Daniel and I are now the proud parents of three little sons! Brave Ransom Rupp was born at 6:15 a.m. on June 13 in the Chiang Mai Ram Hospital in Chiang Mai Thailand. He weighed 2.965 kilograms and measured 52 cm. (That is about 6 1/2 lbs and 20 1/2 inches, for you Americans).My water broke just after midnight, and I started to cry. I was terrified of what lay ahead. I had such a fast and painful labor with Zion, like a plane spinning wildly to earth, and I was dreading that experience again. I immediately facebooked my intercessor friends for help.
To avoid another breakneck dash to the hospital, we casually went in at about 1:30 a.m., checking in with smiles on our faces, Daniel walking around taking pictures. My contractions were little more than cramps.At about 2:30 a.m., I woke Daniel from his cot because labor had begun. It was game time. He pushed on my lower back during each contraction, and things were going pretty well.
Suddenly, at about 4 a.m., the contractions jerked into high-gear, and I was in the same wild pain that I had been in with Zion. Daniel went and got a nurse and she checked the progress. 4 c.m. My nightmare was repeating itself. Desperately I announced I wanted an epidural. Though I was only at 4 c.m., the nurses decided to transfer me to the other room, figuring I would be at 5 c.m. by the time they were ready for the procedure (5 c.m. is required before an epidural can be administered). The whole thing went south when they failed to check the progress again before sticking me with the big needle. They didn't know I was at a 10. I was lying on my side, three nurses and my husband pinning me down with my knees together, a giant needle just beside my spine, and suddenly I needed to push. The problem was, I couldn't move or I could have been paralyzed. Interesting predicament. I screamed bloody murder and pushed (because I had to, of course) and my restrainers held me tight and we waited for the needle to be secured in my back. Finally, I was released and I rolled over. I was still screaming and I pushed twice and they placed my slimy, wrinkly, purple son on my tummy. I was so glad that it was over. He was so beautiful to me. I was overwhelmed and I started to cry from pure joy. They cut the cord and wrapped him up and handed him back to me, and I couldn't stop stroking him and whispering praises from my heart.
About that time the epidural set in, so you'll be happy to know that I had a pain-free delivery of the placenta.
Obviously, delivering children is not my gifting. Neither is carrying them in my womb, for that matter, since I spend the first 21 weeks of the process on the couch. But being their mom is something I feel that I was made to do. The pain and fear and disruption of my life are nothing compared to one day - just one day - with just one of my sons.
Welcome to the world, Brave Ransom. You look half like Bright and half like Zion. May your name pave the way for you to live bravely in this world, a world that so desperately needs to be ransomed from the chains that bind it. You have been born into a family that adores you. You will have fun with us, you will find boundaries and discipline, you will eat desert, you will learn to hunt if you want, and cook if you care to join me in the kitchen. You will be allowed to wear your hair however you want as a teenager, and your mom and dad will stand behind you all the days of your life. May you grow into a man who loves your Savior with all you've got. We love you, Brave.
