CHIPMUNK'S ARRIVAL

So Ruth and Grace spent the week from Easter Sunday to Friday in Mbabane with our Finnish friends, the Ilomaki's. This was a good arrangement, because it allowed Ruth some well-deserved rest and Grace some variety. Grace had a great time with Sara-Maria, the Ilomaki's daughter of roughly the same age.

On Friday afternoon Cub and Kit and I took a kombi to Mdzimba High School. The Mubiru's met us there and all of us went into town. Susanna Ilomaki took Ruth and I to the Mbabane Clinic, and the Mubiru's took Cub and Kit back to Mdzimba with them. Dr. Wasswa met us at the Clinic and said he expected me earlier in the day, so he didn't want to try to start anything that would end up with a birth in the wee hours. Ruth and I went back to the Ilomaki's for Friday night and returned, per the MD's orders, at 6AM on Saturday. A special thanks goes out to Susan Rogers for being willing to take us to the Clinic late Friday night, should Chipmunk have decided to show up a little early.

Ruth took some hormone tablet at the rate of one an hour from 7AM until about 11. During this time Ruth had intimations of labor, but nothing serious. We had a great time just sitting and reading, sharing the occasional anecdote with each other from our book/magazine. After an internal exam at 11, things got more interesting.

After the exam Ruth's contractions got stronger, longer, and more frequent. Seemed like it was time to call Dr. Wasswa and move to the delivery room, but the very nice Zimbabwean nurse wanted to keep waiting until it was really time. Ruth knew things were happening fast and said (between episodes of prolonged and voluminous groans) that for the sake of the fast-approaching baby and for the peace of mind of the C-section delivery mother on the other side of the screen, we should go to the delivery room. We finally convinced everyone it was time to move, and not a moment to soon; Ruth's water broke before she transferred from her bed to the delivery table (I got to help in that; fill in where you're needed, I guess), and Dr. Wasswa and the nurses got their gloves on just (barely) in time to take Chipmunk in hand. Dr. Wasswa was in scrubs a grand total of probably 20 minutes. The nurses kept saying "Don't push!", and Ruth kept saying "I'm not!" and "The baby's coming!". When the nurses did tell her to push, it only took one to get Jabulile out (at 2:20PM). The nurse, Lawrencia, smilingly said we should name the girl after her, since this daughter had given herso much trouble.

The transition time from maternity ward to delivery room had a funny moment. When we finally decided to move Ruth we pulled back the curtain separating Ruth's bed from the woman's next door and I stood looking into our neighbor's face. What do to say to a complete stranger when you are standing over your wife is in the late, very loud, stages of labor? "Hello there!" seemed to fit the awkward bill. All in all, it was a happy ending. "Jabu" weighed in at 3.9 kg (8.5 pounds), the largest of our children yet.

LONG FACES AND SHAKING HEADS
Not everyone was as pleased as us with another girl, though. I occasionally meet with young man interested to prepare him for entering the Catholic church. At the end of one of our sessions before the birth, he prayed very earnestly that this child be a boy. We all know that's settled at conception, but he was so sincere I didn't want to remind him of that fact. I ran some errands around town on Monday after the birth. When I told the folks at the shoe repair place that this was our fourth daughter, one guy in the shop sadly shook his head. Having a son is very important in Swazi culture, and so far we have not fit into that cultural mode. The receptionist at the Clinic said she has an uncle who has 10 daughters; he "kept on trying for the boy" but never got him.

One group of ladies, however, was very pleased with our daughter. Upon telling two grandmother-age women at a curio shop that the latest child is also a daughter, one of them said "This child is from God. If you had been asking and asking 'God, please give me a son', He would have given you that son. That son would have been yours-and he would have given you no end of trouble. Instead, this girl is a gift from God." That's how we feel.

Mom and baby are doing pretty well, with some not-unusual experiences. The baby is a voracious eater. Before Ruth's milk came in we had to supplement with sugar water. Her milk did come in (in a very large volume), and baby was happy; now that production is back down some, the baby's a bit crankier. She also seems to have her days and nights reversed-an unhappy but realatively easy problem to fix. Cold wet washcloths on head and chest are just the thing to keep a drowzy baby lively! Those of us of a particular vintage may remember Steve Martin's "cat juggling" portion of his stand-up routine. In certain phases of extended screaming/crying, Jabu sounds just like the cats Steve Martin impersonated. "Sure, the jugglers are singing 'La cucaracha, la cucaracha' and the cats are going 'me-OWWW! me-OWWW!'" Ruth happily stayed in the house both Saturday and Sunday (17 and 18 April) and slept lots. She's thinking that next week she'll take the kombi to church and make the short walk from the bus-stop to the church, and after a couple weeks of that try walking to the church again. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and thoughts.

Rudy for the gang