Samuel: the timeline

Friday morning, the 2^nd of November, Becky went to the doctor for her normal prenatal visit. It was supposed to be a routine visit. She was at sixteen weeks along in her pregnancy. They had already determined that the baby was a boy. On that morning, there was no heartbeat. No movement. No sign of life. The doctor sent Becky home and called the hospital to make arrangements for her to be admitted that night. She was thoroughly examined, and it was confirmed that her little boy had died. The normal recourse in such circumstances is to induce the mother and allow her to deliver the baby. Mama and I gathered much of this after the fact. For some reason, it did not dawn on us that she would have to go through a full delivery. We understood that she had lost the baby, but her hospital stay was a surprise to us. We were thinking “miscarriage” which normally takes

care of itself. For that reason, we did not make plans to go see Becky until Sunday morning. She was still in the hospital. Still in labor. It suddenly hit us that we should be there with her if we could.

We were already dressed for church by that time, so we finished getting ready and headed to Decatur to see if Alex would want the girls to go to church with us and have someone else bring them home after church. He elected to have the girls stay home. On the way to church, I had Mama call one of our choir members and ask if he would lead choir practice that night – so we would not have to miss any rehearsals. Once at church, I arranged with Zack and the pastor to cover the music and a meeting that evening when I was scheduled to present a devotional to the men. Mama and I quickly left the church and headed home to pack. We were on the road to Hot Springs by 10:30 am. Mama was being constantly updated by Becky through the six-hour drive. We were hoping to get to her before the birth, but we did not make it. She delivered the baby at about 12 pm Sunday afternoon. They named the little boy Samuel. He was already given to the Lord. The hospital let her see the baby and even provided her the opportunity to take a couple pictures. They even dressed the baby for those pictures. I will not share those pictures but, at sixteen weeks, he was a perfectly formed little boy. The miracle of conception.

We got to the hospital at about 4:30 pm. Mama and Becky talked about the birth, the baby, the next steps in recovery, etc., while Bridgette played in the room. We will not know why the baby died but the staff told Becky that the umbilical cord had partially detached at the baby’s naval possible leading to the death. Becky grieved, and Mama consoled. I listened to Mike who was largely trying to ignore the reason we were at the hospital. (People grieve in different ways.) It was not long before Bridgette and Mama were looking at videos and pictures of her cousins. Mama was desperate to get her off the floor of the hospital room. We waited there until Becky was dismissed – about 7 pm. Mama and I got a room for the night. Ate a small meal and settled in for the night; happy that we had made the decision to come. It was a rough night for both of us, but neither of us have ever done well sleeping in hotel beds.

Mama and I spent most of the next day with Becky and Mike and Bridgette. We did not get to their home until later in the morning because there was a panic on their part to get to place cleaned up. Something about the dogs shredding a couple rolls of toilet paper in their absence. Mama enjoyed her time with Bridgette. We took them out for a late lunch and headed home shortly after we had finished the meal. I believe it was time well spent. We were both worn out. Mama was in quite a bit of pain during the trip home.

Mama goes to see her doctor today. He is not going to be pleased with her lack of progress. That makes two of them.