Harbor Life Ministries

Induction is scheduled at 9pm tonight, Feb. 4, for Chelsy, whose due date was two days ago.

The sex of the baby is undetermined, so even though an induction takes some of the surprise out of the birth, the baby’s name could be Carson Zavier or Adelynn Joelle.

Chelsy will be parenting her child, boy or girl. Her mother Lena will assist her.

Please pray for Chelsy to have a healthy baby, and remember to check back tomorrow. Subscribing to our feed is a good way to keep on top of news from HLM.

            Hannah meets Samuel

Samuel Andrew, at 7 lb. 1 oz. and 21 inches long, arrived yesterday at 3:21 pm. Mom and baby are both doing well.

Her delivery was great. I was so impressed with her. She did such a great job.

Hannah’s mother could not get to Ohio for the delivery but should arrive Saturday, and then they plan to head back home on Monday to start school on Tuesday.

There were a few God things that happened at the hospital which I would love to share if anyone wants to hear.

Thanks again for all your love and prayers.

The day started at 5:30. Hannah woke Kirsten, our 18-year-old leaving for college in a few days who has become good friends in a short time with Hannah.

“Kirsten,” she said in her soft voice, “I think I’m really in labor now. The contractions hurt.”

The contractions were occurring about every two-to-three minutes. Kirsten and Hannah “hung out for awhile” (in Kirsten’s words), then woke Karla around 6:45 am. After showering and pulling everything together, they left for the hospital around 8.

The nurses checked her and found her cervix to be around 5 cm. dilated, half the distance to full dilation needed for childbirth.

They notified the doctor, who said she be in as soon as she could to break Hannah’s water. In the meantime, Hannah got comfortable–or as comfortable as she could get–in bed. The nurses wouldn’t allow her to get up and walk around until her water had been broken.

She tried out a few different positions as the contractions continued to get stronger.

The nurses did allow her to get onto the birthing ball for a short time. The birthing ball is air-filled plastic vinyl, about 3 feet in diameter, like a giant kickball. It helps stretch the muscles around the vaginal opening, loosening and relaxing them. It also takes some of the edge off the labor pains.

The doctor, who as it turned out had patients booked all day today at the office, stopped in on her lunch hour and broke the water. There had been speculation that Hannah would not have much water but that proved untrue.

With the water broken Hannah is able to get up and move around more, taking walks down the hall if she wishes.

The adoptive parents and their little 4-year-old daughter have been by Hannah’s side this morning, although they decided to send their daughter home at lunch with Grandma.

Please keep praying. Hopefully we’ll be able to announce soon, “it’s a boy!“

She arrived in early March from sunny southern California, and her time here in north central Ohio is almost at an end.

The contractions are five minutes apart. Some are painful, some are moderate and some are really light and quick.

It’s been a full day so rest, even sleep if possible, is necessary to give her energy to make it through the delivery.

The adoptive parents are certainly waiting by the phone for news, but nighttime is upon us and…who knows when the little boy Hannah has carried for nearly 38 weeks will make his appearance.

While we all wait, we sleep and rest. Good night.

Hannah has started having contractions but is still at home. If you would like to keep up on Hannah’s progress, you can follow Harbor Life Ministries on Twitter.

Lysa, 16 years old and 27 weeks pregnant, gave birth to a baby boy in the bathroom in the early hours this morning. She was alone at the time of delivery and had not realized that she was in labor.

After waking up her roommate and then me, a call was made to 911 and the EMTs rushed the baby and then Lysa to the hospital.

Sadly, the baby did not make it.

“Keith Lewis” (last name withheld) was born at 4:00 AM and expired at 5:38 AM Saturday, April 18, 2009. After over an hour of trying to revive him and get him stable, he went home to be with the Lord. Keith was 2 lbs, 9 oz, and seemed perfect in every way.

Lysa seems to be doing well under the circumstances, both emotionally and physically. She is looking forward to coming home from the hospital tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon.

Pray for Lysa to work through this very traumatic, early birth and the grief of losing her son. Pray for Doug and I as we minister to Lysa, her family and the others in the house. Also, pray for the other residents as well as our children. They were all very scared to wake up to fire sirens with lights flashing, and walkie-talkies chattering outside their bedrooms. One of them said they thought the house was on fire and no one had gotten them out.

Josiah Shawn was born at 11:20 am on Sunday, February 1, 2009.

Labor was relatively short. It took India just two pushes after she and Connie McEldowney, the shepherding mom, arrived at the hospital just 50 minutes before Josiah was born.

Josiah weighed just 6 lb., 1 oz., and was 18.5 inches long.

Connie took India to the hospital the night before because of signs that she might be in labor, but after checking her, the hospital staff sent India back home.

India is parenting Josiah. She has been at with the McEldowney family in Russia, Ohio, since late October, 2008. She arrived at Harbor House last August, initially staying in Norwalk with the Eberles.

[More photos of India and Josiah can viewed on HarborLife's Flickr Photo pages.]

Gabriel James, born at 2:00 PM EST, a healthy 7 pounds, 2 ounces, 19 and three-quarters inches long. Lots of hair.

