Camp, Flyers, and Magazines
Yesterday the second youth camp started, today Seth is putting up flyers around town announcing a concert with a Christian band from Holland on July 10th, and this week the short-termers from Texas who aren't helping with camp are distributing more evangelistic magazines. We've already had some positive responses to the magazines that were distributed last week, so that's encouraging!
this picture is from a quick visit we made to camp last week:
Life Opens Doors
Normal life can provide plenty of opportunities to get to know people. Yesterday we went to a birthday party for the three-year-old son of our teammates and there were some new friends from their neighborhood there. Tomorrow, Jessica is having one of our neighbors and a friend of hers over for tea and to meet David. Daniel will turn two on July 5th, so we're planning a party for him and it looks like it could be pretty big. July 4th may also be an opportunity to have some folks over and show them how American's use a barbecue grill. Hooray for life.
Two Weeks
We've had two kids for two weeks now, and that's just a little hard to believe. We remember the blur of days and nights after Daniel was born... well, actually, we don't remember much of it and that's why we call it a blur. So we should expect it I suppose. The church has been a huge help - they are delivering dinners until the end of the month! Wow! And boy are they good!
This is a quick video of Daniel pushing his baby brother in the swing, imitating his stretches and going in for a kiss. Sometimes David needs protection from his brother's affection...
Rain Stopper
Daniel wanted to play outside yesterday, but it started raining. So he asked Daddy to fix it. Daddy said he couldn't, but the rain stopped anyway, so out they went and Daniel looked up and calmly noted that Daddy had fixed it. That's faith. It's just in the wrong man!
David and Jessica are both doing very well - better every day. David is still giving us a lot more sleep than we expected and he gets comments like "he's perfect!" at his health check ups, so he must be doing alright! Jessica's mom flew home this morning. We certainly miss her and all the help she was, but we do feel a lot more confident now to be on our own. The timing of her visit really couldn't have been better.
Sleep?
David has been doing very well, and even giving us more sleep than we expected to have. He certainly has his moments, but he has slept well at night and been awake in the day more than we thought possible. Of course, having Jessica's mom here to help means we get more sleep as well! Jess is recovering well - she's been on house arrest most of the time, but today she went to Bible study and got to show off the baby.
Yesterday, we had a short-term team from Texas come. They will be here for a month and will be helping with youth camp, children's Bible clubs and distribution of evangelistic magazines.
Corpus Christi
Today we went on our second trip as a family out of the house since the arrival of David. While we were driving through downtown, we noticed that things were different - almost every shop window had a shrine to Mary, Jesus, or both in it. There were also songs and prayers coming through loudspeakers. Turns out, today is Corpus Christi - a major Catholic feast day that celebrates the Eucharist. Shortly after we drove through downtown, there was a procession that went through with the main attraction being a Eucharistic wafer carried by priests. If you'd like the history/more info on how Corpus Christi is celebrated, click here.
The Brothers Meet
This video is uncut footage from Daniel and David's first meeting:
Also, we talked to the surgeon yesterday, and he said that David had turned sideways (transverse breech) by the time they got to him. Also, the meconium may have happened during the c-section. If not it was just before. Anyway, all is well today and Jess has already been able to get up out of bed several times! Grandma Smelser flew over yesterday as well, and will stay for ten days so we are very thankful for the help!!
He's Here!!
David arrived at 6:41pm, weight 6 pounds 14 ounces, scored a 9 out of 10 on the health measure and is doing great! I would tell you the length, but they don't measure newborns here anymore. Mom is also doing well, and Dad is thrilled. Daniel will meet his brother tomorrow morning! Actually, it was good timing - the surgeon said there was meconium in the fluid around David. It must have just happened, because they had been watching for it, but if we had waited longer we probably would have been having an emergency c-section. Thank you for your prayers for us!!!
Section
We talked to the doctor this morning and they went ahead and scheduled us for a c-section today. We're not sure what time, but we're on the list, so we shouldn't have to wait TOO much longer to meet David! Jess is very tired after a long night with a lot more contractions. Pray God gives her strength.
No Labor, No Baby
Well, God's plans certainly are not ours! Jessica had labor pains for almost 20 hours, but never could dilate, and eventually the labor itself died away. The midwives seem to think that her body is just unable to dilate on its own. The next step is to talk to her doctors in the morning, and see what they say about scheduling a C-section. We'll keep you posted. Please pray!
On The Way...
David is on the way now - Jess has had regular labor contractions for almost 16 hours as I write this and although it looks like we probably have a good bit longer to go, we are happy to be moving in the right direction!
Still WaitingWe asked a lot of questions today about what the risks are for our various options, and it sounds like the doctors are right (go figure) and although none of the options are very risky, the safest option right now for mom and baby is to wait a bit longer and see if we can go naturally. Everyone is doing fine. Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement!
Waiting for David
Jessica's water broke on Wednesday night, so we thought that by now we would have had some pictures of David for you, but evidently David is not is as much of a hurry as we are. Although we've had some spurts of labor, nothing has really stuck and right now Jess is in the hospital, waiting and being monitored. They would have induced by now if it hadn't been for the C-section we had with Daniel and the increased risk that brings. Still, if things don't happen on their own, we will probably be induced at some point. David is doing great and has plenty of fluid to keep him company and they are monitoring Jessica to make sure there is no infection. Our teammates have kept Daniel busy and happy as well. In short, everyone is doing fine, except that mom and dad are a little impatient.
