Happy Birth Day, Amira!

Ready for picture overload? :)  I'd like to share the details of Amira's birth before I forget them all!

During the afternoon on March 1st, I started getting a headache.  This isn't uncommon for me while I'm pregnant so I didn't think much of it and was going to wait a bit to take anything for it so I could take my prescription medication after the kids went to bed and fall to sleep myself.  As the minutes ticked by, the pain intensified and by 7:00, I had a migraine and decided to take some Tylenol to take the edge off since Samuel wasn't quite home yet.  The Tylenol didn't help to manage the headache and it continued to build.  Samuel was home by now and took my blood pressure which turned out to be high.  This combined with the headache made us panic as these are symptoms of pre-eclampsia which I had at the end of both Natalie and Malachi's pregnancies.  We called the on-call doctor and she told us to go to the ER.  After shoving the last couple things we needed into the hospital bag and a quick trip to my parents to drop off Malachi and Sapphira, we headed out.  After losing Natalie, we have a hard time not letting our minds wonder to the worst case scenarios when it comes to our children so this 15 minute drive was torture.  We were quickly ushered to a triage room where they confirmed by blood pressure was still high and hooked me up to the monitors.  My headache continued and I needed the room to be as dark and quiet as possible in order to be even semi-comfortable.  After a couple hours of monitoring, my blood pressure dropped back into the normal range, but my continued headache made the on call OB nervous, so she said that delivering ASAP was the best things to do.  After a quick ultrasound that revealed Amira was still transverse, I was prepared for a c-section.  Things started moving quickly and I got very nervous.  So nervous that I started bawling my eyes out when I had to get my spinal put in for the surgery.  The anesthesiologist wasn't able to place the catheter the first time which was quite painful and I just burst into tears. oy  The sweet nurse that was helping me sit still for the spinal wrapped her arms around me while I put my head on her shoulder and just cried and cried.  I finally got a hold of myself right around the time the spinal was placed and was laid on the table so Samuel could come in and the surgery could start.  It was so strange listening to the doctors working and just waiting to meet our daughter.  After a few minutes, I heard them say they found her feet and then that her rump was out. At 2:17 am on 3/2/13 they said "It's a girl!" and then a couple seconds later her head was born.  They had to pull the silly girl out by her feet since she was transverse.  I heard a small cry and then they held her up over the curtain for our first look.  

 Hello sweet girl!!  I cried...I was so happy she was finally here!

 My first look up close.  Such a pretty girl.

Once they took her from me so I could get all put back together and transferred to the recovery room, Samuel went with Amira while she was cleaned up and measured.

 7 pounds, 4 ounces 19 inches long.

Already wrapped around his little finger. 

 

They finally brought her back to me in recovery where we tried nursing a bit and got to snuggle for the first time.  I can't believe how lucky we were to be blessed a fourth time.  Thank you Lord for your miracles!

It's a....

It was so hard for me to wait for my big ultrasound at 20 weeks.  After losing the babies last year, I just was having a hard time keeping my nerves in check.  I'm still only having one OB appointment every 4 weeks and baby's movements still aren't super pronounced or regular, so I just wanted to see the baby and make sure everything was ok.  We had planned on Samuel and I just going to the appointment, but at the last minute that didn't work out, so the 4 of us headed for the doctor's office to have a look at our baby.  Malachi wants a brother so badly (he does say that he'd still love the baby if it was another sister) and Sapphira wants a "girl baby" (she says she will only play with the baby if it's a girl...oy).  We told the technician that we wanted to know the gender that day, but didn't want her to say it out loud because we wanted to surprise the kids later.  After just a bit of scanning we were able to see the parts we wanted to see and the technician went on to measure all the things she needed to.  I'm telling you, this baby was a goober!  It wouldn't stop moving and the technician was having a hard time keeping up with all it's wiggles.  At one point, she even had me lay so far over on my side that I was basically laying on my belly to pin the baby in to get a measurement.  She ended the appointment by saying that "un-officially" the baby looked great and that was one of the hardest babies she's ever worked with!  Sheesh.

