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Saturday, September 20, 2008

Mercy Arrives

Hey Everyone! This is Joe. Denise is upstairs recovering from delivering a baby less than 18 hours ago. I put this slideshow on my blog, but thought I would put it here too. Denise will blog the story when she can.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Still Waiting

Well my mom and Shelly took a hint from Mercy and were late arriving as well. They got on the Aerosur flight in Miami and taxied out to the runway and then had to turn around and go back due to some problems with the plane. They ended up spending the night in Miami. But they made it safe and sound (minus all my mom´s checked baggage) late last night and we all got in bed about 1:30 this morning. We´re just glad they are here. We´re now going to the airport to see if her luggage has made it and to show them a little around the city.

As for Mercy she´s still reluctant to show her face....or any part of her body. My doc called yesterday and changed my appointment to in the morning. So maybe I´ll have some news then if not before.

Stay tuned.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Due Date

Well my due date has come and almost gone and still no sign of Mercy. Thanks for all your encouraging remarks, suggestions and emails but most of all thank you for continuing to pray for her quick birth.

My mom and my friend, Shelly, arrive from the States at 8:00 in the morning. We´re all excited to have them coming. Ben was beside himself with anticipation. He said it was like Christmas Eve so he dubbed today Grandma Eve. How cute is that? They´ll be staying with us for 2 weeks. Surely sometime before they leave they will be able to hold Mercy. I have an appointment with the doctor on Thursday morning if she´s not here by then. I´m a little anxious about what she might say so keep up the prayers.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Keep it Up!

Thanks to all of you who have responded and are praying. I´ll try to keep you updated. I recently read of someone who blogged through her labor....I´m not sure I´ll do that, but I´ll try to keep you as informed as possible. (Jake says that blogging through labor is dedication; Joe says it´s crazy!)

So far no labor and no baby, but keep up the praying.

I´m about to go out for a walk....the first time I´ve felt up to that in a few weeks....and a bumpy car ride. (I´m trying all the old wives tales I can!) Of course here in Bolivia in our truck on the cobblestone roads all rides are bumpy ones. I have a few contractions whenever we go anywhere. Just pray that they´ll keep going and bring on the baby.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

A Plea for Prayer

I´m sending out this plea for you all to pray that I would go into labor ASAP...like as soon as you read this blog...pray now that I would go into labor now. I´m ready. I´m feeling a bit desperate at this point. I know it´s not quite my due date. I´m still 3 days away, but my doc thinks little Mercy is not so little. Big surprise there. Those of you who know my babies know that they´re all big ranging from 8 pounds 3 ounces all the way to 9 pounds and 9 ounces. I was hoping that the high altitude here would keep her from getting too big, but I´m not sure that´s gonna happen. Anyway, the other complications that come from having a big baby are exaggerated here in Bolivia. The tendency toward c-sections is great. They are routinely performed for all kinds of reasons that I personally see as unnecessary....including the baby´s size. For this reason and a lot of other reasons I am hoping to go into labor soon (read: now).

I´ve just recently come through some other medical issues and out-patient procedures with this pregnancy that I will spare you the gory details of, but I now feel ready to go into natural labor and just have her born the old fashioned way. So, will you please pray with me that that will happen? Quickly. Immediately. Now.

Thanks to each of you for all your love and support throughout this pregnancy and now thanks for your prayers that it will be over soon with a safe (and my prayer is easy) delivery for both me and Mercy.

Here´s a pic of my big belly. Believe it or not this is the least amount of weight I´ve gained in a pregnancy....less than 20 pounds. Usually I gain between 25-35. According to Joe it´s just all in my belly.