Ella Grace: Here by Grace

We are officially the proud, proud parents of a sweet baby girl! Ella Grace came into this world last night at 12:32 am. She is healthy, beautiful, and quite vivacious already!

So, you may be surprised she came this quickly according to my last update. It ended up that she was to be born by “C” section. Several times yesterday her heart rate decelerated immediately after Naphtali would be up and about to go to the bathroom or do some moving of the hips. It began as a very isolated event that the midwife wasn’t too concerned about. It then happened twice in a matter of an hour every time Naphtali would move and one of the episodes lasted almost two minutes. Clearly, this was quite frightening for her mommy and I while it also changed the level of concern for the staff here. Our midwife came and discussed the situation with us at about 11pm. With all things taken into account including her very slow progression into the birth canal, being overdue by a week, and the increasing occurrence of the decelerations we made a decision to get her out of there. It was much better to plan for an orderly C section then to have to do it in an emergency situation later down the road. This was not what we were originally hoping for as you know but the decision seemed to be pretty easy given the circumstances and at the recommendation of people we trust.

I went with my girl and helped to take her vitals and give her a first bath. Grandma and Grandpa Hollinger and Auntie Daphne were able to rotate in shifts helping, holding, and taking pictures. Two hours later, after Naphtali was more recovered and awake, the three of us were reunited in our room together; mommy was extremely tired but absolutely thrilled at the sight of her precious baby girl!

Today, we are working on the breast feeding which is going quite well, getting rest, and just soaking in the miracle. Thanks for bearing with us on our inability to answer all the calls and texts. I am a little busier with the fact that Naphtali can’t get around too well yet. We know Ella Grace is loved dearly and we thank you for all your support. I will keep trying to update the blog. I may go try to shower and change…it’s been a while ;)

She is an angel.