In my last update, I told you that I would be going into the hospital for one last try at induction. On Tuesday, January 30, I was admitted into the hospital at 8:30 a.m. and began the induction. My good friend Jill Anderson was there to help Csaba as my other support person. My daughter Lisa was going to be in with me, but the doctor on call would not allow it because she wasn't 16. As it turns out, it was just as well that she wasn't, because things didn't go as smoothly as planned.

By 1:30, nothing was really happening. When I would walk, the contractions got stronger, but not enough to do any good. So the doctor decided to break my water. That's when all hell broke loose. I had so much water in me, it was like Niagara Falls when they broke it. You should have seen the look on Csaba's face. One nurse went to get a mop while the other one tried to find his heartbeat again (the baby's, not Csaba's). He was always a little stubborn with this, so at first it didn't occur to anyone there was a problem.

Next thing I know, she's saying, "Get the doctor. I have a cord". The doctor comes rushing in, and the nurse jumps up on my bed and I feel her pushing the baby back in. Apparently the rush of water had suctioned out the cord. This is what's known as a prolapsed cord. It only happens rarely and is very dangerous. If the cord dries out from exposure to air or is pinched between the pelvis and head, the blood supply is cut off to the baby and he could be brain damaged or die.

The next few minutes were very surreal. I've watched a lot of those real life emergency shows, and I never imagined it would be me riding on a gurney watching the overhead lights pass and hearing all these people talking in medical mumbo jumbo. The nurse rode all the way down to the emergency room holding Joshua inside me. I guess I went from 3 cm to 8 cm in the few mintues it took to get me down there. I remember her saying to Csaba and Jill as we left the room, "Don't worry. I have his cord in my hand, I can feel his heartbeat. Everything is going to be fine." Csaba was so scared, I could tell. This is not the way we expected it to go.

There were all these people around me talking to me, reassuring me that it would all be ok. I just closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on staying calm. I remember trying to recite the 23rd Psalm in my head ("The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want...") and that took my mind off how scary it all was. They put me to sleep and delivered Joshua via cesarean. I guess he came out screaming but he was ok otherwise.

When I woke up in recovery, the first words out of my mouth were, "Is he ok?" I was never so happy in my life to hear he was doing wonderfully and was up in the nursery with daddy waiting for me. We missed out on the joy of watching him emerge into the world, and Csaba missed being able to cut the cord and hear his first cries. But the most important thing is that he's fine. I am so thankful for the nurse who took action and thankful most of all that I serve a loving God who took Joshua in his arms and protected him for me. I believe Joshua has a special purpose in this world and I trust that God provided a special guardian angel for him that will watch over him in the years to come.

Here is the announcement and some of the first pictures of Joshua.