Although my brother and I both have nieces and nephews on our in-law's sides, Hunter is the first new addition to the Kirkland family.

I have been thinking about many things since Hunter arrived. First of all, I marvel at the beauty of creation and life. It's indescribable to imagine how perfect God created this tiny being. It is amazing that one tiny baby can cause so many people to fall completely, utterly, totally, head over heels in love within a matter of seconds.

I have also had the joy of witnessing my older sister and her husband become parents. I am blessed to have time off that I can spend the first three weeks of Hunter's life with them as they make this transition. Let me tell you, my sister is a natural. She obviously had the "mommy gene" hidden somewhere in her and it was just waiting to come out. The connection between a mother and her child is one that can never be duplicated. And David, what an amazing father! He is helpful and available for each and every part of this new life. They are working together so well as a team and my prayer is that Hunter will never doubt the love and the commitment that his parents feel towards each other and to him.

Hunter, we praise God for bringing you into our lives. It is day 5 of your life today and it feels like you have been a part of us forever. I can no longer imagine life without you. We all love you very much!