Alex Edgar Wishall, born Nov. 14.

By Garrett E. Wishall

– JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA - Alex Edgar Wishall, son of Garrett and Laura Wishall, was born at 2:12 p.m., Nov. 14, at Clark Memorial Hospital.¹

Alex is the younger son of Timothy, 1, who was born 16 months and 1 day ago, also at Clark Memorial.

Garrett and Laura said they rejoice at the Lord adding another blessing to their quiver.

“We are tremendously grateful and excited to have the privilege of another son entering our house,” the couple said. “We know that every child is a blessing from God. We are particularly excited about watching Timothy and Alex grow up together and hopefully teaching them a few things along the way.”

The account

Alex’s birth did not come without travail.

Laura began experiencing contractions with regularity Thursday afternoon, Nov. 12. Aware that Laura had endured 30 hours of labor, 14 at the hospital, with the birth of Timothy, the couple did not want to jump the gun and go to the hospital too early. Thus, Laura took a sleeping pill Thursday night and got a good night of sleep.

The contractions continued on Friday morning, so Garrett stayed home from work. The contractions stayed 5-10 minutes throughout the day and on into the evening Friday.

Around 11 p.m., the contractions began to intensify and the couple began to begin thinking about going to the hospital.

After five hours of early stage labor, during which Garrett snuck in a couple hours of sleep, the couple made the phone call to Raymond and Megan Johnson to come and watch young Timmy. The Johnsons arrived minutes later with far too much energy and vigor for 4:15 a.m., “reporting for duty” as Raymond put it.

The couple arrived at the hospital to discover that was 4-5 centimeters dilated and progressing nicely. Four hours later, statements like, “I’m not sure I can do this,” signaled to All-American nurse Holly that Laura was transitioning into second stage labor.

Midwife Allison asked another nurse to prepare the room for delivery. Excitement and anticipation filled the room like the aroma of a Meat Lover’s pizza from Pizza Hut.

Laura got ready to push and Allison checked to make sure she was ready. To Allison’s surprise, Laura was only 8 centimeters dilated. Exhausted, Laura asked for an epidural.

An hour or so later, Laura had progressed to a 10: it was time!

Laura gave a few good pushes with husband Garrett, and blessed friend Kelly Kantorski (who arrived at the hospital to help just after the Wishalls’ arrival), assisting and encouraging her. Garrett’s excitement quickly turned to another experience: wooziness.

Feeling queasy, Garrett sat down and drank a Sprit (actually diet Sierra Mist) supplied by nurse Holly, who could only shake her head and compare Garrett to her husband.

As Laura continued to push, Allison became concerned that, though she could see the crown of Alex’s head - covered with brown hair - he was not progressing toward freedom. After several rounds of pushing, some of which included Alex’s heart rate dropping, Laura was again exhausted and preparations were made for a Caesarian section.

Less than an hour later, Garrett showed proud, tired and emotional (Garrett was only the first … okay Garrett was the first and the second … all right, Garrett was all three as well) Laura her second son, Alex Edgar Wishall.

‘It was like trying to dig the Panama Canal with my head’

After things had settled down a bit and Alex had received his first bath, the couple sat down with their youngster to ask him what happened that prevented him from coming out the “natural” way.

“It was a tight, tight fit,” Alex recounted, through a mind-reading translator. “I knew it was going be tough, but I had no idea how tough. It was like trying to dig the Panama Canal with my head.”

Allison noted that Laura’s small birth canal combined with Alex’s 90^th percentile head most likely combined to prevent the vaginal delivery. Indeed, in retrospect, Laura’s dynamic size combined with Alex’s characteristically large, male Wishall head² had C-section written all over them.

Grateful to God

In all seriousness, Laura and Garrett are grateful for the blessing that is Alex Edgar Wishall. The creative wonder of a great and awesome God is no more clearly seen than in the birth of an infant.

While the birth processes of both Wishall children were arduous and exhausting, the intrinsic blessing of receiving beings that carry the image of God outweighs eternally the difficulty of their arrival.

Garrett and Laura know that well before the Fall of man that made such births difficult, God had planned to redeem a people for His own glory.

“Laura and I are aware that the first man, Adam, sinned against his Creator, acting on the impulses of price and self-sufficiency that drove his rebellion. We know that every human being after Adam, including our two sons, was thus born with a dead sinful nature that is accompanied by sinful acts,” Garrett said.

“However, we also know that this same Creator sent His only Son, the eternal Son of God, into the world to redeem sinful men and reconcile the world to Himself. This Son became the Savior of all would believe in Him when He lived a perfect life, died on the cross and rose again. Jesus’ resurrection declared to the spiritual forces of evil that though the effects of the Fall - such as Laura’s two difficult births - still linger in this world, He is calling a people to Himself with the same power that birthed this world and brought Him up out of the grave.

Laura and I know that all who repent of their rebellion against their Creator and place their faith and hope in Jesus Christ, a faith that includes submission to Him, receive the forgiveness of sins and enter the kingdom of God.

Laura and I live in this world to give glory to God by being messengers of this message. We will share this message with our sons, if God grants us the opportunity, and indeed, even today I prayed that He would save them both. It is our prayer that they will not persist in their rebellion, but will repent of their sins, and trust in Christ for their salvation.”

Garrett and Laura are grateful for the birth of Alex Edgar Wishall, who joins Timothy Robert Wishall in the Wishall household. And they are even more grateful for the new birth they have undergone that has made them new creations in Christ.

———————————————————–

¹The author wants readers to be aware that he composed this account after a good night of sleep. Had this story been written immediately after the birth, it would have taken on a tone similar to that of a chain-smoker desperately in search of a pack of cigarettes after a weak without nicotine.

²The large capacity of the typical Wishall head does not reflect a correspondingly high intellect. Instead, large cavities of the male Wishall mind are filled with sports facts. Other compartments are used for humor, not the kind that all find funny, but laughter triggers for odd, random and significantly demented comments and conversation.