A "Beloved Gift From God"

As the pregnancy continued to progress, Zach and Ginger continued to get ready for their son's arrival. In May, they had the baby shower and got a lot of Florida Gators gear. Zach had always referred to the baby as the newest little member of Gator Nation, and was ready to reflect that.

In the evening hours of July 8, 2015, three days before the due date, Ginger was restless. She suddenly realized that she was cramping regularly, and that she could be in labor. Zach decided they should go to the hospital and get checked out to see if she was actually in labor or not.

After they arrived at the hospital, the doctor took Ginger in for assessment and told her, "You're a good 3-4 centimeters dilated, fully effaced, and your membranes are bulging. You're definitely in labor, so we'll keep you."

Ginger was relieved. Only a few more hours before they would meet their son! The doctor broke her water to get it kicked into gear and Ginger requested her epidural. She was not into unnecessary pain.

While she was receiving her epidural, Zach decided to call everyone to let them know that this was it. He didn't want everyone to know they were going to the hospital unless he was sure that this was the real thing. But now that he knew it was, he figured he had to let everyone know.

Once he came back in the room, he asked Ginger, "How are you doing?"

"Better, now," she said. "Actually, the pain wasn't that bad yet. It was more about managing pain later in labor. I didn't want to wait until it was too late."

"Glad everything's going well," said Zach. They then looked over at the monitors. Ginger was on two monitors, one to measure her contractions and one to measure the baby's heartbeat. The baby's heart rate tracings looked excellent, and it was nice to be able to see that and know that the baby was not in distress. Now they just had to wait. The doctor had told them that since it was Ginger's first, it might take a while, but as long as everything looked fine, they weren't going to worry.

Shortly after midnight, they checked Ginger again and said she was now 6 centimeters dilated. So things were progressing well. And the baby still looked excellent.

As the hours passed, Zach and Ginger passed the time by watching TV, reading, and even playing a board game. The epidural was working well.

As the sun started coming up, Ginger started feeling a little pressure. The doctor came in and told her, "You're fully dilated. Time to start pushing."

"It's time," said Zach, very excited. "We're going to have a baby!"

"The baby's head is pretty low," said the doctor. "So I don't think the pushing should take too long."

The doctor was right. After about half an hour, the top of the baby's head was just visible. The doctor and Zach kept encouraging Ginger and telling her she was doing great. Soon, more of the head started appearing. And after an hour of pushing, the head was out.

"You're almost there, Ginger," said the doctor. "The head is out. Just a couple more pushes to get the shoulders and then you're home free!"

As she pushed again, one shoulder, then the other, came into view. The baby rotated to get the shoulders out. Zach was amazed. Their baby was almost here!

"Okay," said the doctor. "Here's your baby!" The doctor grasped the baby and placed him on Ginger's chest. "It's a boy!"

The baby immediately started crying. So did Zach and Ginger. Their son had arrived!

"Here he is!" said Ginger, as the baby continued to cry. "Hi, baby!"

Zach looked down at his son and was then asked to cut the umbilical cord, which he did proudly. He wanted to experience it all. He had witnessed the entire delivery and had been there for everything.

The doctor then cleaned the baby off and brought him over to the scale to weigh and measure him. Then he was brought back to his proud parents wrapped up in a snug, warm blanket.

"How much does he weigh?" Ginger asked.

"Seven pounds, nine ounces," said the doctor.

Soon, they were asked what the baby's name was. Zach had known for the last three years what he had wanted to name his first son. So once they had found out they were having a boy, he had asked Ginger permission for this. Ginger agreed, suspecting that this was coming. As a concession, she would get to pick the middle name. And now Zach and Ginger officially said their son's name for the first time.

"Welcome to the world, David Matthew Truett."

Zach then realized that it was July 9th. It would have been Dave's 21st birthday. How fitting that his firstborn son, named for his beloved brother, would have born on his brother's birthday.

The name was fitting in another way, too. Ginger had pointed out that the meaning was perfect. David means "beloved" and Matthew means "gift from God." So combined, it was "beloved gift from God." This was exactly what they felt this baby was.

Soon, Nanny, Zach's father and Ginger's parents came by to see the baby. They were very touched when they learned his name was David.

That night, while Ginger was sleeping, Zach took the opportunity to hold his new son and spend some alone time with him.

"Well, David Matthew," said Zach, picking him up out of his little bed, "welcome to our world. Our 'beloved gift from God.' I'm your daddy. And I love you so much. I want to tell you about someone very special: your namesake and uncle Dave. Dave was my brother, and my best friend. But not only that, he was my hero. Not something you say every day about your little brother. But Dave was special. He always believed in me, never gave up on me, and taught me to start running back to God instead of from God. I learned a lot from Dave's life, and I know that Dave is smiling right now. Remember though, as much as I love you, God loves you even more. He loves you like crazy, little Davey."

Zach thought back to the past three years. He remembered, after Dave had been rushed to the hospital after suffering a series of seizures, when Nanny had told him that all things work out for good. Zach had doubted those words at the time, but now, he knew they were true. That day, when Dave had asked Zach to pray for him, Zach had an emotional awakening back at home and had declared, "I'm done running." And now, as a result of this, he was holding his son, Davey. This baby was proof that everything truly did work out for good.