details, answered prayers

where to begin? firstly, her name: Alice is named after two of her great-grandmothers. her first name is from Michelle's paternal grandmother, and her middle name (Florence) is from my paternal grandmother. both are honored and thrilled to have our little girl carry their names, and we hope God's faithfulness in and through them will also be found in her.

the labor and delivery went much like Caleb's did last year (although thankfully we werent kept up for 4 days with early contractions this time). the labor this time was about 12 hours and rather draining, so we opted for an epidural at around 11 hours. soon after this, Alice was ready to come out, and after only a few pushes she breathed her first air. she actually had the cord around her neck, but the midwife quickly clamped it and even let me cut it (to my surprise considering the situation). once her head was out and cleared, I got to catch the rest of her little body, and put her up on mama's tummy. this of course was an amazing experience for all of us. she was a little pale at first, so they quickly got her revived and suctioned and she let out her first cries soon afterward. we may put down some more labor details in the future, because we had many hopes and fears, and God amazingly answered just about all of our prayers in the affirmative.

of biggest prayer was that Alice would be a good eater, and that breastfeeding would go well. Caleb was a sleepy eater, and there were various complications (see the August 2004 archives for details), so we had to stop after only 3 weeks with him. so we prayed that Alice would do well, and she really is doing great so far. she loves to eat, and is eating well, epecially for being less than 2 days old. we're praying that this will continue to go well.

Caleb is so sweet with his little sister, as he's very interested in her and wants to cuddle and give her hugs. no signs of jealousy so far, but he's had gramma and grampa taking good care of him. we're so happy to see him do so well.

here are some pictures from day 2 and day 1 is here. and here is a video clip of her (~10 MB). much more video to come once I can process it.

thanks to all for the well-wishes and prayers. we can feel your love and are so thankful for it. praise God with us for the gift of our beautiful little girl, and please pray for our adjustments as a new family.