Day 2,410

The Most Precious Gift

My beautiful little Molly Louise. Daddy likes to call her Lou for short. But actually, he likes her first name even better. And I do too. 

We hadn’t settled on a name up until a little over a week ago when I received a text from one of the most adored people in my life. I had posted on my blog that we were looking for names and to text me with suggestions if anyone had any. Well, she texted me a few names - sweet ones by the way - but still nothing stuck. Then I looked at HER name, said it in my head, and thought, “that’s it!” When Adam got home from workout, we sat down for breakfast and I turned to him and said, “Babe, what about Molly?” The second I said it and before he responded, his face gave it away. OF COURSE. I’ll never forget that smile he had. 

When I was 21 years old, I stepped foot into Molly’s home for the very first time. And my life was never the same. She had four young children then and I vividly remember the immediate and overwhelming feeling of peace come upon me as I walked inside. Even with four kids. It was something I’d never felt before. And something I knew I never wanted to live without again. 

It didn’t take long at all for me to understand the nearly tangible peace that filled her home: Christ. And for an unsaved college girl who wanted nothing to do with “religion,” I was confronted with everything I thought I knew about God from that day onward because of how badly I desired that same peace. Faithfully, she kept sharing her home and her Lord with me, even taking me to church for the first time since my elementary days in Catholic school. Molly’s humility and steadfast obedience in her genuine pursuit of Christ was the most precious thing I’d ever seen and ultimately, the Lord used her words and her life and her love for Him in drawing me to Himself. Now the Peace that fills the space in her home is the same Peace that fills my soul. And hopefully my home too! ;) 

So, Molly. Molly Louise. We literally could not think of a better name for our daughter than Molly. And I can’t wait to tell her all about the beautiful woman she’s named after because of the precious and peace-bringing Savior who redeemed us both. Praise You, Lord! And thank you, Molly Sears, for loving me so well, trusting not in yourself but in the saving Truth of Christ and his gospel. Our God is so good. 

Yesterday was filled with excitement and extreme exhaustion. Molly was born at 8:47 Sunday night, so all our big kids were up far later than we’d anticipated, making for a squirrelly day. They might’ve been short on sleep, but they certainly weren’t short on love!

Big brother is beyond proud of his little Molly and won’t stop kissing her! A far cry from the gender reveal sadness just 20 weeks ago! This boy loves his girl and even got to cut her umbilical cord! 

Sissy is extra gentle with our Little Lou and gets the biggest grin whenever she gets the chance to hold her. These two were the first two to share a smile and I somehow managed to get a photo of it! 

Ella Mae, on the other hand, is still our bruiser, which means that Molly has already been accidentally smacked with a bottle and poked in the eye. She doesn’t quite understand the meaning of “gentle,” so we have our work cut out for us. Not to mention the fact that she’s already a bit discontent with the attention Molly is receiving. She loves her though and insists on holding her constantly, but only for a few seconds at a time! 

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A little bit about her birth:

I started contractions after church and after I woke up from a nap at 3:30 - such a sweet grace! They were progressively stronger but were 8 minutes apart. At 5 PM, I got up to use the bathroom and immediately, they changed pace and duration, lasting 40 seconds (down from 1 minute), but coming every 2-3 minutes. I called my midwife in confusion, so she decided to come the the house to check things out. At 6 PM she arrived, measured me, and I was dilated to a 5 (with Ella Mae, I was dilated to a NINE when my midwives arrived, so I was a bit bummed to hear I was only at a 5 at that point). She let me continue laboring alone, called my second midwife over to the house (both the same ladies who helped me birth Ella Mae!), and as they were contemplating staying or leaving, I started getting stronger and stronger contractions while laying on my bed. They decided to instead stay, and thankfully they did because by 8:30, I was at a 10 and ready to push! Nobody was expecting this, as there was no water in the pool and none in the bathtub either. They rushed to fill our bathtub, but before it was filled up half way, I had somehow managed to push Molly’s head out and there was no way we were making it to the water. So instead of my third water birth, I got to experience my first bed-birth. And it went just about as perfectly as it could’ve. My quickest labor. My most enjoyable labor. And my least painful labor. Thank you Molly Louise! You’re living up to your name already ;)