Today is the June 25th 2015 and we have the arrival of Makaiya Faith Schwarz! It's amazing to me how each of the kids births have been extremely different from each other. On June 24th, Steph received a phone call from the midwives letting her know that all of them were going to be out of the office Friday-Sunday. While we found that weird and disappointing, the reality was that we had two choices. Go in on Thursday and kick-start the labor process or we could wait and have an OB doctor deliver the baby if she went in labor Friday-Sunday. This was a hard decision for us (and by us I mean Steph) to make as we wanted to stay as natural as possible. After much conversation, we decided that delivering by the midwives would be the preferred method. Steph made an appointment to arrive at the hospital at 7am this morning. I took the kids to daycare and was to the hospital shortly after 8am.
Shortly after 8am they broke Steph's water to get the process started. They said that if she wasn't in labor by 2pm that they would use Pitocin to induce labor. Morning came and went, no major contractions. By early afternoon contractions started and Steph was in full on labor. Around 3:30 contractions were about 4 minutes apart. Just before things started to happen, the midwife asked if we wanted to play some music during the labor process. I brought up my Worship Spotify playlist and I was beginning to get emotional just listening to the promises of God and to have encouraging and uplifting music really had me at amazement of God's glory. At 4:15 they got Steph into position so she could begin pushing whenever she was ready. Unfortunately, that period of time wasn't as quickly as we experienced with Toby and Carina. The baby wasn't quite in position which causing a lot of labor pain, but no baby. At 5:30 the midwife suggested that we go with some Pitocin to try to intensify the contractions and to get Makaiya into position if the baby by 6pm. Finally, at exactly 5:59 Steph started to push and at exactly 6:00pm Makaiya Faith Schwarz was born.
After she was born they gave her immediately to Steph and they were able to have a special bonding time together immediately for a good 45 minutes. It was about 6:30 when I let my family know that Makaiya was born and if they could bring the kids over to see their new sister. At around 6:45, they took Makaiya and cleaned her off (which she was NOT happy about) and took her measurements. She was 7lbs 2oz and was 18" long. Both of her height and weight were less than Toby's, but more than Carina's. Shortly after 7pm we moved from the birthing suite to our room.
After we got settled in the room is when I finally was able to hold her and speak to her for the first time. As I held her, I looked at her and said "Makaiya, this is your daddy. Makaiya, I wanted to let you know that your name means 'Who is like God'. We were made in the image of God, after his likeness and you are going to be like God. When people see you, they will see God. You are born to do great things and you will do them to bring God glory." I then let her know about her middle name. I told her, "Your middle name is Faith, because without Faith it's impossible to please God." It was at this point that I was starting to get emotional and had to wipe away the tears. There is something about speaking life to your child for the first time that just gets me. In between tears and shortness of breath, I let her know "That I've seen dreams that can move mountains. Hope that doesn't ever end, even when the sky is falling. I just saw a miracle in you just happen, silent prayers from your mother and I get answered and broken hearts become brand new and that's exactly what Makaiya Faith can do.
At about 7:30 my parents arrived with the kids and a few minutes after Mike & Em arrived with their boys. Toby was sooooo excited about meeting his new sister. He ran right over to Steph while she was hold Makaiya and said hi to his new baby and that he loved her. It was so cute that it just made me smile. It's good to know that their big brother loves his sisters so much and that he will be there to protect them. Carina doesn't quite get it to the same degree that Toby does. She in her boastful Carina voice said "Hi Baby". Then she asked Pah to take her on a walk.
I document this as I don't ever want to forget the emotions and details of this event. I have done this with all three kids and it's something that I want them to have. Who knows if next month what I will remember, but since I've documented it all, now I will never forget. As much as I can, I highly encourage new parents to take a few minutes after the baby is born to type out the whole experience.
To Stephanie and I, names are extremely important and we wanted a unique name with a good meaning. We landed on naming her Makaiya because it means "Who is like God" and we believe that we are made in God's image. It is our prayer that as Makaiya grows up that they will be able to see God through her. In a lost world, sometimes the only Jesus people will see is the Jesus in me.
The meaning of each of our kids
Tobiah - God is Good
Carina - Beloved
Makaiya - Who is like God
I asked Steph earlier in the week if she thought she would have ever had three kids. She responded quickly is no, but as she thought about it she said when she was younger she thought she would have had 3, but never since we were married did she think that we would have three kids. I know that kids lead to chaos and craziness, but I'm ready for a little more chaos and crazy in the house. I think it gives life and energy. While disorder and crazy is against my natural personality, I'm excited for this journey with my family and find myself excited for what life has for us!
