Happy Birthday to Jkaile!

I had a lot of mixed feelings when I found out that I was expecting Jkaile...it was a difficult time in our lives and I knew that a pregnancy with all of its discomforts would most likely only complicate things.  I was right...

Morning sickness hit me hard and in the middle of that, we moved from the city where we lived in Venezuela to a small town to start a new ministry.  The house we lived in was very comfortable, but without a good cooling system and I struggled a lot with the heat and humidity.  I got very sick that February with a bad flu and became very dehydrated without realizing it.  I probably should have been hospitalized, but I refused to budge and poor Miguel had to nurse me back to health with the help of some friends.

It was during that time that I began to think that perhaps I would lose this baby...I'm not sure why I was convinced of this, but somehow I believed that since I hadn't really wanted another baby, maybe I didn't deserve to receive the blessing of another baby.  Completely absurd, I know, but it was a low time in my life and I don't think that I was thinking straight.  But because of that feeling, I prayed more fervently for this child than I had for the others.

Once I recovered from that illness, we had to move once again and the second house we lived in was even hotter than the first.  I struggled with the heat and dehydration and exhaustion and varicose veins in an unmentionable part of my body that made life miserable.  I was one grouchy momma, let me tell you!  I don't like to think about that time of my life...we traveled some during the months of April and May and then in June traveled back to the states to attend a family reunion.  Here's a picture of my mom and sisters and me on the last day of our family reunion...I went into labor that very night.  If I look uncomfortable, I was!  lol  I found out that my belly was so huge because I had an incredible amount of amniotic fluid.

Jkaile was born at 3 a.m. on July 22 after a rather short labor.  When he was born, the doctor noticed right away that there was a full knot in the cord and they cut it out to study it.  I don't think I was quite 'with it' to realize the full implications of that knot, I was just relieved to find out that Jkaile appeared to be a normal, healthy baby. 

What a cutie!  

At two weeks of age, I took Jkaile in to the dr. for the normal two-week check-up.  The pediatrician looked him over and then just stood there holding him for a long time, looking him over.  Then she kind of came to herself and handed him back to me saying that she rarely sees such a "perfect" baby.  As a new mom I was flattered, of course, but also surprised by her comment because I'm sure she sees hundreds of newborns every month.  I asked her about Jkaile's cord that had not yet fallen off even after 2 weeks...she said that his cord appeared to be very thick and that sometimes a thick cord takes longer to dry up and fall off.  I also mentioned that he'd had a knot in his cord at birth and asked her about that.  She was surprised and told me that a knot in the umbilical cord is "potentially fatal" and that what probably saved Jkaile was the fact that his cord was so thick.  

And then I knew...God has a plan for every life...God protected Jkaile through all of my sickness and travels and even from the knot in his cord.  That is also probably the reason I had been prompted to pray for his life and his safety all during my pregnancy.  Jkaile's life is a precious gift from God that we will enjoy as long as God allows.  

Jkaile at two weeks.

Jkaile and I

As Jkaile grew, I worried about a bit about his development, wondering if there had been any adverse effects from a possible lack of oxygen due to the knot in his cord, but it has become quite obvious to us that the exact opposite is true.  Not only is Jkaile a normal, healthy child, he is also demonstrating a higher intelligence than any of our other kids at this age!  Some friends who are highly educated in the areas of education and psychology who teach him in Sunday School have actually encouraged me to think of him as a special needs child because of his high intelligence (in other words, I need to keep him busy and challenged or suffer the consequences!).  No, he probably won't be one of those twelve year olds who graduate from college, but it's obvious that he is pretty smart.  

So Happy Birthday Jkaile! I'm so glad that you are part of this family!  Love you lots, Mom

Jkaile, July 2010