Another Perspective

Back in December we hosted a team of short termers for a month. It was a great experience and we really enjoyed getting to know and work alongside a new group of people. We had the privilage of hosting a wonderful midwife from Florida, Everly. (Yes, we did get our daughter's name from her!) I really enjoyed getting to know Everly and having another female to talk to, especially one who loves pregnancy and birth like I do! As I got to know Everly I really appreciated her raw desire to seek God and wrestle through the realities you may face on the mission field.

She wrote about some of these realities on this post I think she did a great job and I recommend reading it. Yes, it is kind of a weird recommendation because some of it is about us, but it is true of many people we've met and situations we have witnessed. Check it out.

 

Photo Pros — Just let them do their job!

You know, having a photographer in the family makes you a lot more aware of how much it takes to get a good shot. They hate it when people say, "Wow, your camera takes good pictures!" Or "We could have taken that at home!"

Well, let me just suggest something here:

Leave the photographing to the pros — It is their job after all! (I only attempted this on my own because, well, I live in Africa and she can't be here to make the magic happen!)

And you can check out my Sis' work here: kuennephotography.com (You just may see someone you know!)

 

Let's Catch Up!

So it's only been like what? A Year? Yep, almost! Sorry about that. (Not that I have a huge flock of followers that have been checking up on my blog just dying for news!) But I'd like to think that some people read it and are interested in what has been going on here.

I guess that is just it though, up until recently I really haven't felt like there has been anything to report. Life was the "same ol', same ol'" but... well... in Africa. Apparently around the time I sent out the blog titled, "Friends Can We Talk" I, myself became pregnant unknowingly! Surprise! Well, that led to three months of lying in bed sick with my neighbors thinking that maybe I had the worse case of Malaria ever! (Ok, not ever because people actually die from Malaria.)

Moving on. Like all my other pregnancies, once I started to feel better I seemed to only be capable of growing a baby and taking care of any immediate need that my family had. (Like that annoying eating thing that has to happen three times EVERY SINGLE DAY!) I suppose that severe anemia played a role also -that was fun!

Well, through this time we helped two pastors and their families move to a Bible school 16+ hours away. September we took a vacation in Nairobi and pet some baby elephants. In October we celebrated three of our birthdays and my parents came to visit!

November we had to take Thailie 6 hours to Arusha for tooth pain where we had a traumatic experience ending in me, five months pregnant, lying in the chair holding my drugged 5 year old on top of me who was screaming with seven IV attempts in her arm! (Let's just say we won't be going back there again!) December was a full month with an AIM conference quickly followed by a month of short termers living with us and helping to celebrate Christmas with our Muslim neighbors.

January we found out the dental work Thailie had done got infected (super surprised and excited about that!) So we got to go back to the dentist only this time in Nairobi, a 6 hour drive and 5 hour shuttle ride! One bonus was we met an amazing couple, The Judy's that took great care of us, fed us waffles for dinner, were hugely helpful and even took the girls to see Frozen!

February brought us out of the village again where we awaited the arrival of our beautiful baby girl. Last month, in March, our third little girl Everly Zahara was born (Stay tuned for that post). My Mom was able to come visit and help out. What a huge blessing and answer to prayer that was!

Now it is April. We have already celebrated Nia turning 3, attended a marriage retreat, Thailie lost her first tooth and we just celebrated Easter! We also have finally, after four attempts, secured Everly's Kenyan birth certificate and now await our appointment with the US Embassy on the 23rd. At that appointment we will apply for a passport and SS card for her. Once we receive those we will finally return to our team in the bush!

Whew! I guess it hasn't quite been "life as usual" out here! As always, we appreciate your prayers and have seen the direct results in so many situations! Thank you all for your continued support even when you didn't always know all the details of what was going on. We are blown away at how blessed we are to be backed by our many wonderful supporters!

 

 

 

Everly Zahara is Here!

This blog post doesn't really have a whole lot to do with missionary life. It is the birth story of our third baby girl, Everly Zahara. It's not super graphic, but if you don't like birth stories, skip this one. :)
For months and months the girls and I have been praying that our new baby would come after Grandma gets here, but then right away once she arrives so that we can spend lots of time with her and the new baby. We also were praying that she would be born safely, quickly and easily at the hospital. I prayed there would be no traffic so we would arrive quickly at the hospital and I also prayed she would be born at a time of day that My mom and the girls could come visit us right away. (Unlike if she was born in the night). God has answered every prayer in a clear way. I feel so blessed to have had the labor and delivery experience that I did!

Six Days to go!

