Andrew Joseph Alexander Williams
Early Friday morning at 2 am my water broke and we woke up to go to the hospital. Peter was quickly getting our girls into the car, while I did the dishes. I have an aversion to the idea of coming home to a sink full of dirty dishes.
Peter announced that my contractions were 5 minutes apart and that if I had any ideas of vacuuming the living room, he would put me in the van right away! So we left.
We raced down the highway since we live half hour away from the city with the hospital that would do our delivery. Speeding along, Peter noted that my contractions were 4 minutes apart.
As we did, we drove past an RCMP officer, who immediately turned on his lights, signaling us to pull over. Too hilarious! When he walked up to the window and asked us why we were speeding, Peter enthusiastically declared,"My wife's in labour!"
The officer encouraged us to drive a cetain speed with our emergency lights flashing and to get there safely.
Once at the hospital, we only had to breathe through 2 and a half hours of contractions before we were shocked and surprised as we delivered a litle boy!
Peter and I were stunned for about 5 minutes as we realized we finally had a son.
Andrew Joseph Alexander is named with purpose and meaning. When we were praying about what to call our son, we felt very strongly that he was to have a name meaning "Warrior." Andrew means warrior. Joseph means God will enlarge and bring increase. Joseph was chosen because on the day Peter lost his job, we had a very dear minister write to Peter who didn't know about Peter's job loss, and said that while he was praying for Peter that day, he felt that the Lord had said that this was a year of dream fulfillment for Peter. Peter has always dreamed of owning a business (EcoQuest) and he's always wanted a son. So his middle name is in honour of recognizing that God has done as He has promised us. Alexander also means defender of men.
So, in total, his name means "A warrior that God will enlarge and increase; a defender of men."
We believe that God has a special purpose for our son and our excited to be given the privilege to raise him for such a time as this.
This is Peter re-enacting my final moments of labour. As the pain intensified, I took the breathing gas for the final ten minutes as we waited for the doctor to arrive. My body was ready to go but the doctor was not there yet. Andrew is a man of momentum--he came in 3 hours and 47 minutes! And he was 9 lbs 6 oz. A very big boy!
Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us, encouraged us, and congratulated us. We appreciate you and value the time that you've taken to celebrate with us.
