baby ailah (see blog post below) was born yesterday and is doing very well! she is now 29 hours old. she is 4 pounds, 2 ounces and taking bottles on her own. what a little miracle! please continue to pray for this precious baby and her family.
thanks so much!
10.30.2010
10.25.2010
baby ailah
one of the many blessings that has come from jonathan's life is that i get to "meet" wonderful people, either in person or online, who happen share the common bond of a fatal prenatal diagnosis or the loss of a baby.
my new friend darlene is expecting her first baby, a girl named ailah (pronounced "eye-lah") who has been prenatally diagnosed with trisomy 18. darlene and i exchanged emails before meeting at our recent run for new life 5K. there, we got to spend some time sharing about our babies and encouraging one another. ailah has a very special mommy.
ailah is scheduled to be born in just a few days.
please pray that all goes well with ailah's delivery and that the family gets to spend some precious moments with their new baby girl. so far, ailah seems to be doing wonderfully, in spite of her diagnosis. please pray for abundant peace and comfort for this family in advance of what they are likely to experience, whether it be minutes or several days, after the birth of their daughter.
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." ~Psalm 23:4
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." ~Isaiah 40:18-31
"The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him" ~Nahum 1:7
i will post an update on baby ailah as soon as i get word. thank you for praying.
my new friend darlene is expecting her first baby, a girl named ailah (pronounced "eye-lah") who has been prenatally diagnosed with trisomy 18. darlene and i exchanged emails before meeting at our recent run for new life 5K. there, we got to spend some time sharing about our babies and encouraging one another. ailah has a very special mommy.
ailah is scheduled to be born in just a few days.
please pray that all goes well with ailah's delivery and that the family gets to spend some precious moments with their new baby girl. so far, ailah seems to be doing wonderfully, in spite of her diagnosis. please pray for abundant peace and comfort for this family in advance of what they are likely to experience, whether it be minutes or several days, after the birth of their daughter.
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." ~Psalm 23:4
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." ~Isaiah 40:18-31
"The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him" ~Nahum 1:7
i will post an update on baby ailah as soon as i get word. thank you for praying.
10.21.2010
jonathan's celebration
jonathan's first birthday has come and gone, but not without quite a bit of anticipation of this huge milestone in our lives. once it passed, i actually felt relief.
leading up to jonathan's birthday, i spent a lot of time thinking about october 8, 2009. i also initially put pressure on myself all week to put those thoughts into words and post it here as part of his "baby journal", but to be honest i really didn't know where to begin. usually to celebrate your baby's first year, you might post photos documenting the important milestones your baby reached throughout the year. or pictures of your baby digging into his first birthday cake. but i don't have any new pictures. i don't have anything new to share about what he's been up to, what he looks like now, or anything like that. celebrating your baby's first birthday when he died on the day he was born....i wasn't quite sure how to appropriately mark this occasion.
i also wanted to find "the perfect" scripture to post on his birthday blog but was having trouble finding exactly what i thought was the "right one." so i decided to let the pressure go with posting a blog and to just celebrate the occasion the way that felt most natural to us, and that included spending time with the people who were there when jonathan was born and supported us through the past year.
the night before jonathan's birthday, i picked up my bible to read that day's scripture. i've been reading consecutively through the Psalms every night before bed, and interestingly enough, that night the one i read was Psalm 40. the number 40 has meant such a great deal to me since jonathan's death because i believe it has biblical meaning: each time the number 40 is used in the bible, it marks a period of trial followed by a period of rest and restoration. it also happens to be the number of minutes jonathan lived after birth. coincidence? i personally don't believe in coincidence.
the first part of Psalm 40 reads:
I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.
Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.
Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.
~Psalm 40:1-5
Psalm 40 perfectly describes our last year without jonathan. how amazing (and timely) is that??
