Elijah Has Arrived!

Hello Everyone! I know we sent out an update by email with a pic of Elijah, but I thought you might like to see a few more:) He's got a headful of black hair and his eyes are still swollen and bruised, but he's our little "squishy" just the same! We had to think of another nickname because Micah has already taken "stinky".

I (Stef.) couldn't have been happier with the delivery. Praise the Lord! After a C-section, I doubted if I would be able to delivery normally, but God answered our prayers. I started feeling contractions around 8 pm, arrived at the hospital close to 9 pm and Elijah was born at 11:20 pm. My mom told me to hurry up the process so he could be born on her birthday. Despite my skepticism (after a 36 hour labor with Micah), Elijah made his grand entrance with 40 minutes to spare! HA!

The experience was quite different at the free government funded hospital here in Brasil. I found no sympathy...and if anything...I was rushed all the way through the birth. The most interesting thing had to be the slightly large lady that mounted my belly on the last few pushes. They were screaming at me to not stop pushing..."Empurra! Empurra!" I found it rather hard to find the air to push with the nurse pressing down on my LUNGS trying to push the baby out. Afterwards I appreciated her "method" of speeding up the labor!

Let's say that Daniel felt like he was on an episode of Scrubs or ER. He enjoyed every miraculous minute and was not shy about asking questions: "How do you know all the placenta comes out?", "What if some stayed in?", "How long have you been working here?", etc. etc. I was so thankful that he was allowed to stay there with me, even though they wouldn't let him spend the night with me in the hospital room. I had an 18 yr. old roommate who delivered her first child, a premie. We were attacked by mosquitoes the second night. I stopped counting at 50 bites. Needless to say we didn't sleep a wink, fanning our babies all night. It was too hot to stay under the sheet for protection. Yes...this was a real hospital!

Overall I have to say the fact that it was all FREE was worth any frustration, discomfort, etc. Since Elijah came almost a month earlier (I think my due date was wrong b/c he wasn't a premie!), our insurance wouldn't have covered the birth and we would have had to pay, at least a percentage of the bill. So God knew what He was doing!

Elijah bellybutton fell off today and he seems to enjoy sleeping! He nurses like a piggy and usually get hiccups afterwards. He gave us a scare the other night with milk coming out of his nose while he was sleeping. He wasn't breathing when I picked him up...but after hanging him upside down and spanking his butt, his airways cleared. It was very horrible experience for me...I didn't sleep much that night. But God is good and Sovereign!

Thanks to everyone who prayed, wrote, and encouraged. Please continue to pray that Elijah learns how to nurse correctly. I'm in a lot of pain and feeling very stressed out. Pray for God's wisdom in overcoming this phase.

Enjoy the pics.