Right away I appreciated that “Suzette” was so close to our dear friend Suzy Griswold’s name but not exact so it was unique.

I loved the idea of naming her in honor of someone so loved by us, so influential in our lives, and a woman of strong faith. Someone that we had such an amazing and similar history with.

When I shared this with Kevin, he began to like the name too, mainly because of the affiliation with Suzy. All of our kids have a meaning and purpose and “story” behind their name, so this was the perfect fit.

My other babies were all born after their due date, too, but they came earlier and early than the one before. Our oldest was 10 days overdue, second was 3 days, third was 2 days overdue, fourth was 1 day overdue, and our fifth baby was born on his due date. So why was Suzette not budging?

It turns out that after we told Suzy that we were naming our baby girl “Suzette” in honor of her, she kept something to herself. Her birthday was February 21st, TWELVE days past my February 9th due date!

 She had been secretly praying that Suzette would come on her birthday but didn’t want to wish that on this poor 40-year-old sixth time mom!

Day after day kept going by and I tried all of the things to induce labor that had worked before. When I was a week overdue I tried castor oil, something that had worked several times before. I experienced NOTHING. That day was when Suzy told me that “you know my birthday is February 21st…” Suzy is one of those people that prays fervently and  without ceasing, and I have always believed God hears my prayers better when Suzy prays with me. (Matthew 18:20, am I right?) She’s always been my prayer booster.

And knowing Suzy was praying, we stopped all methods of natural induction. I wanted to see what God would decide.

On Monday the 20th, my midwife encouraged us to go in for a non-stress test and ultrasound to make sure everything was ok with the baby. My age and the fact I was so overdue were factors, but everything came back excellent. Since I was nearing the two weeks overdue mark, she gave me a quick cervical massage and a homeopathic that would only work if my body was ready.

Well, you guessed it. The next day, the afternoon of Suzy’s birthday, my labor kicked into high gear quickly and about 3 hours later, our sweet Suzette was born! ON SUZY’S BIRTHDAY! We have never been so reassured that we picked the name that the Lord gave us! It was a blessed time!

Suzy came over to spend the day with us and was holding Suzette just minutes after she was born in our home. Birthday twins.

HealingStrong is truly a family, but especially our Suzy!