It's been 8 days since Isaac was born and we are continuing to praise God for His goodness to us! For those friends who don't have Facebook and haven't seen the info on Isaac: He was born Friday Oct. 23 at 2:47pm. He weighed 7lb14oz and was 20 3/4in long. His story:

On Thursday (the day before his birth) I went to Bible Study and as everyone is asking me when I'm going to have this baby and lots of "Wow! You're still pregnant!!??!?!" a friend of mine said that eating pizza made her go into labor and she had both of her girls the day after she had eaten pizza the night before. So...we went out for pizza Thursday night. Now several people had given me other ideas to do to "get things going" but eating a whole pineapple or drinking a laxative were not too thrilling to me but pizza...I can always go for that!!

Laying in bed Thursday night I just prayed that God would have me go into labor around 7am or 8am and have the baby by noon. I was praying this b/c I thought maybe I'd be able to have my dr deliver him if she was still in the office and I had the baby before the weekend (hence the reason for the pizza!). (though on the way to the hospital I find out that she was off that day and wasn't even in the office so at the moment I had no clue who I would have as my dr. At this news I was a bit sad but was trusting the Lord that He would have the right dr for me) So, I woke up Friday around 7am and was having only a few very far apart contractions. Got up and as we were getting Isabelle ready for school I had a few more (that were a bit painful) but nothing to rush around about. Ben and Isabelle left and Ben went to work and because I was afraid everything would stop I got ready and went for a walk with Ireland. As I was on the walk the contractions were 7 min apart and while I was still a bit away from the house they were now coming within 3-5 min. They were pretty painful by this point too. Got back and kept moving around getting things ready and the house cleaned b/c I was pretty sure it was going to be today. At 11ish when they were 3ish min apart I called Ben and said we should prob drop Ireland off and head to the hospital but I told him he didn't need to rush! :)

Got to the hospital at 12pm and when the nurse checked me I was 7-8cm!! Yay!!! (side note:my nurse was a friend from church - Kelli - and she was so great!! So thankful she was working that day!!) So happy I was that far and VERY ready for my epidural!! Got that around 12:45 and when the dr came in at 1:15 I was nearly 10cm. She broke my water and said we'd wait and see. During this time I was nervous about the whole thing and trying to trust God and focus on His Word. Ben read me Isaiah 41:13 and wrote it on a piece of paper so I could continue to read it and focus on God. "For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’ "So they checked me again at 2pm and said we'd start pushing. Started around 2:15pm and Isaac was born at 2:47pm. It all went so smoothly and we just praise God for how well everything went and for the healthy birth of Isaac. Another praise I had this time was being able hold Isaac right away before he went to the nurses. I wasn't able to with either of the girls so this was a very precious moment!
Another blessing came when I found out who was on call for my dr's office. Dr.Rhode's is not a dr in my practice but was covering for my practice for the weekend. When we heard that we were thrilled b/c she is the dr who delivered Isabelle at 26 weeks and she was so great to us then and we hadn't seen her since Isabelle's birth 4 years ago. It was neat to "reconnect" and share with her how good God has been to Isabelle, tell her about the blessing of Ireland and now have her deliver our 3rd blessing - Isaac Benjamin.

Dr. Rhodes, Deana, Kelli
Ben had been feeling a little sick while the whole thing was going on but was trying not to act like it. After the birth he was really feeling bad and ended up not being able to stay the night with me b/c he felt so bad. He had a high fever, chills, and a back sore throat. Thankfully my dear friend Lauren (we grew up together) was able to stay with the Friday night. I felt so bad for Ben b/c this was obviously not the ideal situation and I knew he wanted to be with me and the baby but he was so sick! B/c I was doing pretty well and esp b/c my husband was not with me I decided to go home after 24 hours in the hospital. After coming home Ben ended up having to go to the ER with a 103.8 degree temp. In the end he had a very severe case of strep throat and was very dehydrated. I was sad that things after birth were not exactly "normal" but reminded of the fact that God never gives us more than we can handle and His grace is ALWAYS sufficient! Thankfully again another friend, April, so willingly came and stayed the night with me for my first night home b/c Ben was in the ER and so very sick.

Both of the girls are enjoying their new baby brother and are so excited to see him each morning and all throughout the day! We praise God for the three blessings He has entrusted to us in raising for His glory!