Isaiah Kenneth Stanley Scott

Rachel and I are proud to introduce our 5^th child and 2^nd son…

Isaiah Kenneth Stanley Scott. 

Born:  October 12, 2013

Time: 6:42am Eastern

Weight: 8 lb 3 oz

Length: 20 inches

This baby boy is a gift from God; we feel so blessed.  From the moment we found out about his life, he has brought us joy.  Rachel will tell you that even though we were traveling the world as he grew, this pregnancy (other than the morning sickness in Central America) was her most joyous. 

As a family we had many, many discussions about names.  But we chose Isaiah for the following reason….

Our first Sunday back home after our 8 month mission journey, our pastor preached on Isaiah 6.  It is one of my favorite scriptures as Isaiah realizes just how Holy God is early in Chapter 6 and then Isaiah 6:8 says

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”

Rachel and I looked at each other and started talking about the name during the service.  We really felt called to do what we had done on our 8 month journey.  Essentially that is what we had said “Here we are; send us!”  Perhaps our baby was a blessing for being obedient to his Will…

Then last Saturday occurred.  The primary verse I prayed over Hayleigh was Isaiah 53:5

“But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.”

But the clincher for his name came in a note from my sister Heather which she wrote to Hayleigh detailing how her family prayed for her last Saturday.  It is a beautiful note, which I will probably post on the blog later.  Here is part of what she wrote:

“Isaiah is where I went to pray for you.  And the prayers continued inserting the names of your mom, dad, and you, Hayleigh into God’s word…From Isaiah 43:

Fear not I (God) have redeemed Hayleigh.  I have called her by name and she is mine.

When she passes through the waters I will be with her, and when she passes through the rivers, they will not sweep over her. 

When Hayleigh walks through the fire, she will not be burned.  The flames will not set her ablaze. 

Hayleigh is precious and honored in my sight and I love her.

Do not be afraid for I am with Hayleigh. 

I taught little one how to pray someone’s name into scripture…then I did the same for your mommy and daddy. 

A couple of pages back I prayed Isaiah 40:28-31 over your entire family.  You probably already know this one. 

“Do you not know? Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and the young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, and they will walk and not be faint.”

These are words of great power, of truth, of love.  And so we name our son Isaiah and dedicate his life to God. We pray that God blesses him with a heart that loves Jesus Christ as much as we love him. 

Kenneth was Rachel’s maternal grandfather.  He came from humble beginnings yet raised 6 college educated children.  He worked hard, but he knew how to make life fun.  Many of Rachel’s favorite childhood memories revolved around her maternal grandfather, Kenneth Pope and we pray Isaiah has the same work ethic and zest for life.

The name Stanley honors three people: My paternal grandfather Stanley Lonzo Scott, the uncle I never knew Stanley Clippinger Scott, and my brother Stanley Kyster Scott. 

My grandfather was a 2 star general in World War II and a man of great honor and integrity.  He was a giant in my life.  I wrote about my uncle during ourtrip to Normandy where he died in World War II serving our country.  And my brother is simply one of the best men I know.  I pray Isaiah develops the character traits of these men and lives his life to serve. 

From our family to yours, thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. 

Welcome to the world little Isaiah!  You are much loved.

Love,

Daddy and Mommy

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The story leading up to Isaiah’s birth….

Friday was one of those days where I can look back and see God orchestrating things to make everything work just right.   As I wrote last night:

“Things happened since last night that led to all the kids being at someone else's house at the same time tonight.  I had been going down in the morning and coming back in the late afternoon but today I went down to Boston late with plans to pick the kids up after dinner.  I had the thought "I wonder if everyone is at the same house tonight because baby is coming tonight?"  And the answer to that would be "YES!"

Earlier in the day we had made arrangements to deliver the baby at a hospital across the street from Childrens.  One of the OB practices said she could come for a check up at the end of the day given the unusual circumstances of our lives last week.  The person on duty was the leader of the high risk pregnancy unit.  He basically said “Rachel, you are having that baby tonight” and she said “Ok!” 

 

Signing disclosures / getting checked in.  The other person is Dr Hofler who ended up delivering Isaiah 

Starting the long wait...

By 7pm, I was with her and then we waited and waited and waited and waited as women kept arriving 8cm dilated or in emergency situations.  We were in a room once and they sent us back due to an emergency arrival.  It was a little frustrating but eventually became comical.  Ultimately, we didn’t get a room until after midnight. 

