Welcome To The Family, Anabel!
Well it has been a crazy day!
Last night (Friday 5-25-12) Aubrie started having contractions that were slightly harder than she’d been having for the past month. For those that have been following our story, you know we’ve been expecting our second daughter and were already overdue by a couple days. In fact, a month ago we spent the night in the hospital in which they tried to stop pre-term labor. They did a pretty good job! We spent another night in the hospital 3 weeks ago and they were sure we’d be leaving with our child in our arms then. Nope. It wasn’t time…
And, for 3 weeks she had regular contractions and was walking around at about 5 cm dilated.
Well, last night turned into early morning, and the contractions were getting so painful that we decided to go to the hospital as soon as we could.
We got there just after 2 AM and by 2:54 AM we heard the first cries of baby Anabel May Vance! Aubrie went so fast into hard labor that the doctor on call couldn’t get there in time for the delivery! In fact, though Aubrie was in extreme pain, they didn’t have time to get her meds or an epidural to relieve the pain. she went from 6 cm dilated to 10 in a matter of 3 or 4 minutes and only pushed for 2 minutes before Anabel made her grand entry. This baby was ready to be seen!
She weighed in at 7 lb 8 oz, measured 20 1/4 inches long and has been extremely healthy so far.
We decided to name her Anabel, which means Beautiful Grace of God. Her middle name is May, which was my grandmother’s name and is a part of my wife’s grandmothers name.
Amira came in later this afternoon and was thrilled to see her baby sister. She was all smiles. I think they’re going to make a good pair!
We appreciate your prayers. God has been so good to us and has been with us through it all.
Enjoy some pictures from the day….
Christ In Every Book!!
I was doing some studying today for a message and came across this amazing quote tucked away in a reference book on my shelf. This brought a tear to my eye and an awe in my outlook of who our great Savior is! Enjoy…
Christ In Every Book
“Christ is the theme of the entire Revelation of God. He is promised in Genesis, revealed in the Law, prefigured in its history, praised in poetry, proclaimed in its prophecy, provided in its Gospels, proved in its Acts, preeminent in its Epistles and prevailing in Revelation.
He is seen in every book of the Bible. Take a journey through the Halls of Holy Writ and in every one of them you will see Christ.
GENESIS He is the Seed of the woman;
EXODUS the Lamb for sinners slain;
LEVITICUS, our High Priest;
NUMBERS the Star of Jacob and the Brazen Serpent;
DEUTERONOMY the Prophet like unto Moses and the Great Rock;
JOSHUA the Captain of the Lord’s Hosts;
JUDGES the Messenger of Jehovah;
RUTH our Kinsman-Redeemer and the Faithful Bridegroom;
1 SAMUEL He is seen as the Great Judge;
2 SAMUEL as the Princely King;
I KINGS David’s Choice;
2 KINGS as the Holiest of All;
1 CHRONICLES as King by birth;
2 CHRONICLES as King by Judgment;
EZRA He is seen as Lord of heaven and earth;
NEHEMIAH as the builder;
ESTHER our Mordecai;
JOB our Daysman and our Risen, returning Redeemer;
PSALMS the Son of God and the Good Shepherd;
PROVERBS our Wisdom;
ECCLESIASTIES the One above the sun;
SONG OF SOLOMON the great Church lover, the one Altogether Lovely and Chiefest among ten thousand;
ISAIAH He is the suffering and glorified Servant;
JEREMIAH the Lord our Righteousness;
LAMENTATIONS the Man of Sorrows;
EZEKIEL the glorious God;
DANIEL the Smiting Stone and the Messiah;
HOSEA reveals Him as the risen Son of God;
JOEL the outpourer of the Spirit;
AMOS the Eternal Christ;
OBADIAH, the Forgiving Christ;
JONAH as the Risen Prophet;
MICAH the Bethlehemite;
NAHUM He is the Bringer of Good Tidings;
HABAKKUK the Lord in His Holy Temple;
ZEPHANIAH the Merciful Christ;
HAGGAI, the Desire of all nations;
ZECHARIAH, the Branch;
and MALACHI, the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings.
MATTHEW shows Him as King of the Jews;
MARK the Servant;
LUKE the Perfect Son of Man;
JOHN the Son of God;
ACTS the Ascended Lord;
ROMANS the Lord our Righteousness;
I CORINTHIANS our Resurrection;
2 CORINTHIANS our Comforter;
GALATIANS the end of the Law;
EPHESIANS the head of the Church;
PHILIPPIANS the Supplier of every need;
COLOSSIANS the Fullness of the Godhead;
I THESSALONIANS He comes for His Church;
2 THESSALONIANS He comes with His Church;
I TIMOTHY He is the Mediator;
2 TIMOTHY the Bestower of Crowns;
TITUS Our Great God and Savior;
PHILEMON the Payer of our Debt;
HEBREWS the rest of the Faith and the Fulfiller of Types;
JAMES, the Lord drawing nigh;
1 PETER the Vicarious Sufferer;
2 PETER the Lord of Glory;
I JOHN the Way;
2 JOHN the Truth;
3 JOHN the Life;
JUDE, He is Our Security;
REVELATION
• the Lion of the Tribe of Judah,
• the Lamb of God,
• the Bright and Morning Star,
• the King of kings and Lord of lords.”