*****
we celebrated the jonathan's birthday by meeting at jonathan's gravesite with a small group of some of our closest friends and family that evening. our worship pastor lead a devotion and prayer time based on Psalm 111 and we gave all the kids balloons to release up to heaven.
we then went out to a local mexican restaurant - the same one we ate at after jonathan's funeral - and fellowshiped over chips and salsa (and fajitas for evan.)
later, our families met at greg's parent's house and had cupcakes for dessert.
it was such a nice time without any tears. we still just feel so blessed to have experienced jonathan's life, even for such a short time, and i'm so glad we celebrated it the way that we did.
leading up to jonathan's birthday, i spent a lot of time thinking about october 8, 2009. i also initially put pressure on myself all week to put those thoughts into words and post it here as part of his "baby journal", but to be honest i really didn't know where to begin. usually to celebrate your baby's first year, you might post photos documenting the important milestones your baby reached throughout the year. or pictures of your baby digging into his first birthday cake. but i don't have any new pictures. i don't have anything new to share about what he's been up to, what he looks like now, or anything like that. celebrating your baby's first birthday when he died on the day he was born....i wasn't quite sure how to appropriately mark this occasion.
i also wanted to find "the perfect" scripture to post on his birthday blog but was having trouble finding exactly what i thought was the "right one." so i decided to let the pressure go with posting a blog and to just celebrate the occasion the way that felt most natural to us, and that included spending time with the people who were there when jonathan was born and supported us through the past year.
the night before jonathan's birthday, i picked up my bible to read that day's scripture. i've been reading consecutively through the Psalms every night before bed, and interestingly enough, that night the one i read was Psalm 40. the number 40 has meant such a great deal to me since jonathan's death because i believe it has biblical meaning: each time the number 40 is used in the bible, it marks a period of trial followed by a period of rest and restoration. it also happens to be the number of minutes jonathan lived after birth. coincidence? i personally don't believe in coincidence.
the first part of Psalm 40 reads:
I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.
Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.
Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.
~Psalm 40:1-5
Psalm 40 perfectly describes our last year without jonathan. how amazing (and timely) is that??
*****
we celebrated the jonathan's birthday by meeting at jonathan's gravesite with a small group of some of our closest friends and family that evening. our worship pastor lead a devotion and prayer time based on Psalm 111 and we gave all the kids balloons to release up to heaven.
 |
| Jonathan's marker...still no headstone on his birthday. |
we then went out to a local mexican restaurant - the same one we ate at after jonathan's funeral - and fellowshiped over chips and salsa (and fajitas for evan.)
 |
| Some of my closest girlfriends |
it was such a nice time without any tears. we still just feel so blessed to have experienced jonathan's life, even for such a short time, and i'm so glad we celebrated it the way that we did.
10.19.2010
a divine puzzle
check out this recent blog post about the details coming together for the "run for new life 5K" written by my friend (and OB) jennifer esses. a divine puzzle, indeed!
10.08.2010
happy birthday
happy birthday to our sweet jonathan today. we know he is having a grand celebration in heaven today and keeping those angels on their toes, i'm sure. we plan to send a few balloons up to the party later this evening.
in the meantime, we'll be remembering what a privilege it is to be his parents and an absolute blessing he continues to be in our lives.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." ~James 1:17
in the meantime, we'll be remembering what a privilege it is to be his parents and an absolute blessing he continues to be in our lives.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." ~James 1:17
10.04.2010
a huge success
this past saturday was the day our dreams, prayers, and planning of the first annual run for new life 5k came to fruition. and....it was a huge success! we had a turn out of over 170 runners, which doesn't include the many volunteers and spectators that also came out to support us. it was a beautiful day and everything just fell into place, allowing for a very enjoyable time to be had by all. we had this race covered in prayers and the Lord was so gracious to answer them.
the icing on top of the cake was definitely national christian artist heather williams' performance. she has an amazing voice and amazing testimony that i'm sure touched many in the audience.
words cannot express our appreciation to everyone to came out and participated in this meaningful event. thank you!!
below are some pictures from the event, or you can see all of the pictures here on our Facebook group page (you must have a Facebook account to access it.)
the icing on top of the cake was definitely national christian artist heather williams' performance. she has an amazing voice and amazing testimony that i'm sure touched many in the audience.
words cannot express our appreciation to everyone to came out and participated in this meaningful event. thank you!!
below are some pictures from the event, or you can see all of the pictures here on our Facebook group page (you must have a Facebook account to access it.)
 |
| the organizers |
 |
| packet pickup |
 |
| me and my sweet momma who helped out |
 |
| with the amazing Heather Williams |
 |
| some of our wonderful volunteers |
 |
| and they're off! |
 |
| Heather Williams performing |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
