The day before she was born!

One week ago today, we welcomed Atira Gabrielle into the world. 7 lbs. 13 oz. with tons of hair, I can honestly say I'm completely in love with her.  It took Papa C and I a long time to decide on a name, like 4 days long. Not that we hadn't thought about a name before then, no, we just felt that we really needed to find the perfect name for this little one who already had such story about her.
We decided on the name 'Atira' (ah-tea-ra) because of it's meaning- one devoted to prayer, in Hebrew. Oh, how this little one has taught us about prayer. We also prayed that it would have prophetic meaning in her life- that she too would be devoted to prayer. 'Gabrielle' (gab-bree-ella) was not on our list until the night before we named her, as I was continuing in our search for an apt name. 'Gabrielle' according to the Hebraic definition means God is my might. Time and time again the Father has showed us this in the months He formed her in my womb to now at this very moment, God is our might. Truly... truly...

Our beautiful baby girl

We knew that she had hydrocephalus and possibly some minor issues with her heart. Two days (or was it three?) after she was born  a shunt was placed in her tiny head by the hands of a very gifted neurosurgeon, who so not so coincidentally, is from a region of Africa very near to our hearts. Since the shunt placement, her head circumference has come down considerably, though it remains a bit on the large size for her age.
We also, learned, during her heart scan that she has pulmonary hypertension. They've increased her oxygen intake to see if this helps to lower the pressure in her lungs, and while this has many benefits, we've unfortunately had to put breastfeeding on hold until her respiration rate lowers. I am so grateful that pumping breastmilk has worked well for us so far, and my milk supply is plentiful, but it's still hard for my heart, breastfeeding was such a wonderful time with both Eden and Isaaq. I've started focusing on one Psalm a day, reading it aloud to Atira, meditating on it in my heart. Today I read Psalm 145 and was comforted by these verses: The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand sand satisfy the desires of every living thing.  Now, I'm pretty sure David was writing about breastfeeding when he wrote those verses:)
My heart is at rest, knowing that He will provide, in His time.  

A picture I took of Miss Atira earlier today. Isn't she sweet?

It's been so hard for me to be apart from Eden and Isaaq. I'm a little spoiled, getting to be a stay-at-home mom. It helps, in ways that my vocabularly cannot even begin to express, how much it has helped to have family around, loving on Eden and Isaaq providing comfort and stability in this trying time for our family, who have been staying with family members. Seriously, our family has gone above and beyond, bringing meals for Seth, giving me rides to the hospital and wherever Eden and Isaaq are since I can't yet drive because of my C-section, bringing us treats, loving on us. I was talking to a fellow mom who also has a baby in the NICU, and she is a single mom who also has a seven year old at home, and no family nearby. No family nearby. I can't imagine.
When I'm tempted to feel sorry for myself, and become frustrated with God, He gently reminds me that I'm straining to lift weights that He didn't create me to carry. There are great lessons He's teaching me through this time, and one of the many is a lesson in thankfulness. I have much to be
thankful for, in the big and the small, from getting to hold the gift of this precious little girl, to the NICU providing free meals for the mommies so they can spend more time with their babies. He's teaching me to be grateful for the moment I've been given, with my eyes on the bigger picture, this puzzle he's somehow weaving together to create a beautiful work, a work boasting of His faithfulness to all his promises, a work boasting of His love. I can't wait to see what it looks like.