There was plenty of time. Jamie was only 4 cm dilated at 1:30 this afternoon, yet she had arrived to the hospital at 5:30 in the morning, nearly 8 hours (of labor) earlier. She had been given an epidural around noon and was trying to sleep a little through the contractions. The baby’s father, Tony, had even left the hospital.

Then the call came at 1:50 PM. It was the OB nurse on the phone. Jamie was pushing. Wow, that was fast.

It turned out that the doctor had said the baby would arrive by 2 PM. Gabriel arrived right on time.

Jamie is doing great. The adoptive mother Joelle was there for the birth, as was Tony. John Huffman, the adoption attorney, and his daughter Sarah, 18, arrived shortly after the birth. Sarah got to hold Gabriel. “I’ve never held a baby this small,” she said.

After 48 hours of labor, Charlotte has had a healthy baby boy. Jayden Reid entered the world at 5:34 pm today, weighing 7 lbs, 13 oz, and 21.5 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing well.

Charlotte’s mother Rebekka made it from California in plenty of time and the adoptive parents, Brian and Christine, have been to the hospital to meet their new son.

Charlotte will probably be in the hospital until Monday; court is likely to be on Wednesday. Charlotte and Rebekka will stay at the house until court is over when they’ll return to California, probably next weekend.

If you want to see more pictures of Charlotte, the baby and the four girls in house, head over to www.flickr.com/harborlife.

Thanks for all your prayers… please continue to pray for Charlotte and her mother Rebekka as these next few days are very emotional for everyone.

Charlotte had her regular doctor’s visit Thursday. Although her due date isn’t until October 3rd, her doctor had reasons to get her admitted to the hospital and possibly start inducing labor.

Charlotte has been in good spirits throughout the past few weeks, even though her feet have been swelling, causing discomfort when she walks or stands.

Charlotte’s mother Rebekka, after getting the news via phone call, arrived yesterday on a flight from California. She is staying at the hospital with Charlotte, allowing me to come home, get some sleep, and see everyone here.

I am now heading back to the hospital. Please pray. The word is Charlotte is now 3 cm dilated, they have broken her water, and hope is that things are on their way now… We have called the adoptive parents…

Yes, she was a little early, but Hanna and baby Sofia are doing fine.

Her labor began last Friday night. After not feeling well all day she went to bed early, but was up and down all night with contraction pains, something that wasn?t discovered by housemother Karla until Saturday morning when Hanna told her about the restless night she?d had.

The contractions continued through the day on Saturday, never progressing any quicker than 5-7 minutes apart. Hanna kept up a normal activity level until the evening when she headed to bed early again, this time hoping for a full night?s sleep.

She was back up before 11 pm and so she took a shower, hoping it would relax her. Around 2:30 am Sunday morning Karla timed the contractions at two minutes, so they headed off to the hospital.

A call was put in to Hanna?s parents in Arizona, and Hanna?s mother Sara booked a 6:15 am flight from Phoenix to Cleveland. Karla wondered if she would miss the birth or not.

The adoptive parents were also called but the weather for them was freezing rain and too dangerous to drive in. They decided to wait on the weather and hope it changed for the better. If it did, they had a three-hour drive to make.

At the hospital a nurse checked Hanna. Although the contractions were still close together, Hanna?s body wasn?t ready. Her labor pains had gotten much worse so an epidural was ordered.

By 8 am it was safe enough for Jason and Julie to head out. Hanna had dropped off to sleep, having gotten relief from the numbing epidural. Sara was still somewhere in the skies over the heartland.

Hanna woke up when Jason and Julie arrived around 11:30. Then the call came from Sara that she had touched down at Hopkins, an hour away from the hospital. She was grabbing her luggage, grabbing her rental car and would be on the road by noon. Jason and Julie went to get some lunch while Hanna and Karla waited in the room.

At 1 pm the doctor stopped back to check Hanna. She was complete and ready to push so the doctor broke her water while Karla started making phone calls. Jason and Julie had not returned from lunch yet and the cell phone they had wouldn?t work in the hospital. Sara was reached but she had gotten lost and was still at least 30 minutes away.

The nurses prepped Hanna and got the room ready. Jason and Julie were still not back. Another call was put in to Sara. She was still lost and 20 minutes away.

It was 1:30 and Hanna was trying hard not to push, praying her mother would make it.

At 1:50 pm on Sunday, February 17, 2008, everyone converged. Sara and Julie walked into the hospital room just in time to witness the final arrival, Sofia Nevaeh, who popped out at 2:02 pm. She was healthy and round, weighing in at 8 lb. 4.5 oz. but measuring just 19 inches long.

Hanna got to meet Sofia shortly after the birth. They knew each other, that was apparent. Hanna called her mother Sara over to see her, and then invited Jason, Julie and their son Jax over. Jax, 6, tentatively held his hand out and touched her lightly, then recoiled. A sister was going to take a little getting used to.

Both Hanna and her family believe that Jason and Julie were chosen by God ahead of time to be Sofia?s parents. There have been so many confirmations that to retell them all is a story in and of itself.