On Friday, January 18 at 8:17 a.m., our daughter, Hannah Elizabeth Claire Warrington, graced us with her presence. She was 7 lbs., 20 inches at birth, and we are so thrilled to finally have her with us!
We know we gave our baby girl a long name, but it tells a story of our journey with her and hopes and desires for her.
- Hannah - means "God's Grace." We feel like she really is God's grace to us as it was a long journey for us to even get pregnant.
- Elizabeth - means "Consecrated to God; God is my Satisfaction." Our hope and prayer is that her ultimate satisfaction will be in our Heavenly Father.
- Claire - means "Bright." Throughout our pregnancy, several friends, along with us, have specifically prayed that Hannah will be a bright light in our ministry and that she will point people to Christ.
Last week was quite the whirlwind, as on Monday, Kaitlin had a sudden spike in blood pressure after a very healthy pregnancy and was put on bed rest. At our doctor's appointment on Thursday, Hannah's due date, things were not better, and our doctor pushed for an induction. We were not thrilled about this as it was going to throw out our hopes of having a natural birth. But after talking, we felt like induction really was in the best interest for Hannah. We ran home, grabbed our bags, told family about the changes and headed to the hospital by late afternoon.
We thought we were going to have a very hard road ahead of us that night, but God was very gracious. Once at the hospital, Kaitlin's blood pressure lowered a bit and the doctor was willing to give her the less aggressive induction meds. By 3 a.m., contractions kicked in naturally and we were able to deliver with the original, natural birth plan 5 hours later. We are so thrilled by this and attribute this to so many friends and family praying for us throughout the night.
The next couple of days at the hospital were a blur, and we made it home Sunday evening. Now we've been learning to settle into life as a family of three.
Thank you for your prayers and support through our pregnancy and for celebrating this time with us! We can't wait to introduce Hannah to all of you!
Blessings to you!
- Mark and Kaitlin