But the exciting news... we're rolling over! Not especially gracefully... but rolling over none-the-less. Enjoy!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Milestone!
Just a quick update... We are four weeks old today, go in to the pediatrician next week for our 1 month appointment. Praise the Lord she's started sleeping at night (it's amazing how much more refreshing 3 hour stretches are compared to 30 minute ones)!! Still working on convincing Eliaya that naps are not secretly trying to destroy the world....
But the exciting news... we're rolling over! Not especially gracefully... but rolling over none-the-less. Enjoy!
But the exciting news... we're rolling over! Not especially gracefully... but rolling over none-the-less. Enjoy!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Life Lessons
3 weeks old..... whoa, my baby is 3 weeks old!
First off, praise our awesome, almighty God. It is only by His grace through your prayers that we survived. Eliaya is a beautiful, amazing little girl. She's definitely a blessing. That being said... it's not been especially easy. I can already tell the Lord is using her to reveal my own sin and to grow Jarrod and I in holiness. I have been meditating on two verses these past few weeks
Galatians 6:9 "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." This has been powerful to me, especially during those early morning feedings. I know God purposed for me to be a mom and He gives, and will continue to give, me the strength to be such. When I am tempted to throw in the towel and give up on the ways Jarrod and I decided on regarding how to raise Eliaya, I think on this verse. It's also encouraging to think that loving on others and praying for them... it's not in vain. the Lord will have His glory. The work He's called us to partake in, it's worthwhile. Parenting, sharing the Gospel, washing dishes... there is a harvest if we do not give up.
The second Scripture God's been teaching me a lot through is 2 Peter 1:5-8. "For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. If these qualities are yours and are increasing they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ." Becoming a Christian is anything but a call to stagnation. We are to grow in Christ-likeness, in faith, virtue, knowledge.... This has been convicting. Since Eliaya's arrival, I've realized my time is not my own. She's hungry when she's hungry. She needs changed / snuggled / prayed for regardless of the red numbers on the clock. Anger rears its head. My self-absorption now stares me in the face. Praise Him for grace. I feel like I am moment by moment repenting and growing in self-control. It's amazing how the God of the universe can use a baby to change my heart.
Jarrod went to a conference a earlier this month, Together for the Gospel. It's a gathering of evangelical leaders, seminary students and pastors from all over to discuss/assess how the church is doing in reaching the lost. I encourage you to check out the website, you can listen to / watch the main session speakers (www.t4g.org). I was especially challenged by David Platt's message. Pray before you watch that one... God will use it.
Eliaya is doing well. We head to the pediatrician in a week and half for our 1 month check up. I wonder how much she'll weigh! She's definitely growing. Here's some pics from the past few days. Please continue to pray for us.... Eliaya does NOT like to sleep. She fights it with all she's got. Her most ear-splitting screams come about 45 seconds before she zonks out. We joked before... but I really do think she's going to have Jarrod's personality.... 1st born syndrome.....
Thanks for checking in!
Love,
the Reeds
First off, praise our awesome, almighty God. It is only by His grace through your prayers that we survived. Eliaya is a beautiful, amazing little girl. She's definitely a blessing. That being said... it's not been especially easy. I can already tell the Lord is using her to reveal my own sin and to grow Jarrod and I in holiness. I have been meditating on two verses these past few weeks
Galatians 6:9 "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." This has been powerful to me, especially during those early morning feedings. I know God purposed for me to be a mom and He gives, and will continue to give, me the strength to be such. When I am tempted to throw in the towel and give up on the ways Jarrod and I decided on regarding how to raise Eliaya, I think on this verse. It's also encouraging to think that loving on others and praying for them... it's not in vain. the Lord will have His glory. The work He's called us to partake in, it's worthwhile. Parenting, sharing the Gospel, washing dishes... there is a harvest if we do not give up.
The second Scripture God's been teaching me a lot through is 2 Peter 1:5-8. "For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. If these qualities are yours and are increasing they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ." Becoming a Christian is anything but a call to stagnation. We are to grow in Christ-likeness, in faith, virtue, knowledge.... This has been convicting. Since Eliaya's arrival, I've realized my time is not my own. She's hungry when she's hungry. She needs changed / snuggled / prayed for regardless of the red numbers on the clock. Anger rears its head. My self-absorption now stares me in the face. Praise Him for grace. I feel like I am moment by moment repenting and growing in self-control. It's amazing how the God of the universe can use a baby to change my heart.
Jarrod went to a conference a earlier this month, Together for the Gospel. It's a gathering of evangelical leaders, seminary students and pastors from all over to discuss/assess how the church is doing in reaching the lost. I encourage you to check out the website, you can listen to / watch the main session speakers (www.t4g.org). I was especially challenged by David Platt's message. Pray before you watch that one... God will use it.
Eliaya is doing well. We head to the pediatrician in a week and half for our 1 month check up. I wonder how much she'll weigh! She's definitely growing. Here's some pics from the past few days. Please continue to pray for us.... Eliaya does NOT like to sleep. She fights it with all she's got. Her most ear-splitting screams come about 45 seconds before she zonks out. We joked before... but I really do think she's going to have Jarrod's personality.... 1st born syndrome.....
Love,
the Reeds
Monday, April 9, 2012
And She's Here!
As you all know... Eliaya made her debut Friday March 30th at 9:41am! She was 7lbs even and 18.25 inches long (where did the short gene come from?!?). She's absolutely perfect. Of course, I'm a bit biased, but we've voted her the cutest baby ever :)
Alright, so here's the play by play, minus unnecessary details. Well, we started in "prodromal" labor Monday. Contractions would come every 5 minutes or so for hours and hours. When we were on the verge of saying 'yes, this is it', the contractions would go away. They were strong enough to keep me awake at night, but not enough to be the real deal!
