J.J. and Paul Pack waited 11 years for a baby.

Year after year, they tried to conceive.

Year after year, they prayed and waited patiently.

Fertility treatments were not an option.

“J.J. believed when God was ready, he would give her a baby,” said Beth McCluskey, mother of the new mom. “And God gave her a baby on his son’s birthday.”

Emma Grace Pack was born Christmas Day at Athens-Limestone Hospital. She weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces, and was 21 inches long. She was the only baby born that day in Limestone County, though a baby was born Christmas Day in Madison County.

Emma was not supposed to arrive Dec. 25.

Instead, her doctor was supposed to induce her delivery Dec. 27. Although the baby was only 38 weeks, J.J. was having some health problems, so the doctor thought induction was best, McCluskey said. The couple was preparing for the after-Christmas delivery.

Then, around noon Christmas Day, after presents were opened and the meal was about to begin, baby Emma decided she was ready to see the world.

Feeling blessed

J.J. and Paul were overjoyed when they learned in April they would finally become parents. The mother was 39 at the time, but she was one month into her 40th year by the time she delivered, McCluskey said.

The couple chose the name “Emma” as part of a family tradition. She will be the fourth generation to use the name.

McCluskey said the couple chose the middle name “Grace” because “it was by the grace of God that J.J. had her.”

Emma’s grandparents include Tom and Joyce Pack and Johnnie and Beth McCluskey. Her great-grandmother is Gladys Pack, who will turn 102 in July 2018, McCluskey said.