Having had one child made having the second less of an adventure - or so one would think. Yet our experience showed that every time Julie ventured into the Valley of Death to give birth there were unique concerns and challenges.
David was the first child we had to pay for ourselves, he further set the pattern for the naming we followed, and he challenged my wife's confidence in my ability to wake up in the middle of the night. And conversely, she challenged my chances at getting a good nights rest.
With Jacob, the expenses of the birth were covered by the insurance she enjoyed as a school teacher. We made a choice prior to Jacob's birth that Julie would not work after Jacob's birth. So for over a year we had been depending on my salary as a graduate student. While sufficient, it wasn't excessive. And the costs of having a child exceeded our budget.
At that time, in Provo, there were several insurance agents who marketed insurance policies to BYU students specifically on the strength of their maternity coverage. I worked with one such agent and we identified an insurance policy where we could pay a minor amount and if we had a child within a year or so, our 'investment' would be returned many times over. These insurance companies that provided these coverages learned to treat Utah County separately from the rest of the nation and so this approach only worked with David and Jefferson and maybe McKenna but certainly did not work with Adams and N'Krysta.
But with the finances mostly handled for David, at least as long as I could make the monthly payments, we could have a baby. For me, the anticipation of waiting for the birth of our children was much, much better than any Christmas. Every child was and is a gift greater than any other that could be received.
Part of the fun of the wait was the naming of the child. Interestingly enough, unlike the other children, the names of Jacob and McKenna were gifts. I don't know when I was given the name of Jacob for our first born, but it was during a time of trial and is linked directly to the Book of Mormon. Jacob would be my 'first-born in the wilderness', and is linked to Lehi's blessing to his son explaining opposition and the source of joy. These are key to me and my testimony. I gave him the name of Karl to link with me and to represent strength.
McKenna was given to my wife. We were watching a film 'Somewhere in time', and as we watched the credits, as we traditionally do, Julie saw someone with McKenna as a last name. It immediately struck her as a good name to give our first daughter. I think she was pregnant at the time with Jacob, and I believe that she thought it might be applied to the child she carried. I knew better since I knew our first child was to be a boy. Which I thought was a good thing since I thought McKenna was a little different for a girl. I knew enough of Gaelic to know that Mc or Mac meant son of. I was also aware of an actress named MacKenzie Phillips who did not have the best reputation.
Julie would not be swayed from McKenna . As I considered her name, I wanted to link it with Julie, so we added Anne, with an “e” so as to be symmetrical with the last four letters of McKenna. It still didn't sound right, so a Hope tagged along. So the final meaning of the name, as freely interpreted by me, was 'child of knowledge, gracious, with hope'.
The amount of work used for the first child's name was replicated for the second one. We had a name for a girl, McKenna, but no name for a boy. Since I had taken the lead on Jacob, I let Julie lead on the second. She chose David. She had been warmly welcomed by my uncle David at her first family gathering and her first Yellowstone family reunion. She had always liked the name David. It was no matter to her that besides an Uncle David on my mom's side, I had a cousin David as well, and an Uncle David on my father's side.
For me, David carried biblical connotations as well. David, while beloved, did have a serious flaw. I did not want my son to have any flaws. While playing around with the name, chewing on it so to speak, the name Seth came to mind. Seth was a perfect man. Seth also contains four of the first five letters of Stephen. I wanted to mix David and Seth. I ran Seth David past Julie. I tried hyphenations. I tried other names and combinations. Julie would have none of it. David Seth it was.
So with the work that was performed to arrive at the names David and McKenna, a pattern was set. Jefferson and N'Krysta were follow-ons to those first efforts that primarily took place while waiting for David.
David was a lesson in the difference between Braxton-Hicks and real contractions. Sometime in late January or early February, Julie woke me up sometime between 1 and 3 am. 'Stephen, I am having contractions. Do you think I am going to have the baby?' Now, that is a question that is hard for the husband to answer. I knew it was very early and so the baby would be in danger if Julie was truly in labor. I quizzed Julie about how the contractions felt. She had another. Not knowing what else to do, I started timing her contractions. Sixteen minutes apart. The contractions did not get any closer together. After another 4 or 5 contractions, the contractions faded away. We returned to sleep.
The contractions returned the next night. Again in the early hours of the morning. Again Julie woke me. Again I timed her contractions. Again they faded away. Finally I could return to slumber.
The pattern was set. Julie would feel the pains, grab me to awake me, have me time the contractions, and after a handful of contractions or more, we would return to slumber. We learned from her physician that these were probably Braxton-Hicks, her body getting ready for the delivery of the baby.
I was willing to let it go like that - Julie's body was getting ready. I didn't need to help. However, Julie was not as convinced. She trusted timing the progression of the contractions more than the doctor's opinion. She wanted me to be awake to time her.
We made all necessary preparations. Julie packed a suitcase. I timed how long it would take to get to the hospital (18 minutes). We reviewed and practiced the breathing exercises. We arranged for Richard and Heidi to take care of Jacob.
And nightly, the contractions returned. I confess - I stopped waking up. Apparently I would still respond coherently, if not necessarily logically. And I wouldn't open my eyes to time Julie's contractions.
This did not comfort Julie. She redoubled her efforts to awake me. Which worked for a while, but even then, I stopped waking up, or if I did, I would fall asleep again. She tried to motivate me in the morning, pleading that, even though it was a false alarm that night, maybe the next night it would be real. Her arguments, though persuasive at breakfast, were much less effective at 2 am.
Julie had become seriously concerned about waking me up. She explored having Richard take her to the hospital. I assured her that I would be capable and ready. Doubting, but loving, she worried quietly.
I was right. One morning at about the usual time, I heard, 'Stephen, I think my waters broke.' I was out of the bed before Julie was. My subconscious did the necessary triage and waked me. I remember even thinking that in a waterbed such as we had, Julie's amniotic fluid would run down and puddle under me. My reactions were quick and sure. I was dressed and ready to head to the car. Julie, however, felt that she had to take a shower. Then she got dressed and put on some makeup. And went to get her suitcase. I had notified Richard and Heidi, pulled the wet sheets off the bed and was anxious to get going.
We left, finally. The streets were empty. We arrived at the third floor of the hospital, and were immediately escorted to a birthing room. We had pre-registered, having learned from our experience with Jacob. We had them call our doctor. And Julie proceeded with the contractions and labor. Our doctor, Steven MacArthur, made in time to perform the delivery and sew Julie up. David was born.
Our doctor asked us to call him before we left the house the next delivery. I guess he wanted to be there when we had the babies, rather than arriving to congratulate us afterward.
Another baby, another miracle. At least in my wife’s eyes, since I was awake enough to take her to the hospital!
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