This post has been a long time coming, but I (Lauren) have finally taken a moment to catch my breath & reflect on the past 8 or 9 months since the last blog post. I've avoided posting because in some ways I feel like a failure. We announced our plans to post our prayers for Ember for 100 days before she was born, and then when life got busy we failed to keep that commitment. However, I truly believe that it is never too late to begin again.
Our precious daughter is now here with us & it is more important than ever that we continue to pray for her. I had to realize that our failure to finish the 100 days of prayer in no way negated the 40+ days that we did pray for her and in no way prevented us from continuing that commitment now (which was a difficult concept for me to wrap my perfectionist mind around at first). In fact, I now feel like I am better prepared to pray for my daughter because I am beginning to understand her needs better. I am beginning to develop in my role as a mother and understand what Ember needs from me physically, spiritually & emotionally. So, I will recommit myself to praying for her & finishing what was started before she was born!
Now, for the rest of this update, I want to share a little bit of our story these last several months. It has been both a time of new joy & new challenges. Some days are more joyful & some are just more challenging, but God is teaching me to praise Him & trust Him through it all.
Ember has been teaching me patience from the very beginning! Her due date was obviously not on God's time table. I watched April 17th pass me by with no sign that Ember was ready to make her entrance into this world. A week later, with the threat of medical induction looming over me, my midwife suggested trying castor oil to get things moving naturally. Well, it worked! After a slow & fairly easy early labor at home, I was finally admitted to the Birth Center at 11pm on Wednesday, April 24th. What followed was 7 hours of intense, unmedicated back labor.
At about a quarter till 6 on Thursday morning, the situation became a little desperate. I was in the final stages of pushing, and the nurse was having a hard time finding baby Ember's heartbeat. The midwife rallied me to give it everything I had in a few final pushes, and finally she came...my beautiful little girl entered this world quietly, no cry to be heard. I was slightly aware that something was not right, and in my mind I kept praying, "God don't let me suffer for nothing. Please let my baby girl be ok!" I heard my mother right beside me praying a similar prayer out loud. The nurses & midwife worked for what seemed like several minutes, and then finally a little faint cry and a few seconds later a louder cry! After a little help, baby Ember finally started breathing on her own! God was faithful! He had given us a Little Miracle.
I won't lie, the weeks & months since that day have been difficult. Besides the normal challenges of becoming new parents, Ember had several challenges we had to overcome. She had feeding trouble & lost over 12% of her birth weight. We had to take her to several consultants & therapists to work through those issues, and we spent long hours everyday trying to make sure that she received the nourishment that she needed to grow & develop. On top of that, she failed her newborn hearing screens & we had to take her to a couple of places for further testing, but praise God, today, she is a beautiful & healthy baby girl.
God saw us through all of those difficulties, and He has given us a little girl with such a beautiful personality! She smiles & laughs & keeps us on our toes, and she is the living personification of joy in the midst of our struggles. I am so thankful for that!
Lord, help me to realize everyday what a blessing Ember is! Help me to recognize Your faithfulness & trust You to see us through the next challenge!
