Letter #40
May 23, 2012 actually now it is July 2, 2012
Holiday Inn Express actually now I am in Rochester N.Y.
Quebec City-6:00 a.m. actually the time is 9:03 and all are asleep
Greetings family,
Greetings from the very beautiful city of Quebec City where we have had a Zone Conference and interviews, at the same time. It is painful to think of the things I have not recorded since I last wrote you, as there have been many wonderful occurrences.
No ACTUALLY hello from beautiful Rochester, fast forward in time… we have a new baby in town, in the town of Rochester, N.Y. and in the family of Libby and Mark Miller. I am so blessed to have been able to be here for her birth. I was given permission to drive down here and attend the BIRTH, miracle birth, of Harper Eden Miller. Thanks to Libby and Mark for inviting me to come and attend the birth. I am in heaven to be honest.
I arrived Tues. June 26th 2012 after receiving a call from Lib. saying she had been in labor the prior Mon. eve. I finished the things I was working on for zone council and threw the rest of my things in the car as I had already started packing. Off to Rochester. May I say how grateful I am for Emma, or maybe it is Jane the GPS English voice who guided me safely here. I have no sense of direction unless I study the map and I had not done that. I arrived around 2:30 p.m. to find the love birds anxiously awaiting the arrival of Harper. Contractions were uncomfortable but I knew the worst was yet to come. The Millers found themselves to be hungry so Mark went out for gyro wraps from his favorite place…which Libby ended up throwing up after a few hours. Hint: don’t eat when in labor.
We (she) labored into the dark of the night. We even went outside where it was cooler. At around 11:30 or so we went to the hospital as her contractions were constant, on an average of anywhere from 4-9 minutes apart or so. I parked the cars, Mark took Lib and their stuff in and registered. By the time I took the purple elevator up to the third floor, the gatekeeper would not allow me in as they were determining whether or not to admit her in triage. They ended up doing so but I was still out in the waiting room. There was a glimmer of hope as the gatekeeper gave me a visitor’s wristband. Their wonderful midwife, Helene Thompson, came out and briefed me. We had a long conversation about Montreal and what a great town it was. She and her husband had just recently visited. I read magazines, checked my email, texted updates to Emy and Wynn and Dane I think. I was very exhausted as I had arisen (is that correct, if not all you English majors look away) at 5:30 that morning, driven to Rochester and now it was around 2:00 a.m. on June 27th, 2012 (Harpers DUE DATE).
Mark and Helene came out to tell me to go home and they would call me when the time came. I had attempted to make a place to lie down on two long benches pushed together. My mid section kept falling through the middle of my “bed”. I lumbered out to the car and to my horror, because of the drive down, found that I was out of gas. Running on fumes. Problem…I did not know where to find a gas station. I tried a couple on the GPS but they were closed. I kept driving and got instructions from a very nice man from India who ran a tiny all night convenience store. Thank you 7-Eleve for being open. I finally made it back home, dragged myself to bed.
Two hours later the phone rang. It was Mark. “Come now, she is dilated to an 8”. You know what mode that put me in. I threw my clothes on, brushed my teeth and headed out the door. When I arrived I found Mark and Libby with Helen who was finishing her 24 hour shift. That is insane. Long, 20 hours of labor, story made short. After much tender loving care from Mark and much courageous, determined, sheer will by Libby, our sweet baby was born on June 27th, 2012 at 11:22 a.m. She weighed in at 7.14 lbs and was 20 inches long. Her head circumference was 13 in case anyone is wondering. She sleeps and eats like a dream. I have heard her cry only a few times. She is a very peaceful, sweet baby. And beautiful. We skyped last night with Dane and Tracie (on his birthday) and when they showed us their new baby Evelyn, she had grown and her chubby little cheeks had filled out so much I could not believe it. The two cousins met for the first time. Although they did not realize it. I know they will be fast friends along with Nora, Clara, Eli, Acadia and Wynn and James new baby girl upcoming in 4 weeks or so.
Harper is a little angel. We are so blessed, Nels and I. We have 7 beautiful grandchildren and one on the way. Life does not have greater blessings than this. Along with the blessings of the Gospel in our lives and the privilege of participating formally in missionary work, our lives seem to be full of so many glorious blessings. Thank you to each of our children and our in-law children for the great gift of these precious little grandchildren. They give us so much joy. We cannot wait to meet Evelyn in person. We are hoping to convince the Cannon’s to come to Montreal for a visit when they feel the time is right. Hint Hint!
Well, I will stop for now and use my other letter for next time. I send my love to each of you individually and collectively. I pray for you each day. Yes, we miss you but I try no to think of these things. On June 30, it was two years ago we stepped foot on Canadian ground. We have grown much since that time. We have learned much and experienced miracles in and out of our family. We love serving in the CMM. I love this work with all my heart. It is the most vital thing I could be doing with my life right now.
Have a loverly week everyone. I know I will.
Love,
Mom, Shir, Mema, grammah or Soeur Cannon
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