Finding Faith in the Battle

She's sweet, she's calm, she sleeps all night--so far, I've finally gotten my 'easy' baby! Omara is 2 months old and already over 10 pounds. Her newest trick is a toothless grin to show off her dimples. It's always such a milestone when they start to smile, since it's the first evidence of her acknowledging me as anything other than a food-source! I started back at the clinic this week, and was a bit nervous about leaving her. It's gone so well, though. She's taking a bottle like a pro for that one feeding, and she and Ms Agnes are getting along great. I've had moments of wishing I hadn't asked God for a chance to work in a clinic again--like when my first patient reported loosing his "voice and legs" suddenly. After I convinced him the laryngitis and legs probably weren't connected, I had to work for 15 minutes trying to figure out what he meant by the fact that his knee joints were numb (he had quad weakness, making his knees ...

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say it’s almost inconceivable—Y2K was just the other day, wasn’t it? Anyway, the calendar tells me it is indeed 2011, though the New Year slipped by with little fanfare by us. The rest of the missionaries got together to party, but we (the youngest) bowed out and went to bed early. I tell myself it’s because no one else has kids who wake them up the next morning at 5:30am, but I was left with a distinct feeling of getting old! We’ve started the new year by getting ourselves ready for success, just like I’m sure many of you have. You know what I mean…the typical resolutions. We’ve committed to exercising together 3 times a week, I’m working on being better at reading to the kids before they go to bed, rather than watching videos (the power being off several nights this week sure has helped!), we de-wormed the kids. You know, the typical new year stuff! We had a great visit with Miriam’s family, though it’s left us battling some homesickness now that...

I’ve been back for 10 days now. I have to say, it’s been a little harder than I expected. Not that I thought adjusting to being a family of 6 would be a walk in the park, but Omara’s almost 6 weeks old already. I thought we’d done a lot of adjusting already! There haven’t been any major issues, but normal every day life here can be issue enough to make anyone crazy. And it’s all the little things, you know? Like trying to get kids to school on time, and all the stores running out of milk, and Isaac being back in the world of needing 2 baths and 4 changes of clothes each day, and mud everywhere, and flies swarming, and killer mosquitoes on the attack (Omara is too small to take malaria-prevention meds). Oh, and that’s not to mention the unbelievable headache of having our modem-phone stolen (which eliminates our internet access from the desktop) at the same time the lap-top crashed (again!) so we’ve been frantically trying to get back on-line to submit year-end budget and ministry repor...

Omara is automatically an American citizen, having been born to American parents. However, to formally file her birth and claim said citizenship, we had to meet with the US Consular at the Embassy today. Actually, Chad had to go last week and file permission for her to get a passport since he wouldn't be here for today's appointment. They require both parent's notarized request for a passport to keep one parent from being able to kidnap a child. Anyway, armed with all the necessary documents, I headed out today to file for "Birth Abroad" and request a passport. These necessary documents were no small feat! In addition to the notarized "letter of concern" from Chad, I also had to have the passport application, birth abroad application, her birth certificate, our marriage license, my passport, and last but not least, 2 passport photos of her. Yes, of Omara, at 2 weeks old. In order to get these, I had to lay her on the coffee table on a white blanket durin...

Omara's first petting zoo Don't worry--our windows were rolled up tightly! Us all with the yet-unnamed baby giraffe, slightly bigger than Omara at 4-days old The vicious attack-bird Isaac discovering the fear of waterslides What is a family to do when stuck in South Africa for weeks, awaiting a new baby’s passport? Dreadful as it is, we’ve tried to make the best of it. With Omara being sweet and mild and very portable, we found ways to entertain ourselves…so many ways, in fact, that I’m quite behind in posting updates! Day 4 after birth we headed out to a game-park, where we petted lion cubs, and spotted any number of gazelle, zebra, ostrich and huge prides of lions sleeping just feet from our car. We also took pictures of Omara with the baby giraffe who shares her birthday! Day 5 we went to a bird sanctuary. Isaac has been particularly fond of birds…pointing out every one he sees and chasing any that dare land near us. We were right in that he loved seein...

Omara Layne Pumpelly Born November 4, 2010 at 2:20pm 6 lbs 10oz, 19.3" long

I have now known the entire spectrum of birth experiences possible! From C-section to natural birth, from precipitous labor to failure-to-progress, from medication-free to an epidural that didn’t work. I haven’t decided why it was necessary for me to experiences all the options, but I’ve ended up with a healthy baby each time, so I know I shouldn’t complain. After Isaac’s rapid (3 hour!) entrance into the world, my OB told me to come in the minute contractions started. I thought I was being daring but reasonable by waiting until they were steadily 8-10 minutes apart for 2 ½ hours first, and then we drove to the hospital at midnight. I was quite discouraged when the nurse told me baby wasn’t fully engaged and I was only 2cm! So I made Chad try to get some rest while I walked up and down the stairs the rest of the night until my thighs couldn’t take the burn anymore. The contractions were strong enough I couldn’t sleep anyway. But nothing increased except in intensity—and imagine my horr...