This Colorful World

Clay put together this video (below) of the day of Clayton's arrival. That day, August 22nd, was both one of the hardest and yet happiest days of my life. Clay and I arrived at Labor and Delivery around 7:00 a.m. to start the induction. The first eleven hours of labor were not bad-- visiting with our family and friends was enjoyable, the anticipation was exciting, the epidural was effective... It was only the last two hours of pushing that were so difficult. I was already exhausted from lack of sleep and food when the pushing began, and I was fearful about what lay ahead. The pushing during each contraction required every ounce of physical and emotional strength I had within me; the breaks between contractions were hardly long enough to catch my breath. With each push, Clayton would make slight progress down the birth canal, but with each break from pushing, he seemed to sneak back toward my womb. He must have really liked it in there; he did not seem very interested in coming out just yet. After pushing for almost two hours, I had this feeling that we were close to a C-Section, but I hoped that would not happen, and thanks to the support and encouragement of Clay, Julie, and Erin, and the patience of Dr. Ross, (and the strong arm of the nurse pushing down on my uterus) I was finally able to push him out completely! What a moment; what emotion, what exhaustion, what relief... I couldn't help but cry when I saw his perfect, sweet face. He was, and is, beautiful. He is a gift from the Lord. He is our son. As difficult as those hours were, I would do it again in a heartbeat, and I wouldn't change a thing.

I love the lyrics to this song about the artist's (Eliot Morris) son being born. Here are the lyrics, written from the perspective of the newborn:

My world was closing in
so i thought id take things outside
The walls had gotten thin
the time was feeling just right
Darkness, dangers, cold the air that kissed my skin
Slowly, strangers turned to friends

And welcomed me to this colorful world
All things anew in this colorful world
Grey yields to blue in this colorful world
There's so much to do in this colorful world

The light let go my eyes
I measured all the earth known
I cant remember why
I felt like I had found home
Earthquakes, noises stole the peace i tried to keep
Slowly voices brought me sleep

And sleep leads to dreams of this colorful world
Dreams build machines in this colorful world
Grey yields to green in this colorful world
There's so much unseen in this colorful world

Wake me up and wipe the the clouds from my ears
Speak my name because i finally can hear clearly

This colorful world
All things are new in this colorful world
Grey yields to blue in this colorful world
Theres so much to do in this colorful world

Eliot Morris