"Moses" (part 2 of 2)

(continued from part 1)

Moses was a religious leader and prophet.  He has been given credit for authoring the Torah, and is an important figure in the religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.  For many families throughout the world, Moses is a household name.  Many well known biblical stories feature Moses as the protagonist.  They range from the parting of the Red Sea, to delivering the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai, and of course, the historical float down the Nile River in a basket woven of bull rushes.

As the weeks went by and our little baby Moses began to grow into his name, as well as grow inside momma's belly, we decided that although it was favorable in tone and meaning, Moses would remain just a womb-name.  Momma and I had decided a lot of things though, and under the circumstances that have presented themselves since that time, changes in our theory were inevitable.  During the few weeks surrounding his birth, so many coincidences, connections, and stories about Moses surfaced, we decided to reconsider our original plan.

The first major connection dates back to 14th century B.C., at the time of Moses' birth.  During that period, the Egyptian Pharaoh had ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed.  Moses' mother, determined to save her baby boy, was forced to keep him in hiding for 3 months before sending him off on his infamous Nile River adventure.  Similarly, Oliver Moses has a planned stay of approximately 3 months in the NICU.  There he will be cared for and protected.  Coincidence?

The second coincidence occurred on Sunday June 17th, just three days after Oliver Moses Book was born.  We had several phone calls from friends and family informing us that one of the readings at the Catholic mass that Sunday was an excerpt from Exodus, and more specifically, was about Moses.  Knowing what we were going through at the time, they obviously turned thoughts and prayers in our direction, as well as in the direction of Oliver Moses (who at that time was without a name).

Several other stories have developed throughout the course of the last couple weeks.  Momma Book, when told by the doctors that she would deliver on June 9th, and furthermore, that the baby had a 25% chance of living, said quite confidently, "That isn't the plan."  When asked what plan she was on, while planning to keep her child inside at a dilation of almost 10 cm,  she responded with "Plan M" and stated that it was short for "Plan Miracle."  Although it wasn't her original intent when she spoke those words, it is easy to see that "Plan M" has an obvious and very pertinent double meaning.

Another coincidental story came to light because my wife, prior to giving birth, was lying in an extremely awkward position for quite some time.  As one might imagine, certain required daily activities are not as easy when hanging upside down, and even more difficult while hopped up on lovely hospital drugs like magnesium sulfate.  The nurses told her that it was extremely important for her to have a bowel movement every couple of days, regardless of her uncomfortable situation.  This was no easy feat, so to add a bit of humor to the situation and give her a daily reminder of the difficult task at hand, our brother fashioned a large B.M. out of construction paper and taped it to the wall of the hospital room.  Every new nurse that stepped foot in our room already knew what B.M. meant in medical language, but always quite innocently asked, "Does that stand for Baby Moses?"  "Of course it does," we replied, with smiles on our faces.  But it also means what you are already thinking.

Even though Moses was originally intended as only a womb name, the cold hard fact is that the young man should still be inside his mother's womb.  He and his mother fought long and hard so that he could enter this world with the highest chance of survival (Plan M), and as protectors of this new little life, we his parents, felt that any other name we chose for him was something we tried to create for him.  He earned this name.  So many signs pointed in the direction of retaining the name he was given a mere 5 months ago, anything less just didn't seem right.  Moses means drawn from the water, in this case just a bit early.