Back The week started with our car breaking down on Monday night (April 19). It was nothing major but it had to be fixed. We had an appointment with Vicki’s doctor in Mexico City on Tuesday (April 20th). A good friend let us borrow his mini-van to drive to our appointment. It took us 3 hours to get there because of the traffic in Mexico City. The doctor told us that because of the distance we have to travel she would like us to just plan a day later in the week to come in early in the morning and have labor induced. We made a plan to do that on Thursday (April 22nd). On Wednesday morning Greg took our car to the mechanic and dropped it off. The mechanic said it would be ready in 2 hours. Meanwhile at home Vicki was trying to get some things done around the house and get a ministry update out on email. She had been having cramps all morning but figured it was because of the exam the doctor did the previous day. But then she started noticing that the cramping was coming in regular intervals "every 20 minutes".then every 15 minutes. She decided to call the doctor and the doctor said that we should go to the hospital. She still didn’t think that what she was experiencing was actually "labor" so she took her time getting showered and ready to go. Our friends and fellow missionaries (Eric & Dee Duggins) volunteered to drive us to the hospital. That was such a blessing. Eric knows his way around Mexico City a bit better than we do and he can drive pretty fast when necessary. By the time we left for the hospital it was 11am on Wednesday and Vicki’s "cramps" were coming every 4 minutes. We made it to the hospital in 1 hour and a half. (Thanks Eric!). Vicki was 3 cm dilated when we arrived and they started monitoring her contractions, etc. We were there for about 2 hours and she was examined by every resident, medical student, intern, janitor, etc. After about 2 hours my doctor decided to break her water. That is when the action really began. Up to that point she was able to handle the contractions through doing her breathing exercises. After the doctor broke her water the contractions were much longer and stronger. Vicki really wanted to wait until she was at least 5 cm. dilated before considering a epidural but the breathing exercises weren’t really helping anymore. Finally they did another exam and she was 6 cm dilated. She asked for the epidural. She was a bit nervous about getting one but she was ready for any relief available. Praise God for epidurals! It only took a few minutes to start working and finally she could relax. What a wonderful feeling! From there labor progressed rather quickly. It was probably only another hour before she was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. Once her doctor arrived and examined her she allowed Vicki to start pushing. Vicki did some pushing before they took her into the delivery room. Once in the delivery room she probably pushed for less than 30 minutes before our beautiful baby boy was born. They kept saying that they could see his head and on the next push his head would be out. Finally when she pushed his head out, the rest of him came along with it and they plopped him down on top of Vicki’s stomach. This shocked us both. Vicki didn’t know what to do. She was flat on her back and could hardly see the baby. Greg was at her side and was overcome with emotion. We just praise God for the way He provided and planned everything for baby Benjamin to come in His perfect timing!