When Wife Became A Mom

Here's a little something I dug up in the archives... the birth announcement we sent out by email announcing the birth of our firstborn.  You can read Nana's version of events at her new website: www.motherhoodandsanctity.com  Her blog is here

The Birthing Crew

First of all, we are pronouncing Jael like the two letters put together saying one after the other "J"+"L".  Jael.  We chose to name her after the biblical character from Judges chapters 4 and 5.  Jael's husband was aman named Heber the Kenite.  Although he was of the larger community of the Israelits, Heber was friendly with Canaanite kings to the point that Sisera (commander of the Canaanite forces) fled to Heber's protection.  The story takes an amazing turn as Jael ends up killing Sisera.  So Nana and I have honored Jael for her loyalty to God and faith in His promises.  We understand that it took courage to act in a way that demonstrated her dedication to God even if it meant possible strife in her family.  Please join us in prayer that our little Jael would prioritize love for God over all other loves and loyalties.  

Apart from the biblical character, the name Jael has Hebrew origin and means, "mountain goat", or "one who ascends".  We will be going with "one who ascends", thanks!  Ghislaine is my mother's first name which means, "vow" or "pledge".  This evoked shades of Psalm 15:4b and Psalm 24:3-4.  We have dedicated her to the Lord from the time we knew we had a child on the way.  We have a confident expectation in Him that she will live up to her name and in the words of the psalmist,m "will never be shaken".  Please pray for us!  

Now the birth of Jael came about in this way:  Nana went into labor on Friday afternoon on July 8th.  Jessica Damille, one of our very close friends, along with my mother labored together with her.  Nana barely slept that night and the morning came pretty quickly.  Another close family friend, Cassandra Lewis (who introduced me to Nana) came to assist in the laboring also.  Nana and I took two walks around the neighborhood which (according to her) helped relieve the pain.  We received a lot of encouragement from the neighbors that day!  A little after 4PM, we left for the Family Health and Birth Center in DC since we had been working with the midwives there since December of 2010.  While still on Route 66 coming from God knows where in Virginia, Phyllis Anderson announced she was on her way and we met her at the birth center.  

Once there, Nana and I were order to walk more laps inside the building as the contractions grew stronger and closer together.  While we were walking, the ladies were eating and apparently having a rehearsal for what turned into a 2 hour praise and worship servie complete with readings from selected Psalms, praise choruses and classic church hymns in English, French, and Creole!  This is no exaggeration.  Even our midwife (Karen P.), a Seventh Day adventist remarked how she has never, ever worked on the Sabbath (Saturday) but was glad she had covered for another midwife that day.  She was excited to praise God and sang right along with us while working.  

At almost exactly 9:30PM, Nana was on the bed, ready to start pushing.  And she did!  I know my wife well, I know that she's a focused woman once she sets her mind to a task.  But I couldn't have known to wht degree she would be this way and maintain her compusure throughout something as strenuous as labor.  But there she was with no drugs, still saying "please" and "thank you" for 2.5 hours with very few breaks in between.  I couldn't be more proud of her.  

At precisely midnight, we discovered that we'd be using the girl name and NOT the boy name we had selected.  The LORD really came through for us because we were scheduled for an induced labor on Saturday night itself.  But He answered our prayers for a safe, healthy, and natural birth.  As I mentioned to my pastor, I don't know when or if Christians ever get to a point where we are not overwhelmed and surprised by God's faithfulness.  

Godmother Jessica

The Look of Love