Introducing Hadessah

Hi guys!

I know I have been MIA for the past couple months but I had so much on my plate with Thanksgiving and Christmas and school AND preparing for the arrival of our second baby girl! Plus if I am completely honest the last couple months of pregnancy for me was totally miserable and I just needed to take a few things off my plate in order to allow myself more time to relax. So now that it is the new year and I am finally starting to feel like myself again I am going to start writing again and what better way to start then by introducing our newest addition!

When Bryan returned from his year long tour in Korea a year ago we knew that we wanted to have another baby.  If you do the math you will quickly be able to tell that we didn't waste any time! We found out that we were pregnant in March and couldn't have been more excited.  Now the most exciting part is when we fast forward to June.  We initially were going to wait until our 20 week ultrasound to find out the sex of our baby but I got the idea to surprise Bryan for Father's Day and go to a private technician to find out early (I was only 15 weeks then).  So I booked the appointment and tried to surprise Bryan.  Of course, just like all surprises involving Bryan, I failed, he figured it out on the way there (sigh, I'll get him good someday!).  So we got there and the technician started the ultrasound and...nothing.  The baby was snuggled up right in my side and did not want to move so after about 15 minutes the technician had me jog up and down the hall, I even through in a few jumping jacks.  I was way to excited to have to wait and come back!  Well it worked!  He continued on with the ultrasound and said we were having a GIRL!  I seriously could not even believe it.  From the beginning of my pregnancy I had a feeling it was a girl but I honestly went in convinced that we were going to have a boy but here we were about to bring in our second girl into the world!  I left completely elated.

After a few moments of sorrow Bryan was excited too! ;)

Fast forward a few more months and we come to the day that Hadessah was born.  I woke up at about four in the morning with contractions they quickly progressed to become about three minutes apart so I knew it was time to go to the hospital.  Once we got there they took my blood pressure and it turned out to by higher than normal so they had to test me for preeclampsia and said they would not be able to admit me until the test results came back.

No admission. No epidural.

I am so not the kind of girl that wants to deliver naturally...give me the drugs, give me all the drugs!

I spent the next five hours waiting to be admitted and it was HORRIBLE!  My contractions were so intense and at that point they were coming about every minute so once one contraction ended I was experiencing almost no relief until the next one started.  This was my second child so I had done this before but I didn't remember it being so beyond painful!  I literally thought I was going to die!  Thank the Lord for my husband who held my hand through it all.  My mom was also there with us the whole time and she was such a great support too!

At about nine in the morning just when I felt like I couldn't go any longer in such pain they finally came in and told me the test results came back normal and that they could admit me.  The got me a room and the anesthesiologist came almost immediately to give me my epidural, which was basically the highlight of my entire year!  After that I felt amazing and just got as much rest as I could before it was time to deliver.  They came in later in the early evening to check on me and told me it was time it was time to deliver and about ten minutes later Hadessah was here!

She was born on December 8th at 5:50 pm.  She was 7 lbs. 7 oz, 18 inches long, and had a full head of hair!

When they first laid her on my chest my heart absolutely exploded!  I never knew I could be so blessed with two such beautiful girls!

Ezrah has also been so amazing!  It's something we really prayed about during my pregnancy, that God would prepare her heart to share her mommy and daddy with her new sister.  He has been so faithful.  Ezrah loves to help dress her and change her diapers and is always giving her lots of hugs and kisses! Our days are never perfect.  We wake up two to three times a night and now we experience two times the whining and two times the tantrums and we are tired!  But through all of the stresses of each day there is one thing that remains consistent and that is the fact that we are immeasurably blessed!  We thank the Lord everyday for our two girls and we are so excited for the journey that lies ahead as parents of two!


The Story Behind Hadessah's Name 

When it came to picking names for our children Bryan and I not only wanted to choose unique names that not many other people have but we also really wanted to focus on the meaning behind them. Both our girls names are Hebrew in origin but we decided to spell both a little differently. So Ezrah's name means the Lord's helper, which we absolutely love.  Her middle name is Elizabeth, which runs in my family so we knew we wanted to use it but it also means devoted to God.  We want to raise our children to become Godly women so Ezrah Elizabeth seems so fitting of our desire for her to grow to become a follower of Jesus who goes out to be his hands and feet. 

Ok, so now for the story behind Hadessah.  Unlike our first Bryan and I actually agreed on her name almost immediately (we talked about a few other names before we fell in love with the name Ezrah).  Hadessah is inspired by the name Hadassah found in the book of Esther.  Queen Esther actually had another name before she was declared queen and that was Hadassah.  The direct translation of Hadessah is myrtle tree, which doesn't seem like much at first but myrtle is known for having a pleasantly sweet fragrance, which directly reflects the character of queen Esther.  She was a compassionate woman and leader. Now contrary to popular belief we did not come up with her middle name Rey by watching Star Wars (although it is a fun coincidence). Rey actually means king in Spanish so paired with her first name Hadessah Rey translates into Compassionate King, which is to serve as a reminder in our household that we serve a tender and compassionate God and that he is good. 

So there you have it, the story behind our girls' names.  I know it seems kind of complicated but we love them because they really mean something special to us as followers of Jesus and as a family! 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, I will be back with more soon! 


2 comments

  1. Beautiful! I enjoyed reading this. You shared yourself with us, and that's so special! Thank you!

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