~*~Amanda~*~

As I'm about to admit this, part of me is hoping Amanda never reads this. And part of me knows that my child is not stupid and she already knows.

When I got pregnant with Amanda, I was shocked. Rich and I had only been dating, not married. When I missed my period, I nervously told Rich. I thought he would head for the hills, but he didn't. He said he loved me and would marry me, asked me that very day. We got married in August, I was three months pregnant.

My pregnancy with Amanda was uneventful. I gained about 40 pounds. When I went into labor. I waited. I kept thinking I don't want to be one of those moms who think they are having a baby only to be sent home. I started out with contractions at seven minutes apart. I took a shower and let Rich sleep. When the contractions were five minutes apart, I called my mother and told her what was happening. She laughed and said "Charlene, you need to get Rich up and go to the hospital - Now!"

What did I know?!

I think we got the hospital around 6:30 a.m. or so. I was prepped for the delivery. Back then, they did all kinds of stuff (and this is kind of personal) but they gave me an enema, shaved me (you know where :) ), and put in a catheter and an IV. By the time that was done, I was more then ready. Rich was called into the room. The pain was horrible, but being a first time mom and thinking I was going to do it all - I didn't ask for an epidural. I think they did give me some kind of meds through an IV though. At 8:56 a.m. she was born. A beautiful baby girl. She weighed 6 pounds and 14 ounces. And had the faintest of red hair.

For three days she didn't have a name. We were so sure (even though we didn't find out) that we were having a boy. The only name we had picked out was Joshua Aaron. I had in passing mentioned the name Jordan. On the last day in the hospital, one of the nurses said we needed to name her or we couldn't leave. I had thought about it and told Rich I wanted a name that would "grow" with her. A tradional name, nothing cutesy that when she was 80 she'd feel foolish, you know?

We both knew we wanted a Biblical name of some sort. On his way to get the car, Rich said "Amanda Jordan". And I said that's it!

Amanda means "worthy of love" or "lovable"
Jordan means "descended" or "flow down"

And this is where I really wish I had his little book, because he wrote about this perfectly. He said something like, she was our first baby. And through the years of when he was a child and he felt like he wasn't loved, God remembered and gave him this little girl to love. And therefore, she descended from heaven to be with us. And she was worthy of our love, because she was this beautiful gift from God.