My doctor kept telling me that she didn't think I would make it to my due date of March 18th. My Mom was set to come in on the 15th so we were praying that baby would hold out at least until then! Well, after much anxious waiting, my Mom arrived and we found our anticipation had switched to getting this baby here! I had decided that it would be really perfect for her to come on the 16th. There would be a full moon, my mom would be here, we would have plenty of time to be with the new baby and there would be no more waiting.
Well, of course the 16th came and went and it was a good reminder there was nothing we could really do to make this baby come apart from God's perfect timing. So we enjoyed our time and continued to wait. It was actually good because everyone was exhausted from the night before where we were up late after picking up my mom from the airport.
Then, after two good night's sleep...
I had woken up a few times in the night to go to the bathroom and also settle the girls back into bed. Each time I noticed that my normal Braxton Hicks contractions were feeling crampy and a bit more uncomfortable than normal. In the morning I was having more uncomfortable cramping and feeling hopeful that maybe things were getting closer.
I took the girls down to get some breakfast and made myself some toast. The cramps were uncomfortable enough that it felt better to eat my breakfast standing. After I finished I decided the cramping plus the noise of the girls was too much. So I asked my Mom if they could just finish their breakfast with her so I could go upstairs.
At 9am I decided to try and time the cramps because it did seem that they came and went but they didn't feel like full abdominal contractions. They became more and more uncomfortable and I found they were the worst and closest together when I was up walking around. So I found the best spot was kneeling on a pillow at the foot of the bed and hanging my upper body and arms over the bed. I did this in each room upstairs as the kids moved in and out and were playing. I finally settled in my room and was able to be left alone for the most part.
After running out of water and hearing the kids fight I began to wonder why Mat or my Mom hadn't come to check on me. (In their defense they had no reason to think I was laboring while they drank their coffee). Nia peeked in on me at one point so I asked her to go get me more water. She faithfully returned shortly with a full water bottle. So sweet.
Around 10:30a Mat came in. He asked if we were going to have the baby today. "I think so." I answered. I still didn't want to be too sure and get my hopes up. Yet with how intense these cramping contractions were I really couldn't imagine that it would all be for nothing.
Mat began to massage my back and then my Mom took over as Mat began to pack the remaining things for our hospital bag. We began trying to figure out if it was true labor and if we should get a ride. Mat called Carrie Maples who was unavailable and then asked Michelle (our neighbor) but their car wouldn't start. She happened to have a friend over who had an appointment that day in the direction of Aga Khan (our hospital) but it would mean we would have to leave now.

My mom did massage while Dora kept me warm.

I still wasn't convinced I was in full blown labor. I was pretty sure it had started but I never want to go in too early. The cramps were getting really intense especially if I couldn't stay focused on being relaxed, but I didn't feel like it was doing the whole pulling up to open and pushing down to get baby out. But as I looked at the numbers on my contraction timer they definitely had been averaging at least 5 min apart and lasting a minute for over an hour. Finally Mat said something that I took as a definitive opinion that we should leave. As we were heading out I decided to try and use the bathroom one last time. As I got another contraction my body started to feel "pushy" and it kinda scared me. I brushed it off and figured it was just having to go to the bathroom, but really I was slightly concerned to get into a stranger's car that likely would get stuck in traffic.
As I got in the car I went on my hands and knees to try and handle the next contraction. Again I felt the pressure of the contraction and almost told them I didn't think we should try and make it. I decided to keep quiet and just pray we made it to the hospital.
It was an amazingly beautiful day out and somehow there was no traffic (a near miracle in Nairobi). My contractions continued to get stronger and closer together and I even started to not be able to catch my breath (something that always happens to me during transition, just before pushing). The pressure continued and I focused on just trying to stay calm knowing that fear would only make the contractions more painful. I convinced myself that if it came to it, I could hold this baby off!
Despite a pedestrian hitting our car on the way, we arrived at the hospital in what seemed to be miraculous timing. Mat ran around the hospital to get a wheel chair (which ended up being broken so we had to get another one). As I sat there in serious labor, the hospital parking guard kept trying to talk to me and get me out of the car. "Seriously?!" I thought, "Can't you see I'm busy here?!" Finally, once I got into the wheel chair I said to Mat, "I may be wrong, but I think we need to hurry!" Mat told the nurses to hurry and that I was about to have the baby. He was more sure of the situation that I was. I had at least two contractions on the way to the delivery room and with each one I warned them that I was feeling a lot of pressure and Mat reminded them to hurry.
Once we got into the delivery room I asked the nurse if I could use the bathroom first. She asked if she could check me because sometimes the feeling is actually the baby coming. I agreed. She asked me to undress to change into a gown. I only got my pants half off before the next contraction came. My body began to push and I started to feel what I assume was the baby crowning. "She's coming!" I informed the nurses.
The nurse remained very calm and informed me that we would continue but the doctor may not make it. "No kidding." I thought. With the help of the nurse I climbed on the bed onto all fours. "Is that how you want to be?" The nurse asked. "I think so." I answered.
"Here comes another one." I managed to get out in my attempt to make sure the nurses were paying attention incase something happened. I began to feel my body take over and the baby crown. As the nurses told me to push I relaxed my body remembering my best chances of preventing tears was to let my body deliver her in it's own time. Feeling a big gush as the contraction finished, I looked down and saw my baby come out head to toe! "She's here!" I exclaimed in shock. I could not believe it!!
We got everyone cleaned up and all continued to marvel at her speedy entry! Dr. Carvalho arrived very shortly after. She asked for the time of birth and everyone kind of looked at each other and laughed. In the quickness and chaos no one noted the time. Mat looked at what time he texted my mom and made a guesstimate off of that!

With my new baby girl after we recovered from the whirlwind of her birth!

"Should I ask them to start filling up the tub?" Mat joked as we gazed at our new baby girl. "I just can't have my water birth can I?" I smiled. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Everly Zahara born March 18th, 2014 (on her due date)

at 12:10pm(ish)

3.5kilos (7lbs 7 oz) 50cm (19.5in)