Monday, July 30, 2012

Meet Baby Annie!


In thankfulness for God's gift, the Thomas family would like to invite local friends to come meet Annie and celebrate her entrance into the world. Please drop in sometime Saturday evening from 7:00-9:00 pm. If you need their address, just let me (Megan) know by contacting me at megan.soderberg@athletesinaction.org.

*Also*-  Gifts are not necessary! We are mindful of the blessing of excellent health care and how that has changed the outcome of a potentially very dangerous situation for Susie & Annie. So, if you'd like to bring something, we invite you to bring any of the items listed below, to be used in "Clean Birth Kits", which can help women and infants around the world experience safe deliveries. We will have a little Birth Kit station where together we can assemble these life-saving kits and they will be sent on one of YWAM's medical ships to rural Paupau New Guinea, where 1 in 7 women die in childbirth.

 To participate, please bring some of the following supplies:

1. Bars of Soap (Regular size or hotel size--for the birth attendant to wash her hands).
2. Plastic gloves (for the birth attendant to wear).
3. Gauze 
4. Utility blades (found at hardware store- used to cut the cord).
5. Strong string (2 for tying the cord, 1 for “just in case”).
6. One plastic sheet (for a clean birthing surface). Sheet should be approximately 1×1 meter or 1×1 yard and can be purchased at your hardware or paint store.
7. Sandwich-size ziplock bag (to pack the contents).
Ben, Susie and Annie look forward to seeing all of you!  If you have any questions or want to RSVP, please contact me at megan.soderberg@athletesinaction.org

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Pictures

Well she's just the cutest. I'm going to try to figure out how to post the pics that are hiding on my phone. Let's see if I can figure this out. bear w me, this might take a few tries!

I can't figure out how to type between pics, but here's what we have:

Sibling love. Little last. Waking up faces. Going to sleep faces. We have Olympic fever, looks like Charlie is training for ski jumping? The kids planned a one-week birthday party for Annie, complete w costumes. Baby bottom. More party pics.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Baby Annie has arrived

Thanks so much for your prayers, comments, facebook posts, texts and calls. After a long day of mostly waiting, Baby Anna made her appearance late in the evening. Susie did great. Annie is doing great as well. Throughout the whole day I was just reminded of the grace the Lord has given us through this journey. We are so blessed. Thank you Jesus for your love and grace. Her brothers and sister can't wait to meet her tomorrow. We'll post pictures soon. Bless the Lord O my soul!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

T-minus 1 day....

Susie and I are scheduled to go to the hospital tonight to begin the induction process.  If all goes according to plan, Baby Annie will make her arrival tomorrow.  We can't wait.

As I reflect on the last several months, I am so thankful for the grace that the Lord has given us to get us to this point.  What a journey it has been.  I am overcome with a heart of thankfulness - to the Lord, our family, friends and this vast array of people from all over the world that have prayed for us, encouraged us and supported us along the way.

Please continue to pray for us, especially over the next 24-48 hours as Susie & Annie go through the delivery process.  We are hoping for a very smooth process and a natural delivery, without needing a c-section. 

Once Annie makes her appearance, we will be posting pictures along the way for you all to enjoy. 

For our friends locally, we would love for you to meet Annie.  We will be hosting an Open House sometime in the next 2-4 weeks.  We will let you know the exact date in the next few days. 

In the meantime, as much as we want to share Annie with you, we are going to be limiting the amount of visitors we have.  We are going to be focusing on Susie's recovery and her time with Annie, as she'll start her radiation and chemotherapy in 2 weeks.  Thanks for your understanding in this. 

Well, off to finish a few things before we head to the hospital - finishing the deck, making a table, pedicures (for Susie & her mom), one final date without an infant! 

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Bless the Lord O my Soul - one more week to go!

There is a song that Susie and I have been listening to over and over again, 10,000 reasons by Matt Redman.  It is taken from Psalms 103, where the basic premise is, Bless the Lord, O my soul.  Regardless of what is or has gone in your life, Bless the Lord.  During times of despair, God's love reaches down and pulls you out.  During times of rejoicing He is there.  His love, compassion, righteousness (taking away our sin, and replacing it with His perfection), His mercy and His kingdom is with us. 

Today marks 38 weeks for Annie in Susie's womb.  It also marks the day we lost a baby, Elijah, when we were living in India.  Starting with the loss of Elijah, we have experienced God in ways we never had before.  It was a time of grief that we hadn't walked through before and yet, God's presence, love and compassion were with us. 

As we look forward to a week from today when Annie will be born, I look back to January 25th, the day we found out about Susie's tumor.  God has been with us every step of the way.  They started out by saying she wouldn't survive surgery.  Then it was, she'll be ok.  Then we were trying to get to 32 weeks, which seemed impossible.  After that it was 36 and then it was 39!

We are not sure everything that will be included in Annie's story, we look forward to seeing all that God has in store for her.  I do pray that with everyday, she would learn to say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul.  All that is within me, bless His holy name."

It's been a blessing for Susie, our kids and myself to, 'Bless His Holy Name!'  Thanks for standing with us.

P.S.  Susie is scheduled to be induced next Thursday