(Robert J. Wells, Prophetic Messages
for Modern Times; Dallas; Texas Printing House, Inc., 1944; pp. 205, 206)
Video Interview With Colombian President
The following interview by TIME magazine with Colombian President Juan Miguel Santos is worth a few minutes of your time. It may give you a glimpse into where Colombia has been, and where they are going as a country. Would you pray that God would send more laborers into this needy harvest? There are still millions who have never heard the truth of the beautiful Gospel of Christ.
Baby Update & Help Us Pick A Name!
Where’s That Baby?
Many have been asking me if we’ve had the baby yet. The short answer is, no, we’re still waiting. Now for the long answer…
Tuesday, April 17th we spent a few hours in the hospital because Aubrie was starting to go into early labor (see previous post). They put her on bed rest and our goal was to get to Thursday, May 3rd when she would be 37 weeks along and the baby would be likely to have fewer complications. Well, at around Midnight on Thursday the 3rd she started feeling heavier contractions and they were coming more frequently, so off to the hospital we went again.
Aubrie was measuring near 6 cm dilation and was about 65-70% effaced. We spent the wee hours of the morning on Thursday in the Labor & Delivery room, waiting on the baby to come. In fact, when we asked about the possibility of us leaving and coming again later, one nurse said… “Oh, you won’t be going home until after having this baby!”
After hours and hours with no further change, we came home. Later that afternoon we went back to the office for another check. Still no change, still no baby. When will she be here? Only the Lord knows! lol…
Aubrie is still having lots of frequent contractions, 3-6 minutes apart, but she’s the most patient mother-to-be that I’ve ever seen! I don’t know how she does it. Each day I get up knowing it will be the day, then another night comes and goes. For me, it’s been the longest few days ever. 🙂
Now for the good part…
With our first child we had her name picked before we were even married. This one has been different. We’re leaning toward naming her either Anabel or Anabela. The middle name is still up in the air too! What do you think? Vote on your favorite below:
Ok, one of those names is not really an option. Thanks so much for staying up to date with us. Your prayers and notes of encouragement mean so much. We know this baby will come in God’s timing, and we’ll keep you posted when we find out what that is! 😀
Here are some pictures from our adventure the other night at the hospital.
Bed Rest? What’s That?!
It has been an interesting week, to say the least. Not exactly what we planned, but God knows 🙂
We got home late Monday night from a missions conference about 9 hours away (BTW, thanks to the good folks of Grace Baptist Church in Newport NC for an awesome week!). Tuesday was our only free day before leaving for another two conferences starting on Wednesday. Well, since we’re hardly in town these days, we scheduled an appointment with Aubrie’s doctor. With one month to go on our pregnancy, we found out that Aubrie was having contractions every 7-8 minutes, was 4 cm dilated and 50% effaced! Basically, she was way ahead of schedule and at risk to go into preterm labor. Soooo, off to the hospital we went. Aubrie’s doctor wanted to get her hooked up to an IV to get lots of fluids in her and continue to watch her contractions and the baby.
Long story short, we only stayed a few hours before they sent us home with very specific instructions for Aubrie to be on bed rest, mainly to keep this baby from coming too early. The goal is to get us until May 3rd when she’ll be a full 37 weeks. That’s still 3 weeks early, but it will be far enough along that the baby shouldn’t have any complications.
Wait… bed rest? What’s that??
Like I said, it’s been an interesting week! I cancelled our other two conferences and decided to stay home to take care of Aubrie and Amira. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve occasionally cooked meals, washed clothes, washed dishes, changed diapers, cleaned the house and kept up some with our 2-year-old before… but this has been a whole new ball game. Taking care of these things exclusively while Aubrie rests has been an eye opener to how awesome of a wife and mother she is! To think she does this stuff all the time, without complaining and still keeping up with me as we travel… well, it’s amazing! And some people say that housewives don’t have real jobs… ha.
I know you’ll read this Aubrie… Thank you. I love you and appreciate all you do. You’re the best.
Now, if we can keep this child cooking for just a little longer that would be great. Only a few more days left until we can reach 37 weeks. Aubrie is still having plenty of contractions, even with rest. But we know our next little princess will come when she’s ready, and God will give strength and grace to bring her into this world.
I’ll let you all know when our girl arrives. As the day approaches I’ll be posting pictures and micro updates on our Twitter and Facebook accounts if you’d like to stay even more up-to-date. Thanks for your prayers. We love y’all!
Here’s a video of Amira getting ready for her little sister’s arrival. She and her mommy have made a book to read to her. It is adorable.
The Vance Family 