Meet Josiah David Jolicoeur.

This little guy made his way into the world Friday via c-section at 12:19 pm. He was 7 lbs 3 oz and 21 inches long.

My contractions began at 3:30 am and we made it to the hospital around 5:30 am. I was unable to have a VBAC because his heart rate dropped as labor progressed. (This same thing happened with our 2nd child, Gideon…it was like deja vu.) Turns out the cord was around Josiah’s neck as well as his abdomen. Apparently my kids have long umbilical cords.

I cried as they wheeled me down to the operating room. It may sound silly, but having another c-section was the last thing I wanted to do. I began to relive the fear that surrounded Gideon’s birth.  My husband prayed over me as they pulled Josiah from distress.

When Kevin finished praying, we heard something beautiful… Josiah’s cry. It was strong and loud. As Kevin went over to the baby table, I heard him asking a thousand questions. Does he have an abnormally large fontanel? Does he have a deep sacral dimple? Are his feet turned in? Does he look unusual to you guys?…

These are just some of the abnormalities that Josiah’s big brother Gideon had at birth. They were the oddities that led us down a dark path, searching for answers as to what was wrong with our sweet Gideon.

As far as we can tell, Josiah has none of those abnormalities!! However, it will still be several weeks for that test to be confirmed. For now, Josiah appears to be healthy, alert and strong. In fact, after they stitched me up and took me to recovery, he latched on and nursed immediately!!

And of course, the whole family is in love with him.

Stay tuned… Josiah David Jolicoeur is sure to make our lives a bit more interesting.

Hopefully baby Josiah will be making his appearance in the coming days. I went to my doctor Monday for my 39 week check up and I was dilated to 4 cm! I’ve been slowly dilating for a couple of weeks now and I’ve been talking with Laynie about what that means. So on my way out the door to the appointment she told me- “Good luck mom, I hope your uterus is…ummm…expanded.”  I didn’t correct her. I figured she was close enough. Can you tell we use proper terminology around here?

I love our big girl. She is wise for her age. Several weeks ago, we were driving, when out of nowhere she said, “Mom, baby Josiah has a 25% chance of being like Gideon.” I breathed deeply and told her she was correct. After a few moments of silence she spoke up again and said, “But mom, that means baby Josiah has a 75% chance of being like me.” I smiled and said, “Yes baby. And which percentage is bigger?” To which she replied, “Oh no, that means baby Josiah is for sure going to get into ALL my things!” (Unlike her brother Gideon, of course.)

We are extremely excited to welcome this new addition to our family. Clearly there are some genetic risks involved. However, since Gideon has been such a blessing to our family, we decided it was a risk we were willing to take.

So over the next week, I welcome your prayers for a few things-

1. I’m planning on having a VBAC. My prayer is that it’s successful because I cannot fathom the recovery of a C-section while caring for baby Josiah AND Gideon.
2. While we are willing to accept whatever the Lord provides, clearly we would like prayers that baby Josiah is healthy and free from the genetic disorder (PBD) that affects his brother Gideon.
3. Sanity as we navigate how to do life as a family of five. I know people do it all the time, but with Gideon’s special needs, I feel like it’s going to be tough at first as we juggle feeding schedules between baby Josiah and his big brother.

Thanks for following our journey. I’ll post photos on my blog as soon as Josiah arrives. While I think we will know right away if baby Josiah is affected by PBD, the results from his blood work will take a couple of weeks to confirm. Thanks for your patience as we await that news.