Andrew Moses Van Kirk

The birth announcement we sent out via email after Drew was born:

Andrew Moses “Drew” Van Kirk was born at 3:17pm in Dallas. He weighed 7 pounds and 8 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long (which coincidentally was the exact same height as both of his siblings).

Drew arrived on his due date which was a bit of a surprise to his parents who had planned for him to be induced the following day. Stephanie did well through labor and delivery and has had a speedy recovery. Big brother Henry asks to hold him about every 5 minutes and Addie, our doctor in training, is full of questions for every nurse who comes to the room.

Here is a link to an album with pictures of Drew’s first 24 hours:
https://goo.gl/photos/em9JK7k2G6d9iRNz8

We thank all of you for your prayers, kindness and encouragement.

Blessings, Andrew and Stephanie

More of the story:

I (Stephanie) was convinced that Drew was going to come early- hopefully even 2 weeks early like his big brother. So convinced, I told everyone who asked his due date that “it was the 4th, but my babies are usually early so I’m planning for the middle of May!” That sure was wishful thinking… we waited and waited and I never dilated past a 1 cm in May. It was somewhat discouraging to continue to go to the OB and be told week after week that I wasn’t progressing as I really wanted him to be on my schedule! We went ahead and set a induction date for June 5th for 2 reasons: I really didn’t want to be on the hospital on Henry’s birthday (June 9th) and my doctor was on call all day on Friday the 5th which worked well for her.

Even though I set an induction date, the truth is, I really didn’t want to be induced. I felt guilty about “kicking him out” on my timing instead of his. I know I was full term and my doctor felt there was no reason medically that I couldn’t have an induction, but part of me just felt terrible that I wasn’t willing to let go of my anxiety about Henry’s birthday. I think God heard my prayers and, in a bit of grace, my water broke the day before the scheduled induction (which was also Drew’s due date!).

Actually, God really does know better than we do, doesn’t he? Let me back up a bit. For the past 2 years I’d been working for Consumer Credit Counseling Service- a non-profit that provides financial counseling and education. This job was a great blessing after we finished at Ascension because it enabled me to work from home for 20 hours a week on a project that helped the people of our neighborhood in Dallas. It also paid well and the hours were pretty flexible. When we moved to McKinney, I started to feel a sense of separation from that project because I was no longer helping my neighbors. The commute, which I had to make 1-2 times per week, was over an hour there and back. For these and several other reasons, the job really started to feel like it wasn’t the right fit. I missed ministry and I missed working in my own community.

Two weeks before Drew was born I made the difficult choice to resign from CCCS with no other prospects lined up. I had heard a sermon that morning at church focused on the work we have to do at St. Andrew’s in McKinney and I just knew God was calling me to be a part of his work here. What’s amazing about God’s timing is if Drew had been born early, I would not have resigned at that time.

What’s even more amazing is that the week Drew was born I had the unexpected opportunity to apply for a job I didn’t even know was open in McKinney- and it happened to be my dream job. It was the Head of School position for Holy Family Episcopal School. On Monday June 1st I had an interview, on Tuesday morning I had my second interview and, later that evening, the board president called to offer me the position. On Thursday, Drew was born. More on the school and why I’m so passionate about it in a later blog post, but know that I have never felt more excited about a vocational calling in my life. I certainly would have never applied for the position if Drew had been born earlier as I wouldn’t have been looking or asking around about what was open…again, God’s timing is so much more perfect than our own.

Drew’s birthday really went as smoothly as we could have hoped for. Andrew and I both got a good night of sleep and my water broke shortly after I woke up. The contractions started 15 minutes after that, but were only about every 15 minutes so that gave us plenty of time to get the kids up and drive everyone down to my parent’s condo. We dropped them off, stopped by Bubba’s for a sausage biscuit and cinnamon roll (I needed to make sure I had plenty of energy after all!) and made it to the hospital by 10am.

After intake, a walk about Labor and Delivery to speed the contractions up, and a short visit from Henry and Addie around noon, I was really ready for Drew to arrive. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long. In fact, he arrived so fast that my doctor, who was only 15 minutes away, and monitoring my progress all day, didn’t make it. Her partner who was on call and upstairs didn’t make it either! The resident, Dr. Garcia, came in just in time and delivered Drew alongside my very experienced nurse, Mary.

The rest of the day was filled with rest and family. Henry and Addie got to meet him just before dinner with my parents and brother Beau. The kids were a little tired because they didn’t nap as they might normally have done, but who could blame them with all the excitement? I think all the wires and IV attached to me might have scared Addie so she was a bit timid, but Henry handled everything like the confident almost 5 year old he was about to become. He has really grown up and it makes us so proud to see him trying to be such a leader for his sister and helper for his parents.

Mark, Alice, Erin, Grant and the twins came up for a party and brought a delicious Italian feast with them (and, of course, sweet Erin baked a cute birthday cake!). It was such fun to celebrate Drew in our recovery room. I really can’t imagine the day going any better and am so grateful for God’s provision and care for our family. He is so good and His gifts, especially the gift of Drew, are beyond beautiful and amazing to me.

 

 

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