Happy 1st Birthday!!
Abby, Elijah, Caleb, and Ellie
I’ve been thinking a lot over the past few weeks about today’s post. My heart is so full of gratefulness and wonder at what we have experienced over the past year. Pregnancy and birth statistics along with the emotional, financial, and physical requirements have been absolutely daunting, but our God has proved over and over again that He is bigger than anything that we have faced or will face.
Today is the babies’ first birthday.
We made it.
And God has been so kind to our family.
First Birthday?!?! Where did the time go? The days seemed
ridiculously long and tedious, but the year flew by so quickly. In the past 365 days, the babies survived more than most parents
ever even have to think about.
-Ventilators down their throats, followed by CPAPs, and
nasal cannulas
-Watching the boys quit breathing and turn blue over and over again
The kids SURVIVED all of that.
Heck, Sean and I survived all of that. And we are still
smiling…most of the time! We are so blessed to get to be their parents and watch them grow up.
I’m going to say it again. God has been so abundantly kind
to our family.
The babies have not only survived, they have flourished! We
have four:
-happy (except for after 6:30pm at night)
-healthy (yay!)
-crawling and pulling up (heaven help me)
-baby food eating (yes, even Abby!)
-smiling, giggling, wiggling (by far the best part!)
-PRECIOUS
Little one year olds.
To God be the Glory, Great Things He has done.
I'm reminded of a Bible passage that I relied a lot on while I was hospitalized on bed rest. A dear friend called me one morning between doctors and monitoring and told me to read this passage as she felt it applied to my situation:
"Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." - Philippians 1: 18b-20
At the time, we were fighting for every day that the kids had in the womb. I still remember the doctors telling us the morning after I was hospitalized for premature labor that if I delivered that day, our babies would only have a 50% chance of survival. It was so scary. I loved (and still do!) the phrase "sufficient courage." Just enough for that day of being pregnant, just enough for the day they were born, just enough when it came time to bring them all home from the hospital, just enough to get up through the night again and again to feed them, just enough to trust that God would allow them to see their first birthday.
Just enough. That's what I'm taking with me into this next year. I don't need enough to get me to their high school graduation. I only need sufficient courage to get me through today, trusting that our God will continue to keep His hand on our family as He has been so faithful to do from the beginning...even when I thought surely He had been distracted by something else when we got pregnant with four!
I'm reminded of a Bible passage that I relied a lot on while I was hospitalized on bed rest. A dear friend called me one morning between doctors and monitoring and told me to read this passage as she felt it applied to my situation:
"Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." - Philippians 1: 18b-20
At the time, we were fighting for every day that the kids had in the womb. I still remember the doctors telling us the morning after I was hospitalized for premature labor that if I delivered that day, our babies would only have a 50% chance of survival. It was so scary. I loved (and still do!) the phrase "sufficient courage." Just enough for that day of being pregnant, just enough for the day they were born, just enough when it came time to bring them all home from the hospital, just enough to get up through the night again and again to feed them, just enough to trust that God would allow them to see their first birthday.
Just enough. That's what I'm taking with me into this next year. I don't need enough to get me to their high school graduation. I only need sufficient courage to get me through today, trusting that our God will continue to keep His hand on our family as He has been so faithful to do from the beginning...even when I thought surely He had been distracted by something else when we got pregnant with four!
Thank you to all who have supported us, prayed for
us, helped us financially, sent encouraging messages and understood when I took
forever to respond, prepared meals for us, and loved us over the course of our
pregnancy and first year with the babies. I remember at one point putting in a
post that believers from around the world were praying for us. I think they
still are. We are still getting hits on our blog from countries all over the world.
You have blessed us and we have been honored to get to share our journey so far with you.
Caleb
Born at 4:11pm
Birth weight: 2 lbs. 5 oz. Now weighs: 18 lbs. 2oz.
Abigail
Born at 4:12pm
Birth weight: 2 lbs. 5 oz. Now weighs: 16 lbs. 6 oz.
Elijah
Born at 4:13pm
Birth weight: 2 lbs. 3 oz. Now weighs: 18 lbs.
Elizabeth
Born at 4:15pm
Birth weight: 1 lb. 14 oz. Now weighs: 16 lbs. 8 oz.
Happy Birthday, Babies! And continued love and support to all! :)
ReplyDeleteMy heart rejoices with you! What a beautiful family, and what a testimony to the grace of our Lord.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to my baby cousins!!!!! Hoping to meet their sweet selves sometime this year!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday nephews and nieces! I can't wait for tomorrow......:P
ReplyDeleteThey are blessed to have you both as parents and what a witness your faith and courage and patience have been!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe babies are so blessed to have you as parents :) They're all so cute and adorable. God bless your family.
ReplyDelete