Meet Carmen Francis Hanover

Here he is! And here's the story:
I wake up with cramping around 6:00am. I doze on and off until 7:30. I get up, which must've really kicked things off b/c I started into contractions that were 2 minutes apart immediately. By 9:00, it was decided that I should head to the hospital. So much for laboring at home! When I arrived, my midwife checked me and found I was already 5-6 cm. "Alright!", we thought, "we're halfway there and it's been no time at all!". The rest of the labor took forever, however. I was in labor until 5:30 and finally the midwife said I could start pushing. Now, mind you, I had spent the whole day contracting at 2 minutes apart. By this time, I was exhausted. Pushing was SO painful. I spent the next 2.5 hours running through these contractions that never gave me a break (it was just once contraction after the next). Finally, my midwife ordered me an epidural. It was the greatest thing I have ever experienced in my life :). Once the pain disappeared, I was given 2 hours to relax and then try pushing through contractions. I got a lot of energy back (I was also seriously dehydrated and was given 6 L of fluid through an IV!). The doctor gave me one hour to push before she was going to order an emergency c-section. The one hour came and left and the baby's heart rate was up to 180 beats/minute. She decided she didn't want to take any more chances and ordered the c-section. I was SO disappointed. All day I had spent working and finally, in the end, I had a cesarean. BUT, once the doctor pulled Carmen out, she exclaimed, "Wow! This is a big baby!". Carmen weighed 8.5 lbs. but that's not the whole picture. He had a huge head that would've never made it. The doctor was so glad she had ordered the c-section when she did b/c he had been stuck. I was glad that she had also once she explained why labor had been so long and tedious. In the end, Carmen was born on August 31st at 12:12 am. We finally crashed at 4am and we are pretty tired. Carmen is doing great and the girls can't wait to meet him!

Still Nothing

Sorry, folks, but still no baby. He, apparently, knows what the real world is like and is afraid to confront it :). Who blames him?

We have had a busy couple of days so it's been fun getting to be a part of a lot of stuff! I think tomorrow would work out to be a good day to have him so you can all pray for us for that.

We are having an outing this morning; something we bring students on to get to know them, them to know us and dig a little bit into their spiritual lives. The girls got to go and help and then everyone will be coming to our house for a BBQ after. We are excited for who will come, who we'll meet and what God will do. A lot of these students are new that the staff have just met this week on campus.

Nothing Yet (Updated)

Another day has come and gone. The doc today said, "Everything looks fine! See you in a week!". I have some things I want to be a part of tomorrow and Saturday so Sunday would really work best :). I figure Carmen (and the Lord) knows what he's doing.

Nothing Yet

The due date has come and gone. To be honest, haven't thought much about it. We did school, I made peach bread and pies (they're on sale for $.49/lb.!) and had a friend over for lunch. Thanks to all of you who have written to encourage me to go natural. I am looking forward to the challenge (it's like running a marathon, right?). I'll keep you updated!

New Baby

No, he hasn't come yet but we will be posting on this blog for when he does. So, keep your eyes and computers open! He is due on the 24th (yes, just 2 days away). We will induce September 3rd or 4th if he hasn't arrived by then so anytime between now and then.

Please pray for "normal" labor (not too fast, not too slow, no complications, etc.). I will attempt to go without drugs so that's a prayer request in itself! Thanks!

Dress Up

So funny. Turi and Bitsu attached some blankets to their heads with clips, put on their nice shoes, wore purses and had the greatest time feeling dressed up. Can you imagine what they would do with real dress up clothes?

How cute is this?

As Curt said, "Well, I guess our kids like each other."

The other funny thing that happened today was Bitsu turned to me and said, pointing to her pinky finger, "I forget what this finger is called again. Daddy told me. Yellow finger?". I almost died laughing when I thought about her associating it with the colors.

This Last Week

I bet you're wondering if we ever write on this blog anymore :). We rarely take the camera out, which is a real shame, and I hate posting without some pics to go along with it. But we want to keep you updated so here's what's going on:

• we had friends come in town (yeah, Enders!) and stay with us a few days. I can't tell you how much the girls loved having other kids over, sleeping in their room, getting to stay up as late as they wanted, etc. It was really hard for them when the Enders left. This morning Turi said that if people can't stay a week or more, they shouldn't come :). The girls really do get attached.
• We signed up to attend a VBS in the mornings last week. Right after the Enders left, we were dropping the kids off in the mornings and then schooling in the afternoon. I can't tell you how tired we all were or how many showers we didn't take. By Thursday, I left the kids at home (although I still had to go and work it!) because they were so exhausted it didn't seem fair to push them to spending another morning out.
• Friday, Curt and I took the morning "off" to go check out a new climbing area. I think it'll work well for students. It was a frustrating morning since the baby has dropped and now everything is uncomfortable. I was only able to climb a bit before I had to quit.
• Saturday was awesome as we got to help out with the first Lifelines' program of the year for RAs! 24 students came out to a paintball area. Turi and Bitsu came with us and were a tremendous help cleaning equipment inbetween different games. We had 7 students who asked to know more about God at the end. I hope to follow up with at least one of them.
• We were all so beat that the kids went down at 7:00 last night and didn't get up until 8:30 or 9. Curt and I slept 11 hours and feel much better.
• We are debating about starting our home group soon. I feel like it's time. Pray for those who we invite. I am praying that God will tug on hearts.

Will have more pics soon. Keep reading and thank for praying!