Miracle baby arrives!

Hi

I am thrilled to announce the birth of my daughter on 24th July 2008. (I haven't been able to post this earlier because I left my blogger password at work)

Mrs...being an older mother with a history of miscarriages ...went for a routine check the day before, and they found that the baby had wriggled out of position and was now 'in breech'. So they demanded that she come in for a caesarean the next day.

At 9lb 12oz (4.42kg), it was probably the best thing for her.

Mrs has given her a fantastic name - long and a bit of a mouthful, but with a deep meaning such that her very name is a gospel message wherever she goes, without being embarrasing. Shame this is an anonymous blog!

The first week was increasingly difficult, until we twigged that she wasn't getting enough milk and switched to formula. Instant new baby! She slept 9.5 hours last night. So much for 'breast is best'!

This birth is of the essence of this blog. It is quintessential. A normal life with God is an adventure that leads you to do things that you would not normally do without him. It is a NORMAL LIFE ADVENTURE.

For those that have not been following the story, we are an older couple in our 40s, with 6 other children. I had had a vasectomy owing to my wife's arthritis medicine being harmful to unborn babies. But the Lord called Mrs to have another child. After prayer for healing she was able to come off the drugs (though she still has rheumatoid arthritis), so we sought guidance about vasectomy reversal. My GP laughed his head off, and then told me 101 reasons why it was unlikely to work. I could not get it done on the National Health Service, but a private doctor was much more positive and had me dome within weeks. We got pregnant quickly, but miscarried at 7 weeks. After a longer wait, she became pregnant again but miscarried at 14 weeks. Then we had a long wait, and seriously doubted if we had heard the vision correctly. We had more prayer for pregnancy and healing. eventually, she did become pregnant agian, and this time has carried it to full term. Normally, rheumatoid arthritis flares up after a pregnancy and she has a hard time after the miscarriages, but so far she has been ok with this one (though it's too soon to say for sure). So, God has givin the vision and then he has fulfilled it. (see my post for 21 July 2006)

"I'm confidenent of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it". (Philippians 1:6)

baby due soon

Waiting (im)patiently now for our baby to be born. (click the 'pregnancy' label/tag to get the full history behind our MIRACLE baby - and as a PS to reinforce that today's BBC website has an article about the reduced chances of MEN of my age being fertile)

It’s due at the end of the month, but the midwives say it is a big baby, and given other health history issues they don’t want to let it go past the due date. So Mrs is seeing the specialist on Wednesday. Hopefully they will decide to induce it early rather than let it grow bigger.

But… for my birthday celebration I have organised a paintballing expedition this weekend. I have said that ideally, the baby would come afterwards, since I have already paid for it and invited guests etc.

Mrs thinks this is very selfish. But I did deliberately arrange the trip two weeks before the due date – surely that is enough! But many of my guests have been unable to come, and the substitutes have also had other previous engagements, so I still have 25% vacancies. She thinks this is divine guidance that my paintballing ‘aint gonna happen, because the baby will come first.

We will see who is right!

OFFICAL ANNOUNCEMENT

I hereby formally announce that Mrs is pregnant, and will give birth in July 2007.

It's a bit earlier than we would normally say, but we had to tell the Vicar so he could plan my future work as a reader, and then this meant having to tell a housegroup leader, who we also met picking up kids at the school gate, and so soon the whole playgroud knew. I then had to tell my brother, before the news got to him via the grapevine.

So now we are telling everyone that our seventh child is on the way.

If you have followed this blog in detail you will know that it has not been a straightforward path to get to this point.

Owing to Mrs' arthritis after our sixth child, and the medication she was on being harmful to unborn children, and owing to 6 being enough really, I had a vasectomy. BUt it was done prayerfully, acknowledging that despite our actions it is God that opens and closes the womb and since vasectomies can fail it wouldn't take too much miracle for him to have his way with us.

After some years, Mrs was prayed for (again) and anointed with oil, and this we believe accelerated a trend of the arthritis easing off until she was able to give up the medication.

She was also going trough a mid-life crisis, trying various things such as Subnday School work, going abck to teaching, and fostering, non of which really worked. But if you look here you will see that we had a phantom pregnancy in January, that set us thinking of another child. I had to have my vasectomy reveresed, and the Lord intervened to make that happen quickly to confirm our plans.

But, again as you have followed the blog, you will know it has been a roller coaster of emotions, trying each month to conceive, knowing that fertilisation has occurred but not implantation. In summer it did implant, but miscarried at 8 weeks.

And so, in having a seventh child, we are not boasting like Peninah, but the Lord has used it to teach us just a bit of what people go through hen they struggle to conceive.

And so now we thank God, and pray for his continued protection of this pregnancy, and hope that he doesn't have any more tough lessons for us for a while!

The next hardest part was telling my parents without giving them a heart attack - and they are still talking to me, just about!