She's Here!

Elsa Mae 

Born on March 3rd at 7:55am

7 pounds 11 ounces

20 inches long

We are so excited to welcome little Elsa to our family! She is so sweet and perfect. We praise God for her.  We rejoice in God's faithfulness as his plan for our lives has been anything but what we imagined over the last four years.  God is so great.

The name Elsa is a form of Elizabeth. Elizabeth was Lindsay's grandmother's middle name, and is scattered throughout my family tree. Elsa means my God is an oath or God is abundance. We also liked the idea of giving her a strong Swedish name. Mae is a name we really liked and also has some family connections. Mae was Lindsay's great grandmother's middle name and is also her aunt's middle name.

Lindsay did wonderfully and I am incredibly proud of her. She get's a gold star.  She and Elsa are both in good health and recuperating well.

As with Aaron's birth, we were honored with the presence of both our mothers,  though in different roles than last time.  Lindsay's mom has been amazing help with Aaron over the last few days and been a huge blessing in our lives.  My mom was able to be at the birth in a doula-like role and was nearly our unofficial midwife when the doctor almost missed the birth.  We are so thankful for both of them in our lives.

We continue to praise the Lord for his many blessings.

and some photos...

Elsa & Lindsay

Aaron & Elsa

Carol (Nan), Aaron & Elsa

Elsa resting

Aaron's birth story

After a couple of false starts, I didn't want to get my hopes up in the early hours on August 8th. These contractions did seem different and they were stronger. It was 2:30am and I got up to use the bathroom and then woke John up. I told him we should start timing the contractions. We timed them for about an hour, they were 6-7 minutes apart. At that point I felt the contractions were strong enough that we should call John's mom Jan who was also our midwife.

I told Jan what was going on and to my surprise she said she would pack up and head over. She lives two hours away and I thought she would want to wait and make sure my contractions were not going to stop again. I started praying that this was the real thing, I would have felt terrible if things had stopped right as she was arriving! I was relieved as two hours passed and the contractions continued and became more intense.

It was around 6am when Jan and my father-in-law Carl arrived. I had already called my parents and they were trying to decide if they should make the 5 1/2 hour trip to our house. My parents decided to go ahead and drive over. With my contractions being 6 minutes apart, they didn't think they would make it for the birth. Shortly after Jan checked me and I was 5cm dilated. Yay! I was glad that things were happening!

Around 11:30 my mom and dad arrived. I was very excited because I really wanted my mom to be at the birth. We knew it would be difficult to work out with her being so far away. What an answer to prayer! I felt very relieved and happy that everyone I had wanted to be at the birth was finally here.

Time kept drifting by. I was actually surprised by how fast the hours were passing. We were all beginning to get a little concerned because my contractions were still around 6 minutes apart. They felt much more intense and I was having to really concentrate to stay relaxed and get through each one. Jan and I decided that she would hold off on checking me again. She didn't want to give me bad news and I didn't want to be disappointed. I was beginning to worry a little about how much worse labor was going to get and how I would get through it.

John rubbing my back. He rubbed my back after nearly every contraction! I couldn't have done it without him.

Jan listening to the baby with a doppler. His little heart sounded good!

Around 1:30pm Jan checked me again. I was eight centimeters! Yay! Contractions were still about six minutes apart and I was still able to nap a little in between the contractions. Soon after I got up to use the bathroom, while I was up my water broke. I kept waiting for the contractions to get closer together and more painful. I was surprised when I started to feel the urge to push.

I told Jan that I wanted to push. Jan, John and my mom started getting every thing ready. I tried to sit up a little against some pillows to push. I quickly realized that this position would not do! My back hurt SO bad! Jan suggested that get on my knees and lean over the bed. I tried it out. Still a bit uncomfortable but much better. I figured this was as good as it was going to get so I decided to go with it.

Wow! Lots of pressure and my back was still hurting. John put pressure on my back and hips while I pushed. My mom held my hands and helped me from sliding right off the bed! This really helped a lot. I pushed for 49 minutes but it only felt like 15 minutes. Before I knew it Jan was telling me to reach down and touch my babies head. Yay! Progress! It only seemed like a couple more pushes and our baby was born! John was able to catch him with his mom's help. John announced it was a boy, but I didn't hear him.

I turned around and scooped up my baby. Wow! What an amazing feeling! I suddenly realized that I still didn't know if we had a son or a daughter. I took a peek and said, "It's a boy! It's Aaron!". John was really excited because we hadn't decided for sure on a name yet, and he has always loved the name Aaron. Little Aaron cried right away and scored a 9 on his one minute and five minute AGARs.

Happy little family!

After we all got settled and Aaron had a chance to nurse it was time for the newborn exam. It was great to have all the grandparents there for the exam. John got to cut the umbilical cord. Jan weighed Aaron and we were all surprised that he was eight pounds! The rest of the exam went well, every thing looked great. We are so blessed to have a healthy son!

Cutting the umbilical cord.

Getting a weight.



Measuring Aaron's head.

Aaron Carl
8 Pounds
20 1/2 Inches
Born on August 8 at 3:44pm

Birthday Boy

Thanks for the prayers! We have a boy. He was born at our home and was 8 lb. - 0 oz. born at 3:44 p.m. 08-08-09. He is 20.5 inches long with a crown circumference of 13.5 inches. He is Aaron Carl. Aaron is my brother’s middle name. Carl is Lindsay grandfather’s and brother’s middle name, as well as my father’s name. He is in good health and we’re quite settled on keeping him.

Lindsay did fantastic and I can definitely say I have never been more proud of her. She’s resting well and recovering [relatively] comfortably.

We were honored by the presence of our mothers; mine as the midwife and Lindsay’s as an excellent assistant. It was a privilege to share this experience with them. We were also blessed to have our dads here for the newborn exam. It was really special to share this excitement together.

Praise to God for so many blessings!

Oh, and here are pictures...