Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Beloved Abishael

On May 6, 2012, Abishael Lechuga Greenlee came out into the world.  We had planned for a home birth, with Abraham's grandmother - an experienced midwife - in attendance.  Labor started at about 11:30 p.m. May 5th and continued throughout the night, not intensifying but also not subsiding enough to let me sleep hardly at all.

The contractions really intensified at 5:30 on Sunday afternoon.  My mother-in-law, Abraham, and his grandmother all encouraged, exhorted, and instructed me through three hours of heavy labor, but finally Grandmother Esperanza said that we should go to the hospital.  Abraham called the Red Cross ambulance, and we were soon on our way.

At the first hospital where the ambulance stopped, the same hospital where Abraham had his emergency appendix operation almost a year ago, we couldn't enter, because there was a party in process.  The ambulance continued down the street to the hospital where we had gotten Abishael's second ultrasound.

The doctor checked where Abishael's head was and also listened to his heart.  Signs showed that the baby was still fine, so we went ahead with natural birth.  They put in an epidural to relax tense muscles to give me relief and to allow the baby to exit.  We knew about the cord wrapped around his neck, but another complication had arisen in that Abishael had slightly turned his head.  With medical help, he was able to come out very soon after our arrival, at 10:30 p.m.

All his vital signs were normal, so soon we were transferred to our room.  The following day in the afternoon, we checked out of the hospital and returned home.  My mother-in-law stayed with us until Wednesday, helping us adjust to having our newborn.  I still had swollen feet and hands and of course was still recovering from the extremely long labor.  It took several days to return to almost normal.

Please pray for us as we learn to be parents.  Pray that we raise our boy in the way the God calls us to.  Please pray also that we can arrange for some way for my parents to meet Abishael.  Travel is difficult for my mother, but getting a visa for Abraham to go to the United States so that we can meet there is also very difficult.