After the kids went to nap, I went to Target and had fun buying things for the baby.  I wrapped them up once I got home and then we took the kids out to special supper to celebrate seeing the baby and to tell them what kind of baby was coming.  Sapphira opened her gift first...some white and pink princess jammies and a flowered onesie set.  Sapphira was excited that she opened princess jammies but no light bulbs were going off yet.  Then Malachi opened his gift...a plush pink elephant toy complete with crinkle sounds and tabs to suck on.  They both just sat there. 

"Do you know what these presents mean?  See the clothes are really little and the toy is for a baby." 

Nothing. 

"Momma has a girl baby in her belly!"  Sapphira immediately started yay-ing and Malachi slumped back in his seat and gave me back the toy...not a happy brother. 

"But I wanted a boy baby." 

"I know sweetheart, but God chooses the babies that come into our family.  You know, Jesus must have known that you were an extra special big brother to sisters to give you two!  You can be a super hero big brother!" 

"Humph"

"You can protect her from other kids and make sure she's happy and has what she needs."

You could see his wheels turning.  "Well, I guess I could save her if she started to fall."

After thinking about it for the rest of dinner, he started to become more and more ok with having another little sister.  Several days later, he announced that if the baby wanted Daddy while he was at work, he would hold the baby and make her happy since he is also a boy.  I know that things will be rough when we first bring her home, but it seems as though I might be able to better reason with Malachi and Sapphira this time around since they are older.  It was so good to see her little profile and the beginnings of chub on her arms and legs.  Although we still haven't decided on a name, it's nice not to call her "it" or just "the baby" anymore.  Here's hoping these next few months go quickly!!!

My Hope is in You

Bear with this post...it really is going somewhere important!!!

Ever since Aaron Schust's song, My Hope is in You, started playing on the radio it became a family favorite.  I first loved it because of the message it brings and would turn it up and sing it loud every time it came on.  Once Malachi started hearing me sing the words, he'd belt out the chorus with me.  Now Sapphira has caught onto the lyrics and not only sings it with us, but will often sing it on her own throughout the day.  This makes my heart so happy!  On Sunday morning, Sapphira was having an attitude problem and I wanted her to stay home from church.  Samuel didn't like the idea and put her in the car anyway.  She didn't want to go to Sunday School, so she came to service with us.  She was not being super quiet but the music covered up her distractions.  Near the end of worship guess which song began to play??  That's right...Sapphira's favorite song.  A huge smile covered her face as she climbed into my lap so we could sing together.  We belted out the chorus...I'm sure people could hear my off-key singing over the loud music and wondered if we were crazy!!...and I knew that it was a good thing the Lord made Samuel not agree with me.  It was just the thing both Sapphira and I needed to calm our hearts and attitudes.



I meet with You and my soul sings out
As Your word throws doubt far away
I sing to You and my hearth cries holy
Hallelujah, Father You're near

My hope is in you Lord, all the day long
I won't be shaken by drought or storm
A peace that passes, understanding is my song and I sing
My hope is in You alone

I wait for You and my soul finds rest
In my selfishness You show me grace
I worship You and my heart cries glory
Hallelujah, Father You're here

My hope is in you Lord, all the day long
I won't be shaken by drought or storm
A peace that passes, understanding is my song and I sing
My hope is in You alone

I Will with on You, You Are My refuge
I Will with on You, You Are My refuge

My hope is in you Lord, all the day long
I won't be shaken by drought or storm
my hope is in you Lord, all the day long
I won't be shaken by drought or storm
A peace that passes, understanding is my song and I sing

My hope is in You alone,
My hope is in You alone,
My hope is in You alone

These last couple weeks, mainly these last several days, this song has taken on a new meaning for me.

We are praying and hoping that this new family memeber will come home with us in March 2013.  I haven't been to see my doctor yet because I am trying to secure some health insurance (they won't see me without any).  Will you join us in praying for the strength of this child?  That he or she will grow big and strong enough to come home with us?  That our nerves and worries will calm and that we will hope in the Lord (this has been a particular struggle for me in the last couple days)?  He knows the future and we are confident in His plans, but we have been trying for another baby at home for well over a year now and our hearts have been broken many times.  Thank you for your love and prayers. (See I told you I was going somewhere important! :D)