EPIDURAL!!

Epidural. I don't think the word has ever sounded so sweet to Joy.

At about 7:30am or 8, Joy's contractions were getting really really strong and very regular. So she requested her epidural. They said it would take about 20 minutes to get ready. It actually took over a half an hour, which wouldn't seem like such a huge deal except that when you are in a constant state of pain, a short time seems like an eternity. And I'm sure that's what Joy felt like. But FINALLY the doc shows up with the epidural stuff and administered it to Joy at approximately 9. It took about 20 minutes for it to kick in, but now Joy is all smiles again (the Joy we know and love). Her contractions are very regular, and the good news is..... she can't feel them! Lol.

Just wanted to also share some blessings from the Lord that we have already experienced through this time:
After we called our Pastor last night when Joy was admitted, we called some good friends of ours, the Thomases, to tell them what was going on and Meghan decided to come to the hospital to keep Joy company last night. So that was a huge blessing, b/c I was able to go home to let the dog out, pick up some belongings for Joy, and also call back home to the states to tell the fam. That was very gracious of her.
Also, this morning, Pastor Mike just showed up to say hi and pray for Joy and the baby. That was very encouraging to us both.
ALSO, another good friend of ours was able to go to our place to feed the dog and take her out this morning, then she brought us some of Isaiah's baby stuff, along with coffee and breakfast!! Thanks Rachel M.
And yet another blessing from the Lord: last night passed sooooooo quickly. It was amazing. It seemed like one minute it was 11pm and the next it was 4am. The night passed very quickly for both Joy and I. We kept looking at the clock wondering why time was moving so quickly. But God was gracious and He allowed our sense of time to be warped for the first night, which was really wonderful.

I'm hoping hoping hoping that Joy will have this kid before noon today. It's 10:10 right now. She's getting some rest as I type this (praise God for medical technology like the epidural), so hopefully she'll be all rested up and ready to push when she needs to be. We've heard from many moms that generally as soon as you get the epidural, the baby should come shortly afterwards. We hope so!

Joy hasn't been checked to see how dilated she is since she was checked this morning at 4:45. The nurse wanted to minimize checking her cervix to keep the risk of infection down for the baby. She said they will check once Joy starts having really regular contractions that are pretty intense, indicating that the baby is coming. So again..... we are playing the waiting game.

Thank you everyone for you love and prayers and support! We are very blessed to have people praying for us from Washington, North Carolina, and Okinawa, Japan (sorry if I missed anyone else).

Until next time,
Kyle