Our friends Clayton and Megan had an anniversary party this past weekend. We went even though both of us were feeling nauseous.

I've had a change of heart about the iPhone lately. Last year I blogged about why I didn't like my iPhone. Since then I've continued to express my frustration about the closed and often limited system that is the iPhone. But I've realized one thing: it works.

Many computer users (me included) bemoan the fact that there are limitations on the iPhone that you don't have on other phones. But this has not hurt the iPhone in becoming the most popular phone in the US. Why? My thought is that people don't really want freedom to do WHATEVER they want. Instead they want to do things with ease. There's a user experience on the iPhone that you don't get with other phones. Others have tried to mimic and/or improve on it, but it continues to bring in new subscribers for AT&T hand over fist. It's this user experience that Apple tries so hard to protect with all of its products. You have to admit that there's almost an aura of cool with Apple products that extends beyond that exterior combination of brushed aluminum and white plastic. But if that were it, people would have seen through that veil from the beginning and killed it off right away just like the many iPhone wannabes that have come along. It's this well thought-out software that allows someone to pick up an iPhone and instantly know how to use it. And maybe it's this experience that causes people to buy into the System, paying $70 a month for a single cell phone plan.

When I look at the iPhone and consider the limitations through the perspective of Apple wanting to preserve the iPhone aura, these limitations don't seem like limitations anymore. If Apple allowed anyone to install any program from anywhere on their phone, some of us might have phones that were buggy, crashed all the time, and have poor battery life. In fact, Carolyn used to have an HTC Fuze smartphone which was much more powerful than her current iPhone 3G. This thing had a sliding keyboard, fancy interface, and you could install anything on its Windows Mobile operating system. Software freedom indeed. Carolyn hated it. Things would slow to a crawl, her phone would crash and she complained nonstop about it. I had to research different websites to find various "fixes" and patches for it. The phone ended up going on eBay and Carolyn ended up getting an iPhone, which she now loves.

Because Apple has set up a single download source for apps, with a strict approval system that roots out the weeds, there's not a big need to worry about viruses or software not being compatible with your system. The App Store is not without controversy and there have been several app rejections that I strongly don't agree with, but this lack of "freedom" makes some things easier. Steve Jobs has stated that this control has given the user freedom from other things, one of which is freedom from porn. While some will undoubtedly argue against that, for me as a soon-to-be parent the porn restriction is most definitely reassuring.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not an Apple fanboy and I still have things that I wish the iPhone could do, but the things that I can do on the phone are implemented intuitively for relative ease of use. For that I might be apt to live with some "restrictions". A phone doesn't need to do everything. It just needs to do some things really well.

Since last week's update, we have been praying each day for the baby to flip over. We've also had many friends and family members praying as well. The past week was so humbling knowing that there were many who cared for us to ask us how we were doing, to spend time with Carolyn, and also to intercede to God on our behalf as well.

Yesterday morning we went to the doctor for our weekly check-up. On the way, we were so nervous about what we might find out. Earlier this week Carolyn was feeling some different baby movements and was suspecting that maybe the baby had found its way into the correct position, but we didn't want to get our hopes up too much only to have them dashed away. But when the nurse fired up the ultrasound machine, it was totally clear though that the baby had flipped over! Carolyn thinks that it might have either been on Monday or Wednesday that the flipping occurred. Either way, Carolyn was very relieved and relaxed at this point in the exam. Thank you for those who have also been praying with us. We have been blessed by your love and support this past week. Carolyn has described the past week as a rollercoaster of emotions for her.

After the nurse finished up, we waited for the doctor came in to check on things himself. He came in reading our charts and shouting, "WE HAVE A FLIPPED BABY!" The ultrasound showed us that the baby's head has now descended into the pelvis, which the doc calls "locked and loaded". Hopefully this means that there is no more chance for Baby Su to be flipping again:) Carolyn is also now dilated one centimeter and 20%(?) effaced, which the doc says gives us a 10-15% chance that Carolyn could go into labor in the next 7 days. SEVEN! Crazy! We truly believe that it was God who answered our prayers here. Even the doc said that the probability that the baby flipped was pretty low given what week we were in and how big the baby is now.

Here's Carolyn's take on things, part of a video series we've been filming for Baby Su one day.

In our previous visits to the doctor during the beginning of our 3rd trimester, the baby was always in the breech position (head up, feet down). Our doctor told us that breech position babies are usually delivered through caesarean section which really freaked Carolyn out. The doctor had said that the baby needed to flip head-down by 32 weeks since after that point they're usually too big to move around in the womb.

We had prayed that Baby Su would flip by our 32 week visit and praise God the baby had done so at that point! All was fine at our subsequent 34 week visit, but last week at our 36 week visit we found out that Baby Su had moved back to the breech position. The doctor told us that, statistically, at this point the probability that the baby will flip back is very low, and that the probability of flipping back becomes exponentially lower and lower with each passing week due to his/her growing size. The conclusion here is that our baby will most likely need to be delivered through c-section rather than a natural birth. This was really scary for Carolyn at which point she began to cry. Our doctor tried to be as comforting as possible, but it was just a bit disappointing for us. The good news though is that the baby is still healthy and doing well, and we are very grateful for that. After the appointment was over, we stayed in the exam room just praying and thanking God again for this little one.

We'll be going back for weekly check-ups at this point to see what happens here. Perhaps the baby will flip over, perhaps not. But since our doctor's visit, we've been surrounded by an outpouring of support from our friends and family around us. One of the ladies in our community group took some time off to spend with Carolyn on Friday. It's a scary thought to think of having to go through a surgery procedure especially when you weren't expecting to have to.

Strangely enough, church today was filled with reminders of how God uses hard times like these to teach us to depend on Him. We may not like the situations we are in, but these are the times in our lives that can grow us towards (or sometimes even away) from God.