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A potpourri of stories about various family members or events
Christina's Birth
I indicated as I wrote about the birth of Carrie, that Marcia wanted to have a midwife to help with Carrie, but it didn't quite work out. When we were expecting numero tres, Marcia even more adamantly wanted to ensure having a midwife for the delivery.
Marcia investigated the midwife nurses available in our area and chose a woman who resided several hours away in the southern part of the state. In hindsight, I am not sure why this was the case; surely I must have suggested having someone closer, but I don't recall the details, and now it is too late to ask. (It is amazing how many times I have come to realize this circumstance happening since Marcia's death.) We made a trip to the chosen midwife's home in the third or fourth month and got the process started. Near the beginning of the process, she asked for the entire fee to be paid up front. I told her I would pay her half at this point and more later, and did so. Marcia did a lot of reading and had been quite diligent beforehand in eating well and taking care of her health, so she wasn't too concerned whether they met often or not. (She had a similar attitude in her death, where the hospice nurse wanted to come once a week and Marcia pushed for once every two weeks, unless other circumstances called for more often.) I think the midwife suggested that we come down to her place again, but we suggested she come up to Pella so that she knew where we lived and our circumstances. For one reason or another, she kept cancelling the various appointments that were made.
I clearly remember that on Saturday, April 10, I was painting in the bedroom that Tim had initially used (before I redid the basement). Then Marcia came back from the garage with a letter that our midwife had sent us. She had sent a formal letter indicating that she was breaking her contract with us due to our unwillingness to pay her fees. While Marcia had made arrangements with our family doctor, Dr. Kurt Vander Ploeg, she was confident that this was only a backup plan for an emergency, not expecting circumstances like this. She was devastated. In hindsight, it was clear that contracting with her was a big mistake, but this was how it went. (We later contacted a board for nurse midwives, and they were glad to have a formal complaint registered against her since this person had done this repeatedly, but no one was willing to call her on it. They then revoked her license.)
Throughout the pregnancy, Tim and Carrie were excited and delighted. As a family, we discussed the options for names over several months, continually narrowing the list. On Monday night, we narrowed our list down to two boy names and two girl names.
Some time on Monday, probably in the late evening after 10, Marcia's contractions were sufficient to go to the hospital in Pella. I just left a note for Tim and Carrie about the turn of events and a promise to call them; they were 14 and 10 at the time and fully capable of being left alone. While Marcia was disappointed with not having a midwife, she also felt that Dr. Vander Ploeg was supportive of her aspirations and was going to work with her as much as he could, and he did.
Marcia's labor and delivery went fine. (This is easy for me to say, but she didn't have any atypical issues.) At about 6:35 in the morning, our third child, another daughter, was born. Shortly thereafter, I called home to tell Tim and Carrie. I offered to pick them up and bring them to the hospital for a gender reveal opportunity (before it became obscenely overdone, like it has been recently.) As they held her and “oohed” and “awed”, I mentioned that we now had our list of name candidates cut in half (since we no longer needed the male names). So the kids piped in and asked what we named her. I indicated that we hadn't yet, but needed to do so. While Marcia, Tim, and myself preferred “Christina Grace”, Carrie preferred “???Kelly??>[now unsure]”. I was holding our newest family member in my arms at the time, and I suggested that we ask her. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. I told the newborn that I was going to give her a choice of two names and that she should raise her arm for the one that she wanted. I was being silly, not really having any particular expectations. I said “Do you want to be called ‘[Kelly]?” and there was no reaction. Then I asked about “Christina Grace” and immediately her arm flailed up. I looked at Carrie, and she melted and renounced her preferred name and indicated a desire to join our camp, and so the name was determined in total agreement. We chose “Christina” because of its connection to “Christian” and “Grace” because we felt His grace in having her and we wanted her to feel God's grace and to share it as well.
Tim holding the newborn Christina in the hospital.
A nurse came in with stickers for Tim and Carrie that announced that they had a new baby sister, and I took them to school. They were so excited, as were Marcia and I. We all warmly welcomed this newest addition to our family.
Published 2021-04-06. Revised 2025-07-02.
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