Pictures

Grant is now one month old. He's gaining weight slowly but steadily (after an initial loss of about 10 oz.) and is more adorable with every day that goes by.

Oh, you want to see?

Too bad, not here. However, Steven has now started his picasa web album of Grant. There aren't super-recent pictures up, but we will add more periodically--we're in the process of moving right now and haven't had much time. Just keep watching for updates.
Back to unpacking...

Presenting...Grant Joseph Williams

I finally have a few minutes to post our news. Our precious son (yes, just one--we were very surprised!) was born early last week.
He was born at home into his father's hands on 18 July 2011 at 3:47 a.m. after 6 hours of hard labor (the easy parts having taken up the better portion of the previous 6 weeks :). Steven was indispensable to me during the whole process--I would not have survived without him! Labor was much harder than I expected, due mostly to the baby's size (see below), but with God's help and Steven's support and encouragement, I made it through and was rewarded with an incredibly beautiful son.

 

Vital Statistics
Weight: 10 lb 4.5 oz
Length: 20 3/4 inches
Head circumference: 14.5 inches
Eye color at birth: blue
Hair color at birth: dark
Eye color now: purple-brown and changing
Hair color now: medium blonde and lightening

We are gradually adjusting to the new way of life little Grant brings. Sleep is getting better, and I am learning how to get things done quickly while the baby is sleeping and/or not crying. He has only four modes, it seems: sleeping, crying, awake but not crying (rare), or eating. We try to take full advantage of the sleeping and awake but not crying states! We will be posting more pictures on our picasa web album and will let you know and post a link when that has been done.

Thank you for all your prayers, encouragement, and support. We are greatly blessed by this little life God has entrusted us, and each day is better than the last.

In Your loving arms we lay
This wordless one so new,
The incarnation of our love
We dedicate to You.

Hopeless, yet so full of love
We make our solemn vow, 
Not knowing when the time will come,
Not even knowing how.
And though it seems we try to make
A promise that is true
We really only claim for him
The Promise that is You.

In Your loving arms we lay
This wordless one so new,
The incarnation of our love
We dedicate to You.

The holy sleep which falls so deep,
A blessing from above,
Will now embrace our little one
In simple, trusting love.
We offer You this child
Who's only ours for just a while;
How could we keep him back from You
When You gave Your only child?

(Michael Card, "Wordless Ones")

Or not...

So, nothing happened on Tuesday night. Like before, labor just petered out when we tried to get some sleep, and no real developments happened in the next couple of days.

Today is seeming more promising. These babies have seemed to prefer Sabbaths, so it is fitting, and not surprising, that I've been having "labor signals" yesterday and today. I might not post again for a while if the babies come, but I'll try to get at least a little blurb in if I'm right and they make their appearance today.
We covet your prayers!

Tonight's the night!

So, babies went along with statistics and did not arrive on their "due date". We thought it might be kinda cool for them to be born on 7/4, but that was not to be, either. This morning I woke up early (after getting to bed late) and couldn't sleep, so I got up and ate an early breakfast and did some reading, then went back to bed to try to get a little more rest. I did finally get back to sleep and woke up around 0945 just feeling lousy. I still can't quite describe how it felt--I was hot and sweaty and crampy down in my abdomen, but not really contracting. This went on for a couple of hours.

My parents came by at around 1130 and picked up a few things before they headed back to Spangle, then Steven and I took a walk. I felt much better after the walk, as long as I didn't sit for too long.
Things picked up in the afternoon, and now we're just waiting for the babies! I will try to post the whole story in the next few days.

Keep us in your prayers!

40 weeks

Well, here we are. Today is my official "due date", so as of today I have carried these babies to term. As much as I've been impatient to go into labor the last few weeks, I must say that I feel a bit of pride in having carried twins to term--it's a rare thing these days. My grandmother carried her twins to term (my dad is a twin), so it runs in the family, I guess.

Will I go into labor today? Statistics say that only 5% of babies are born on their due dates (and how much of that is due to routine induction is hard to say), so my odds aren't too good. I can tell you one thing for sure, though: we won't be going too far from home in the next few days!

Learning to be thankful

As I count down the days till the babies are "supposed" to arrive, I am having to think of reasons to be thankful for many things I could just as well do without.

1.) Swollen feet and ankles: at least I have feet! And the pain from the swelling tells me that my nerves are working, too.
2.) In spite of having swollen feet, my blood pressure is still in the normal range, which means I am one of those lucky first-time moms (of twins, no less) who does not suffer from preeclampsia.
3.) My very large belly indicates that my precious babies are alive and growing.
4.) The frequent and sometimes painful movement they love so much affirms #3 and helps me to remember that my belly is so large because it is holding little lives inside who are almost as eager to get out as we are to have them out.
5.) Every day the babies are still not born is another day I get to enjoy with just my wonderful husband--something we won't have for a long time once they are born.
6.) Babywearing will never be more effortless and convenient than it is right now (though the clothing options are limited at the moment).

There are so many more things for me to be thankful for. I have been blessed with an incredible husband who is working long hours as well as finishing up summer classes so I do not have to work. I have a beautiful (if somewhat cluttered) home and flourishing garden that is helping us meet our food budget goals. Steven has several work possibilities for this fall and we know that God will lead us to the right one.

God is so good to us. Even when things are not as I would like them, I know that He is in control and is working hard to give us His best, if only we will reach out to accept it.
Thank  you, Lord, for teaching me to be patient and to be thankful for every day.

Still pregnant...

Well, I know I said I would post periodic updates on how the pregnancy was progressing, but no news is good news...right?

About 30 weeks along Steven and I were doing some poking around in my belly and realized there were more body parts than one baby usually gets. We have not had any ultrasounds done, so there was no suspicion up to this point, though maybe there should have been--I felt movement very early (around 13 weeks--highly unusual in a first pregnancy), and was showing a lot earlier than would be expected. But it is my first time, so who knew what was normal for me?
Anyway, this is all to say that we are expecting....TWINS! I am getting much larger than I would like to admit, but it's all for a good cause, right? And they say that nursing brings it all off again pretty quickly.....

So, with that news in mind, we were not surprised when at 36 weeks minus one day I started having strong, regular contractions. This was a Sabbath, so instead of Steven having to skip classes we just skipped church and got everything ready (we're planning on having a homebirth). We didn't really call anyone right off because we wanted to be sure. Well, to shorten a long story, after several hours of regular, strong contractions we went to bed, hoping to get some rest because we were sure the babies would arrive that night, or at the latest early the next morning. Come morning...no babies...no contractions...nothing.

This pretty much sums up what the last three weeks have been like. I've had strong, convincing practice labor every couple of days that just dissipates into nothing after several hours. Last weekend it was really frustrating--contractions 2-4 minutes apart for 7 hours, only to disappear altogether by evening. God is trying to teach me patience.

I am very ready for these precious babies to be born. I can feel their little feet in outline on my belly, and their little bodies pressing against the sides (there's not much room left!). I want so badly to hold those precious bodies in my arms and play with those little feet. But "His ways are higher than [my] ways and His thoughts than [my] thoughts...". I know that He who created these tiny lives within me will bring them out in His own time.

What is God trying to teach you right now?