PERFECT TIMING!

Back in September, the Lord began planning a trip where Abner and his whole family would travel to Argentina in November. Abner and I prayed about his going, knowing that the dates that he was going to be gone were very close to my delivery date. Feeling that this trip was from the Lord, we booked the ticket with Abner returning on November 27th, while the rest of his family returned on the 30th.
The same day that Abner arrived my sister-in-law, Gina, who is also my gynecologist, checked me to see if I had started to dilate, and to my surprise I was at 3cm, but without any pain, so Gina and I were thinking that the baby would come Wednesday night or Thursday. I just wanted one day with Abner after him being gone for two weeks.
Susana and I went to the airport at 8:00, and anxiously awaited daddy’s arrival. I could feel that the baby had dropped and there was that same pressure pushing downward that I remembered before giving birth the first time, but didn’t think much about it. Susana was all smiles when she saw Abner walk through the door, and on the car ride home kept rubbing his arm. Too cute! Upon arriving, Abner mentioned that he had barely slept the night before and I was like, o.k. Lord, not tonight.
After getting back to Jorge Mario and Gina’s house, where we were staying, we all went to bed tranquilos, calmly not expecting a baby to be born. Around 3:00 a.m., Susana woke up and we stuck her in bed with us. I had started having contractions before this, but still wasn’t sure if they were the real ones, or just more Braxton-hicks. With Susana squirming around next to me, I decided that the floor was more comfortable. Around 3:30 a.m., I had diarrhea, which was the first real thought that I could really be in labor. While in the bathroom, I confessed to the Lord that I didn’t know if I could really go through the whole 2 ½ hours of hard labor that I had went through with Susana, and simply asked that He would give me His strength and endurance.
Once leaving the bathroom, I went back to the floor and Abner came over to see how I was doing, I told him, “I think that we are having this baby tonight.” He told me that he was going to go and get Gina, but I asked him to wait until the contractions where closer together. Reminding me that she needed to get everything prepared, he went to get her. When Gina came in all she said was, “Kelley Marie, Kelley Marie.” After checking me once again and finding that I was at 8 cm. which was music to my ears, Gina’s famous words in both births, “Don’t push!” As Gina and Abner were preparing the room for labor, the contractions continued. Once the room was ready Gina told me to lie down and by that time I was free to push with each contraction. After three good pushes, Abner Daniel Arévalo Hofmaster made his way out and into our arms at 4:30 a.m., weighing 8lbs. and measuring 50 cm.(19 ¾ inches).
This truly was a blessed birth and we are blessed to have this little guy with us. The Lord answered so many prayers two of the big ones were that Abner would make it back in time and that Susana would be asleep during the birth. God answered these prayers and continues to reveal His faithfulness to us daily. Abner Daniel is a good baby, very peaceful! Susana is loving being a big sister and just can’t kiss him enough throughout the day. Abner is a GREAT husband and daddy and it is so good to have him home.