Christ in the Womb November 23, 2014/The Word Made Flesh November 21-23

November 23 Bulletin
The Word was made Flesh . . . Following Baby Jesus in the womb
36 Weeks
Baby weighs about 6 pounds measures 20 ¾ inches. Maturation of the lungs and respiratory system will enable Baby to breathe on his own outside of the mother. Only 4 to 5 Weeks until the due date!
Baby’s approximate due date: December 25, 2014

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Editor's note: One of the challenges given to me in rewriting this was NOT to write another apocryphal Gospel. To that end, for the 2015 version, I am drawing on my own experience as a father. My son was born, with birth defects, 4 weeks early, at the 36th week. So this is ending just before Advent. I will continue posting the original 2014 version, but this is the last pregnancy post of the 2015 version. I may continue in the advent season as time allows- but it will be the story of the new family, for our baby girl has been born. Use the appropriate tags to search for the whole thing of either version.
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The Word Made Flesh November 21-22, 2015

Exodus Chapter 21 includes secular laws used by the early Jews as they were setting up Israel. Sirach 38 tells us that the doctor is often the hand of God, and Psalm 71 tells us that we often go through hard things as a sign to others. The day of induction has come for our mother of our little girl. It's four weeks early- all of Advent, for her original due date was December 25, 2015, the Birthday of our Lord. Induction, sadly, does not go well- after 48 hours of labor, the baby still hasn't come. She's stuck in the birth canal, and a c-section is necessary. Calling for a surgeon, it's still two more hours before our child is born, but when she is, her parents don't care. Her father takes pictures to post online of her little cone head, just happy she's alive. She's 20 inches and 7 lbs. But due to not having that extra time in the womb, she has spina bifida occulta and due to losing oxygen on the way through the birth canal, she's got a scar in her brain, and will experience some disability. It doesn't matter. She was created by love, and born of love- and is a Child of God.