Our baby girl...

She's here. It's been the craziest week. The long of the short of it is our birthmother went into labor Sunday right after church. We left to go to the hospital. Once here they actually stopped her contractions by giving her magnesium because she was in preterm labor. They gave steroid shots to develop Baby Girl's lungs quicker. She was admitted to the hospital with the understanding she'd be released. Well, they could not get her blood sugar under control. So, she stayed in the hospital longer...We visited every day.

They told us that the next time she went in labor they would not stop the labor.

Day 4: She went back into labor and we arrived at 10:30pm. By 1am contractions slowed. By 2am they crawled to a stop. 4 am we had an ultrasound to see how much amniotic fluid was in the womb (longer story as to why).

Day 5: At 5 am the nurse pulls us aside and tells us to go home because she won't be going into labor any time soon. We slept for a couple of hours. They decide to induce our birthmother. We arrive back at hospital around 2pm. They kept bumping her up until she reached maxed dosage of inducer medication. She was at dialated at 2 cm this whole time.

Day 6: Finally dialates 5cm. Slow going, but no turning back now. Aunt Shannon arrives with Taco Bus at 1:30ish am. Delicious Tosatada in waiting room with Auntie. While talking with Shannon, Robert calls saying that birthmother is now 9/10 cm!!! While running back in Auntie Shannon yells "Go, Baby, Go". After a handful of pushes our baby girl arrives. Robert cuts the cord.

Our birthmother was quite the trooper. She never once complained, cursed, or screamed even before the epidural. She was amazing! Birthmother did hold her for a few precious moments after birth (we are so glad she did).

She was incorrectly weighted her at first and they thought she was under 2000 grams so they sent her to NICU because of her size. They were impressed with her progress so sent her to regular nursery. Now she's back in NICU because she had signs of an infection which is common for preemies. They are also monitoring her breathing.

Day 7: We sign the papers and she's ours to keep.

Our birthmother was simply amazing. We got to spend a lot of time with her the last few days. She got to hold Baby Girl. She had the cutest conversations with her that make me cry. We are blessed not only with a new daughter, but with a new appreciation for this young woman who carried her.

We are not posting her full name on the blog for various reasons. For the time being we shall call her Baby Girl. Although, the birthmother put the same name down on her birth certificate. So, she will always know that this was her name from the beginning. This is always who she was destined to be.

Oh, PRAISE GOD for His mercies are never ending. Oh, Taste and See the Lord is good (Psalm something or other).  This wait was worth it. Hard as heck, but worth it to watch what the Lord was doing. We actually signed our paper work with Sue Deckrow one year ago (May 8th) to begin the adoption process. It was last Mother's Day we signed it. I sit here amazed at what the Lord has done.

A very tired update

We spent the night at the hospital last night.  They thought our birth mother was in labor, but it ended up she wasn't.  Darbi didn't sleep at all until we got home.  I only slept about an hour at the hospital.  After just three hours of sleeping at home, my poor wife woke up and had some trouble getting back to sleep.  Thankfully, she has fallen back to sleep, and I'll be doing the same after this post.  I just hope this post is halfway conheirent with my 4 hours of broken sleep.

Please be in continued prayer for us.  The last week has been emotionally and physically draining.  Please pray for the doctors to have wisdom, and for us to trust the Lord's timing.  We would love for our baby to come home now, but we must trust the Lord for when that will happen.  It is only by God's hand that we have made it this far, and only through Him will we make it the rest of the way (both through this adoption and through life!).

Thank you to everyone for your continued support.  Your prayers are precious to us.

Good night...err...good morning...or something,

Update on Birthmother and pre-term labor...

The name of our blog Learning To Rejoice cracks me up every time I see it. When we chose it, it just seemed like a good fit and was available. The Lord continues to teach us daily how to rejoice in ALL circumstances.

This week has been one of excitement and some very high stress. As we were leaving church on Sunday we got a call that our birth-mother was in labor. Seeing as how she was only 34.5 weeks along they gave her magnesium to stop the contractions as well as steroids to develop the baby's lungs. They are continuing to give her anti contraction pills to prevent labor. They have successfully stopped contractions.

Unfortunately, now birth mother's blood sugar's are high. They are administering insulin shots. She will be hospitalized until Friday, although I am not exactly sure why at this point. 

There is some confusion on when the actual due date is though. The Dr. at the hospital believes that our birthmother is actually 36 weeks along (which is a week later than originally thought).

All that to say, the Dr's at the hospital also say that baby girl is ready to come out. And, so we wait.

We will keep updated as we know more.

Please keep praying for us to patiently wait on the Lord (we can't wait to meet our daughter) and for our birthmother's health as well as the baby's.