Went to work Tuesday and Wednesday, determined to walk her out. Contractions came on and off, but again not the real deal. Doctor's appointment Wednesday was encouraging, we went from 1cm to 3! It was that mental victory I needed to know that I wasn't hurting for nothing. Wednesday night, contractions spaced out... tried to sleep.
Thursday was my day off, so Jarrod went to school and I tried to rest / take my mind off contractions as much as possible. What did I really end up doing? Cleaning the kitchen, bathroom, laundry... Come lunchtime, I was certain this was the real deal. Contractions were every 5 minutes and strong enough to stop me in my tracks. Excited!
Okay... so fast forward. 10pm Thursday night, Jarrod is helping me through each contraction (thank you Jericho, watching 3 episodes was the perfect distraction) and we started making goals for how long we stayed home. At 1:30am, I was ready. We packed up, called in to labor and delivery, and headed to the car. Ooo.... that was the roughest car ride ever! Poor Jarrod, I would tell him to hurry, then we'd hit a bump and I'd yell "slow down!". He did so well coping with my craziness.
We checked in, got all the paperwork done between contractions and found out I was 7cm! Alright! Thinking it was the homestretch, I walked around. Then the long road started.... we made it to 8-9cm and stalled. My water hadn't broken, the contractions were strong and every 2-3 minutes. Mentally, I was losing it. Jarrod was the best coach: rubbing my back and helping me focus through one contraction as at time. When I was at the end of my rope (not having slept in a few days was definitely a stumbling block to coping with the pain... ) my wonderful nurse suggested some pain meds. We agreed to a half dose and while it didn't take the pain away, it dulled it enough to give me a mental break and regroup. Just as it was wearing off, I had a WHOLE NEW understanding of the phrase "I gotta push!" I'm sure I looked like a crazy women scaling back into bed and panting. Next thing I knew, there was a gush of fluid and Eliaya was just shy of crowing.
30-35 minutes later, Eliaya Carol Reed was born. Praise the Lord! What a miracle. Despite the exhaustion, a flood of emotions welled up in me. She was beautiful. She cried and instantly began to suck on her fingers. Jarrod cut the cord (he didn't faint!). And so we began our life as three.......
Thank you all so much for praying for us. Even at 3am. We covet your prayers as we learn how to be parents and strive to teach Eliaya the ways of the Lord. He is good. I'm so glad He brought Eliaya out in time to celebrate Easter together. To think that my God went to such lengths to pay my debt. To bring me into His family. How awesome!
Love,
the Reeds
Alright, so here's the play by play, minus unnecessary details. Well, we started in "prodromal" labor Monday. Contractions would come every 5 minutes or so for hours and hours. When we were on the verge of saying 'yes, this is it', the contractions would go away. They were strong enough to keep me awake at night, but not enough to be the real deal!
Went to work Tuesday and Wednesday, determined to walk her out. Contractions came on and off, but again not the real deal. Doctor's appointment Wednesday was encouraging, we went from 1cm to 3! It was that mental victory I needed to know that I wasn't hurting for nothing. Wednesday night, contractions spaced out... tried to sleep.
Thursday was my day off, so Jarrod went to school and I tried to rest / take my mind off contractions as much as possible. What did I really end up doing? Cleaning the kitchen, bathroom, laundry... Come lunchtime, I was certain this was the real deal. Contractions were every 5 minutes and strong enough to stop me in my tracks. Excited!
Okay... so fast forward. 10pm Thursday night, Jarrod is helping me through each contraction (thank you Jericho, watching 3 episodes was the perfect distraction) and we started making goals for how long we stayed home. At 1:30am, I was ready. We packed up, called in to labor and delivery, and headed to the car. Ooo.... that was the roughest car ride ever! Poor Jarrod, I would tell him to hurry, then we'd hit a bump and I'd yell "slow down!". He did so well coping with my craziness.
We checked in, got all the paperwork done between contractions and found out I was 7cm! Alright! Thinking it was the homestretch, I walked around. Then the long road started.... we made it to 8-9cm and stalled. My water hadn't broken, the contractions were strong and every 2-3 minutes. Mentally, I was losing it. Jarrod was the best coach: rubbing my back and helping me focus through one contraction as at time. When I was at the end of my rope (not having slept in a few days was definitely a stumbling block to coping with the pain... ) my wonderful nurse suggested some pain meds. We agreed to a half dose and while it didn't take the pain away, it dulled it enough to give me a mental break and regroup. Just as it was wearing off, I had a WHOLE NEW understanding of the phrase "I gotta push!" I'm sure I looked like a crazy women scaling back into bed and panting. Next thing I knew, there was a gush of fluid and Eliaya was just shy of crowing.
30-35 minutes later, Eliaya Carol Reed was born. Praise the Lord! What a miracle. Despite the exhaustion, a flood of emotions welled up in me. She was beautiful. She cried and instantly began to suck on her fingers. Jarrod cut the cord (he didn't faint!). And so we began our life as three.......
Thank you all so much for praying for us. Even at 3am. We covet your prayers as we learn how to be parents and strive to teach Eliaya the ways of the Lord. He is good. I'm so glad He brought Eliaya out in time to celebrate Easter together. To think that my God went to such lengths to pay my debt. To bring me into His family. How awesome!
Love,
the Reeds
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