God Has Promised~The story of Janai's birth

August 6th we celebrated the birth of our dear daughter Janai Abrianna. Janai means "God hath promised." Here is the story of her birth and how we came to choose her name. It was a hot summer, my 11th pregnancy and I was feeling hugely uncomfortable. (not underestimating when I use the word huge) So ready to have this child to be born and knowing how I go so far over my due date I was feeling anxious. My husband and I spent much time in prayer during this time and put our hope and trust in the Lord to bring this baby safe into the world, ~and quickly.~ On the night of my due date I was sleeping restlessly and actually dreamed I was having contractions. I awoke and thought to myself that since my 'dream' seemed real I will just lay awake to see what was going on. This was about 3:30 a.m. The contractions felt light and I convinced myself I was just beginning. I didn't want to waken my husband to do nothing but at the same time I was feeling lonely!! So about 15 minutes later I woke him up and he began preparing our room for the birth while we commenced small talk as to whether or not to call our midwife. He said he would feel better if we got her on the phone so I called her around 3:50 a.m. My contractions were about 5-10 minutes apart at this time. I had two while talking on the phone with her. She wanted to know if I wanted her to come now or would I rather just labour alone with my husband for a while. It really didn't matter to me but she ended up making the decision to come on over based on the sound of my breathing. During her 15 minute drive to our house I was beginning to get more and more uncomfortable and my anxiety kicked in again. I had been concerned for months as to whether or not I was emotionally ready to handle another birth. I was weak, (emotionally, and I knew it) At one point when my husband and I were on our way up the stairs I had another contraction and I began to break down with fear as I could feel my strength leaving me and I feared I wouldn't be able to keep myself together. So we stopped right there on the steps and and he prayed a blessing for me that I would be strong and that the Lord would bless my body to have a quick delivery! I knew that the prayer should help me relax and have faith but I was just so fearful....The Lord's meaning of quick and my meaning of quick could be very different!! I continued upstairs to settle into a hot bath hoping to relax a bit more. By this time not even an hour had passed by from the time I awoke until now and I'm thinking 'girl you better pull yourself together, you can't fall apart now, you've only just begun.' I had 10 sleeping children and the house was so quiet and peaceful. My midwife arrived and was standing downstairs wondering if anyone was even at home since all was so quiet. We didn't know she was here until my husband came down to get me a drink and nearly knocked her over because of the darkness in the diningroom!! He told her I was upstairs in the bathtub and for her to go on up. She walked into the bathroom, watched me have about 2 contractions and said, "Okay, it's time to deliver this baby." That woke me up in a hurry. I hadn't realized I was that close but sure enough within 2 or 3 more contractions our little daughter was born. Right there in a tub full of hot water. Daddy wasn't aware we were that close to birth and he barely made it back by my side. Our eldest daughter's Juli and Kim were there as well and were happy to welcome their newest little sister. Janai was born approximately 50 minutes after I woke up and she weighed a whopping 10 lbs 2 oz. I believe it was about 4:20 a.m. It only took one little newborn yell and my entire home came alive as one by one each of the children gravitated to Janai's side exited to hold her. What a lovely morning it was. "Truly, God had answered."

Robyn, Makenzie and big brother Vance enjoying Janai just moments after her birth.

She got a sewing machine for her birthday and she and her sister's have already made 2 skirts. Janai is wearing one of the skirts she made herself!! My girls love to sew so when I found this 50% off last week I knew I had to get it. How lucky for Janai her birthday was on the horizon so it became hers. I was amazed at how much she loved it. Not only her but her sister's too.