While we were waiting Rachel tied two bows, one blue used in the picture below and one pink that we ended up not needing.  

A gift from God for sure.  Isaiah with cheek on Isaiah Chapter 6.

The blue bow she tied without any trouble and in exactly the shape she wanted.  But the pink bow gave her all kinds of troubles.  She tied it and untied it at least 4 times and I finally said "Obviously this means we are having a boy, so just leave the pink bow untied and do it later if need be."  

Once we got in a room, the doctor broke Rachel’s water, and she started labor.  Early in the process we both noticed whenever Rachel had a contraction, Isaiah’s heart beat would slow dramatically.  The medical team told us not to worry about it, but proceeded to come in every time there was a change in his heartbeat.

Rachel gave birth to our Sarah with no pain medications at all.  But by 4:30am the pain was sufficient enough combined with concerns over the baby that she requested an epidural. Another benefit of the epidural was that everything would be in place if we had to do a C-Section.  Otherwise, they would have had to put Rachel to sleep to do an emergency C-Section.  She REALLY wanted to be awake for the birth of our baby.

The medical team asked me to leave the room during the procedure and when I came back I had a completely different woman in front of me.  Rachel was laughing, joyful, joking.  The medical team said “if the epidural procedure ever needed a spokesperson, YOU would be it!” 

Next, nurse Amanda (who was the BEST nurse we have ever had….and we’ve had a lot of them over the years!), did an exam of Rachel and said she felt like Isaiah had put his hand over his head.  The doctor confirmed this and said as well he was holding the umbilical cord over his head.  Rachel joked “I’m giving birth to Tarzan!” 

Nurse Amanda and Rachel

Then we realized the potential complications of delivering baby with the umbilical cord being ‘crimped’ on his head and we did a C-Section.  This was a good call because when Isaiah came out he had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. 

The team asked if I wanted to announce ‘girl’ or ‘boy’ when the time came and they actually remembered to give me that honor.  What a thrill for me to see our son and say “It’s a boy!”

I headed over to the table where they were working on him.  He gave a little cry when exiting the womb but didn’t do much over on his bed.  They put an oxygen mask on him and it dawned on me that 3 of our family members at that moment had oxygen assistance…Hayleigh, Rachel, and Isaiah.  I think this was payback because I held my breath quite a bit when I was born.  

Eventually, Isaiah let out a rip roaring cry (making Rachel happy as he had been silent before that) and turned a healthy pink color.  

The nurses were hilarious as they were building up Rachel’s self esteem.  When putting in the epidural “You have the NICEST back Rachel” followed by “You have the nicest healing scars from your previous C Section” 

Then the nurses started getting silly and saying things like “Your urine is such a beautiful yellow” and “You have the most beautiful placenta.”  LOL….but I think Rachel shocked them because she asked to see the placenta and they showed us the sack Isaiah had been in along with the placenta. 

Isaiah started smacking his lips for food no more than 5 minutes after birth and was a pro at breast feeding.  No lactation nurse needed there! 

We called my mom first and then the girls and AJ.  The girls were excited but AJ has been hoping for a sister.  His initial reaction was disappointment in not getting a sister and then he said we should name the baby “Abracadabra”  Cute. 

Finally, Rachel got to sleep for the first time since about 4am Friday morning when Hayleigh’s medical team started talking about taking her off ECMO.  As I write, the girls and AJ are in a car with friends heading to Boston to meet their new brother. 

What a wonderful, memorable day this has been.  Thank you all for your prayers and welcome to the world Baby Isaiah. 

God bless,

Andrew and Rachel

Other pictures:

The kids first meeting with Isaiah.   I can't wait for Hayleigh to see him.  I was able to tell her about his birth during a moment where she was awake. Her eyes widened and tears started rolling down her cheek.  She sooooooo wanted to be there for our little guy's birth but we are just thankful big sister will be there to watch her little brother grow up.  

We wanted Hayleigh there so we opened the computer to pull up a picture of her from our trip this year....

AJ said all through the pregnancy he wanted a sister, but thankfully he seemed to take a liking to his little brother.  At least he didn't nearly drop him like Vienna and Hayleigh did to Sarah when they first met her!

And the fun begins for Rachel....

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