Finally A Family Of Five!

I have been lazy about blogging lately.... or have I?

Well, not necessarily! The end of pregnancy can be hard and so it was natural for me to take care of my wonderful best friend Beth who was carrying my baby. Yes, you read it right: 'was'.
(And if you read this and can't figure out what I am talking about, you need to go back and read this post here to catch up what's been happening in my life in the last nine months.)

So without further ado: we would like to introduce our baby to everyone.

Oh where am I suppose to start? It was a beautiful birth experience that we shared together as best friends. God really had His hands all over this entire process, but we felt it most for our birth, and it was great to see so many prayers answered for us, from the perfect timing to the way it happened. The birth took place at a local birthing center, it was a water birth and our baby was born right into my arms. And I will stop right here, because it is not my place to share OUR birth story - we will do this TOGETHER at a different time.

What I will tell you is this: it was such a special moment shared together - I will forever be grateful for this experience. I was the first person to get a hand on that baby -well, technically, the second after the midwife.
A BABY GIRL was born right into my arms and I held her for the first day of her life pretty much nonstop. It was so awesome and it felt so right and good to bond from the very first second on.

She is perfect. Ten fingers, ten toes. One beautiful face. She smells oh so good. She is very strong and alert. She is also my smallest baby. She is my calmest baby. Even though she has her days and nights mixed up. But I love her so much that that doesn't matter. We bonded so nicely and strongly - it makes my heart all melt. She loves to sleep on top of me, with her cheeks glued to mine. She doesn't like bath or lotions or massages - so I am predicting that we got ourselves a tomboy. She is a wish come true, a blessing, and so precious to us. We love her so much.

Beth is doing great as well and you can read her thoughts here.
One particular moment stands out to me during the birth: it was when the baby was born, to see the joy on Beth's face! It was such a genuine joy.... it's hard to put it into words. But I felt so happy and so close to her at that specific moment. We were both out of breathe and both exhausted, yet so euphoric. We had done it, together and I felt so blessed at that moment. Blessed that I was able to be there, blessed to have a friend like her, blessed to have that baby in my hands at last. God has been good to both of us.

As a family, we are very happy. The transition has been going great, too. Her brother and sister were convinced that they would get a brother, so at first, they were pretty upset. But by the time we came home, Munchkin was welcomed with signs and drawings and hugs and kisses. To this day, both kids love to come over and give her a kiss. They like to help as well, holding the bottle or throwing out dirty diapers. At times, I feel a bit claustrophobic when I got three kids right on top of me, but then I just look at their faces and feel like I am the happiest and most blessed person in the world.

Beth and I had become very close during our shared pregnancy, and I think we both didn't know what would happen afterwards. So I really love to see that it has not changed since the birth. We are close as can be, sharing our postpartum experiences with each other, cry together, encourage each other, and laugh together. As partners, we had joined in for a shared pregnancy, and as partners, we have had a wonderful birth experience. We met each others needs and wants, granted wishes and shared so many special moments. I am very thankful for this experience.

And at this time of joy, I also want to remember someone else special in our lives: Heather. She has given us our first blessing, and we are so thankful for that. What both these women did for us as a family will never be forgotten. I mean, how could we? We are seeing these miracles each and every day! We are a family of five today because there are still people in this world who sacrifice for the benefit of somebody else. They have given me hope and shown me love, a Christ-like love, that feels so good.
Thank you, Heather and Beth. You both are special women and we love you both so much.

So you can see that I have NOT been lazy at lately, just been really busy taking care of a newborn, adjusting to life with her, and helping the two older children adapt as well, and just being happy. I think I can say that I have my hands full. Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes and congrats - it's very appreciated and makes us feel so loved by you.