So the Friday night team mtg was really an overview of the Champion Program. The first site was Rwanda & now Guatemala - so it is a very new program and in the development phase. These mtgs tend to go a bit long & then dinner is even later one of the many things I have forgotten about missions after not having been on one for 2 1/2 years, Still it is a really wonderful organization & I love being apart of it.
I was a bit distracted knowing Sarah was supposed to go in to the hospital for her induction between 6-9 pm based on "open beds" but by 10:30 pm when I was ready for bed she hadn't been called yet but at 11 pm she was headed in - I knew nothing would happen over night so I was ready for a good nights sleep. I woke up to some text updates & stayed pretty connected to my phone all day.
This morning we all got Covid tested & we will test again I believe. Masks are required indoors everywhere. Today the team leaders had a meeting with the local university about the partnership and the rest of us had a team bonding day in Antigua a colonial city about 90 minutes away. I had gone to Antigua 9 years ago when I was on an Op Smile mission here so once we got there the town square & a beautiful cathedral from the 1500's looked familiar along with the very primitive cobblestone roads. One of the Op Smile Guatemala Board Members Carlos & his girlfriend Maida & her son Denzel were our "Tour Guides" & really showed us a wonderful day.
On arrival I was reminded that I was not "mission ready" as I needed to use a restroom & hadn't put my own toilet paper in my backpack - fortunately someone else had some & I was well stocked on hand sanitizer :). We first saw the old buildings from the 1500's & wow what history...then we went to a market & Maida (who is an attorney) was quite the "barterer" for anything we wanted to buy. I forgot how mountainous Guatemala is - we drove up a really steep windy road to see the famous Volcano Agua that towers over Antigua that I had not seen last time - it was really pretty & then we planned to go to a restaurant on a cliff but our van couldn't make it up the road!!! So the local volunteers suggested we go to Pollo Campero...a fried chicken chain restaurant & we did,,,not quite the cliffside restaurant but fun getting to know each other. I had been getting updates from Kelli all day about Sarah's labor progression & was wishing I was there while knowing all was being taken care of. We arrived back at the hotel at 4:40 & had a team mtg at 4:45 where we were also supposed to be ready for a "fancy dinner". we all took 10 min to at least change clothes.
The "meeting" went from 5:30-7:30 & we were supposed to have left at 6:30 but time seems relative, We went over all the new charting system which allows Op Smile to collect more data, do more research & have a dashboard re. theory outcomes. It has only recently been used so we spent alot of time reviewing it & then there was a BIG presentation about this Guatemala Champion program, their values, pillars & goals - it was actually quite inspiring. We loaded buses after the mtg & went to a very fancy restaurant where they greeted us on a red carpet & background w/ all of our names on it & a photo op. It really was quite nice. They gave us our team shirts to wear for screening tomorrow & a fanny pack. Dinner was slow to come out & we were not done eating until 10 pm...so my table of friends & I got on the first bus back about 10:15.
BY this time Sarah was at the point she had been pushing for an hour or so & I didn't want to bug them for info but was also anxious to know how things were progressing & just after 10:30 Kelli test me to say he was here & Sarah did great! They had some skin to skin time so we didn't get his info until later & his weight was 5 lbs 14 oz & 18.5 inches long born at 10:32. Drew Jordan Jackson.
In the first phot I got of him on Sarah's chest he looked SOOOO TINY (& in the Kuehner/Kraus family we do not have tiny babies). Later in other pics he looked a little bigger but since her was born at 37 weeks he will be in preemie diapers & clothes for a little bit, While I was not there she had amazing support from Kelli at the hospital who having just given birth to Ford a year ago was probably a much better resource than my experiences > 25 years ago. Then Kelli had Kya's help as she watched Ford so Kelli could be at the hospital. So so blessed by family love & support. I Facetimes Sarah before I went to bed & felt such a relief that all had gone well.
Tomorrow is screening & hospital set up...I really need to pull out of the crevices of my brain all that it takes to be in mission mode!!!
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