Happy Birthday, Hosanna Joy!

 Our precious miracle #3 is here!
Hosanna Joy Stewart came perfectly into our arms Friday, November 2 at 9:12 am weighing 8 lbs. and sporting 51 cm long. She's got a full head of dark brown hair and has already showed signs of a strong personality....opinionated about everything! :)

 We named her Hosanna for a variety of reasons, but Tim found a great word study done by John Piper on Hosanna. Click here to read: http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper83/032783e.htm

The longer birth story will be in a later post, but here is the brief synopsis.  I started labour on Wednesday night but it was very sporadic.  We knew impending doom was coming though.  On Thursday I laboured with some dear friends who go to Promise's preschool.  They were a little nervous to ride in the car with me; I was driving.  But things really didn't get active until about 5pm when I could no longer give undivided attention to the kids, so Toby threw trucks at me during contractions in his rage.  So I asked Tim to come home and we called the midwife.

Left the kids with grandma Christina and headed off to the hospital to get the first bout of antibiotics.  At 8pm they admitted me; I was 4cm.  After a loooong and sloooowww labour, at 8:45am I felt it was time to push this sucker out but my midwife told me not to.  So I waited very begrudgingly and tried not to push.  At 9am I'd had enough and it was time to push.  Three contractions and Hosanna came out without a tear!

There were cries of joy and excitement as our healthy baby girl breathed her first.  We are so grateful she is strong and healthy.  Grandma brought Toby and Promise by to meet there new sister.  They were very sweet and gentle and Toby declared "She's cute!" and then asked if he could pet her.  Promise started to tell us the agenda for when we took Hosanna home, which included babysitting her and teaching her to crawl and walk.

They discharged us from the hospital with a clean bill of health on Saturday around noon.  We'd love your prayers as we adjust to the chaos of home life with three kids under five.  Specifically, it would be nice if Hosanna would sleep at night, not just during the day.  We're so grateful for all the well-wishes, prayers and support of you all.  We are amazed at God's faithfulness.

Be blessed.