The Decker household is just so proud of our little "Adylinee" (Duke's nickname for her) and so glad that she has finally arrived. She is beautiful. I am so taken with just how precious she is. Daniel and I feel like we won the lottery to have both and son and a daughter! Sweet little Adyline Hope Decker, I can't wait to tell you about her... 
Monday, January 31st I went to my weekly sonogram. I was so happy to have just crossed the 37 week mile marker. Sunday I had felt pretty miserable (swelling, headache) and had been "nesting" like crazy. Monday morning started out as a normal day. Got up, ate breakfast with Duke, picked up a little, visited with Daniel and headed to my appointment. I even called my sister, Kayla on the way to sing Happy birthday to her; little did I know, my daughter would have the same Birthday! I went in to Dr. Mayberry's office (our sonographer) and was told my blood pressure was through the roof! He said I had toxemia/preeclampsia AGAIN and he would call my OBGYN while I headed to the hospital. He was reassuring that female lungs develop faster than males and that he thought she'd be tiny, but mature enough to thrive outside the womb. I called Daniel and went straight to the hospital. I requested one of my favorite nurses from Duke's delivery and she was by my side the entire time; I was especially blessed to have her because the hospital did some rearranging to allow her to be my nurse. Dr. Tadvick came over and scheduled the operation for 2 pm. The operation itself was a little rough for me (throwing up, etc); and the pre-op magnesium makes a patient feel like they have the flu. But by 3:00 pm they could have told me they were cutting off my thumbs and it wouldn't have phased me! I had my baby girl and heavy doses of Demerol - I was a happy girl! I could not have even imagined how wonderful a delivery with few complications could be! I had my girl on my chest for the next 4 days straight. I savored every single moment with her. The next 6 days brought a blizzard, which was very inconvenient for Abilene, but so wonderful for me! I had nothing but quiet bonding time. I told Daniel that I felt like I needed to apologize to all of Abilene! I really think God in his kindness was extra sweet to me and provided the privacy that we had been hoping for. It was the sweetest, most sacred time. I will never forget it, each detail was perfect in every way and I felt overwhelmed with the kindness of my Lord. Why is He so sweet to me? 
Daniel really wanted to keep Adyline Hope's name a secret until the delivery. Now, being the one that ruins at least one Christmas present every year, I was EXTREMELY nervous I would spill. It was especially difficult to keep it from my mom and sisters (kinda fun to keep it from my Dad and brothers though! If you know them, you understand why!). This being said, I have been dying to explain the significance of Adyline Hope's name for a very long time now.
About three years ago I was in a Beth Moore bible study where I learned about the biblical meaning of the word 'hope.' The brief discussion of the word became life changing to my thought life. We think of it as a positive, go lucky word: I hope mom makes spaghetti, etc. But, I found much greater meaning to the word. My entire life I have wrestled with fear. There have been times in my life that it has crippled me. Wherever I go, whatever I do, I have always found something to be afraid of. Following the trauma of Duke's arrival, I became very fearful about being pregnant again. God began teaching me to reject fear and embrace hope {Why are you downcast O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God for I will ever praise Him my savior and my God. Psalm 43:5} It became so profound in my spiritual walk that year, that when I journalled or prayed over my next pregnancy I referred to the future child as "hope." It was something special between me and the Lord. At this point I didn't intend to use it as a name, and I certainly didn't know the future to know that my next child would be female, however I felt strongly that it was the baby's God given identity even three years ago.
When Daniel and I first discovered we were pregnant, we decided to keep it between the two of us for a while. This was a sweet time, but being so close to my mom and sisters, I found it difficult (surprise surprise) to keep my mouth shut. I also didn't want them to feel as though they had missed out. So I started a journal for them about the special things God was doing for me during this time and began referring to the new life inside of me as "Hope" and "Hopie;" I also explained in this journal the significance of the nickname. There are so many things I could list for you that God did to reiterate the theme of hope to me. Too many to list, the redundancy became almost comical. For instance, the first Sunday we knew we were pregnant, a guest speaker came and preached a sermon on ... hum, what do you think? ... hope. The day we found out she was a girl, the sonogram room had one of those decorative wall words, what do you guess it said? Hope. On and on I could go with examples, except it's 10:30 pm and I am sleep deprived and dying to complete this and get it out on paper... :)
As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I lost my sweet Grandma Sara just weeks after the discovery of my pregnancy. It had been three years since I had seen Grandma Sara and I already missed her, being in her house and in North Carolina was almost heartbreaking for me because of the realization that I would never see her again this side of eternity. Over and over and over again Adyline's life inside of me was a salve to my pain. I felt like the Lord was telling me, "Yes, I have taken someone special; but do not lose hope because I am giving you someone special." Because the timing of their lives were intangled in my heart, I just couldn't help it, but I started imagining the child inside me to be a girl. Perhaps if I had lost my Granddad I would have thought of a boy, but I just wondered (and even hoped) if the Lord was putting another little lady in my life.
During the funeral service I was completely overwhelmed by such a life so well lived. There was nothing I didn't love about her (how many people can you say that about?). I felt very humbled to be referred to as one of her Granddaughters. Because of her legacy there were many, many people to speak about her from different parts and times of her life. I was amazed and almost amused that over and over again each speaker's words had the reoccurring theme of hope. It's like in my grief each speaker was literally using my baby's nickname over and over again, reminding me of the life and making it utterly impossible to escape God's comfort. How great is our God! Big enough to create galaxies, and small enough to orchestrate tiny details to forever engrave a victorious virtue in my heart. At this point, I just started saying to the Lord, "I get it. OK, absolutely, I will not be downcast, I WILL put my hope in YOU!" Despite the fact that the past year has held a lot of heart ache and trials for me and loved ones, I am utterly convinced that this is the season of hope in our lives; because of this experience I have not lost hope in the other circumstances. Following all these experiences, I began saying that God named her Hope. It was just so appropriate in every way to give it to her as a name.
In Adyline's nursery I have a special shadow box of a photo of my Grandma Sara holding me as a baby. It also holds her necklace--a cross pendant given to me by my Granddad. Inside of it is the verse featured below. I love it because my Grandma was a very hopeful person; very innocent and gentle and full of hope. Even though my daughter doesn't have the same name as my Grandma, I ask God to tell her I named my baby in honor of her. It is such a victorious word and I love knowing that it is forevermore stamped to Adyline's forehead so that she will never escape the reality of what her precious life has taught me. If Duke is a dream come true (and I have always said he is), then Adyline, you are my hope fulfilled. I love her forever and ever, my darling, my Adyline, my "hope."
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love.
Psalm 33:18
Adyline Hope Decker
January 31, 2011
5 lbs 8 oz; 18 3/4 inches
To see a picture slide show and beautiful song by Adyline's Poppies, go to:
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