I never meant to let four weeks go by without giving you an update on our family. In fact, I’m not even sure how a week has gone by, much less four.
It has been a great four weeks, though. Annada is beautiful and knows exactly how to melt my heart. (And get out of her crib fast – her doctor asked us to work on letting her fuss for three minutes. We have to set a timer to make it that long.)
I am so grateful for all of your prayers for our family. I took strength in them during my (very) short labor. My water broke at 5:47 a.m. on December 20th, the first contraction was at 6:11 and Annada was born at 8:35 – 15 minutes after we arrived at the birth center. Annada crowned in the car, so my midwife Robyn actually met us on the road and drove in front looking for police (my mom ran a stop light for the first time). If we weren’t going to make it, Robyn was going to pull off and deliver Annada on the side of the road! Now I regret teasing Marc about being afraid I would deliver at home.
The only reason we made it is because of my mom. I was a bit scared when, about an hour into labor (with contractions every 2 minutes), I started thinking I had 11 hours to go (the average first time mom is 12 hours). My mom came over, spent about 10 minutes braiding my hair and made the command decision that we were leaving ASAP. She knew things were going really fast.
After we arrived at the Birth Place, I ran in (no time for a wheel chair) and three pushes later, Annada was born. Marc and I were able to hold her right away. It was an incredible moment. I am just in awe of what God has done for us. She has tons of dark blonde hair, 10 toes and fingers and seems healthy in every way. In fact, she has already grown from 7 lbs 4 oz and 20 inches to 9 lbs 2 oz and 23 inches.
Because Annada was born so fast, I ended up on bed-rest for 3 weeks. (It would have been 8 days, but 5 days into “bed-rest” I was reinjured coming home from the beach. Yes, I’m hoping I learned a lesson too.)
I have healed well and am feeling great. Marc is an incredible dad and I’m pretty sure Annada learned her vast noise making abilities from him. She watches him closely and even purses her lips in a little “o” when he whistles. All three of us are learning a lot.
I do have a couple of prayer requests to pass on:
1) Please pray Annada would sleep well. Now before you laugh too hard, I’m not looking for a miracle. But Annada has acid reflex. We are trying figure out a way she can sleep and stay off medicine (her doctor’s recommendation). So pray that we and her doctor would know if it is time to put her on medicine. Right now she is sleeping in a newborn swing. We are praying she outgrows the acid reflex before she outgrows the swing (and then will transition to a crib on an incline).
2) Please pray I would figure out this “new normal” and what commitments to keep/make. Everything is a little more complicated now and I want know what God is calling me to invest in.
Thank you friends! It means a lot knowing we are going into the adventure of being parents with your prayers and support.
Love,
Evangeline
Can you believe Thanksgiving is over and Christmas on the way?! Evangeline and I are certainly amazed how quickly time has gone by. Thanksgiving was a great time for us to reflect on the way God has blessed us. And Christmas has a whole new meaning to us as the day Jesus born – and the day Evangeline is due to give birth.
We would love your prayers during this season. Please read our prayer letter to learn more about the unquie way God is moving around the world through the economic crisis. Plus, how to pray for our soon-to-be-born daughter.
Thank you so much for praying for our recent trip to Omaha. God blessed us with exactly the new finanical support we asked God for! Evangeline and I know your prayers and support are invaluable. We thank God for you.
In Christ,
Marc
You can read our prayer letter this month by clicking on the image:
