Birth of my daughter!!

WOW!!!! I have a daughter!!! Lyle Sasser's prayers worked, and as he says "Let the finger wrapping begin." Don't get me wrong...I LOVE MY SON! But there is something about a daughter that I know will touch my heart in a different way. She is a true blessing from God and I know that I will treasure her forever. Here are some of the ways that our/your prayers have been answered in her birth.

1. Quick conception: It took Lisa and I almost 2 years to get pregnant with William, and after trying ONE month, we get pregnant.
2. We were blessed with a great doctor that speaks English and was trained in France. Also, we were blessed with a good hospital as well. A very modern hospital with well trained staff (FYI: this is the hospital that all of West Africa uses for births and other medical issues if/when needed).
3. God blessed us with good language skills so that we were able to go through the entire process without any other helpers. Even though the doctor spoke English, the nurses did not and neither did Mariama's doctor. THIS IS A MAJOR THING FOR US AND OUR WOLOF!!
4. The whole birth process was fairly smooth, and the rough areas God carried us through.
1. Lisa started labor in the morning of the 22nd and was given some Pitosin to help induce. We were then sent home after about 2 hours and told to try again later as the contractions were not strong enough and she was not fare enough along. After attending a movie night that the missy school put on, we returned home and William was not feeling well and woke-up every 5 minutes crying, even in our bed. Then, about 11pm, the Pitosin starts to really kick in giving Lisa severe cramps and pain. After an hour of this, she is on the floor in the bathroom in tears and pain and William is scared in our bed. We called "grampa Johnson" and go to the hospital, thinking she may have a virus that has been going around, to find out that she was having contractions. They gave her some medicine to slow down the contractions and the waiting game begin (it is now 2am). When the big time comes, as Mariama is being born, I saw the doctor doing something with her head and he keep saying "Oh my...Oh my!" I found out after she was born why, the doctor told me the cord had wrapped around her head 5 TIMES, and had even tried to knot as well. She was quite, which scared and concerned Lisa, but soon the doctor came back from checking her and said that she was "perfect."
   

There were other things from the next couple of days, but I will write about them in another blog. Thank you for ALL your prayers and keep them coming!!