New life!

Several of you have asked about my friends who gave birth to their little boy yesterday.  I know they are so grateful for your prayers over the past few months!  As the c-section was planned for Wednesday morning, a group of us gathered at their home on Tuesday night to pray over the baby, Steph, Kyle, and the medical team that would be working on both Steph and Baby T.  It was such a special thing to see the wonderful community and support system this family already has in place.  They are very loved!

Baby T arrived Wednesday morning at 9:59am... a BOY!  (I had a feeling all along ;) )  They named him Rowan Stanley Thomas (Stanley is Steph's father who passed away last month after a short battle with cancer).  This is the first photo we got of this beautiful little guy!

We received news later in the day that the surgery to repair his spine went well and they decided to do the brain shunt the same day (which also went well).  Baby Rowan has been resting in the NICU and gets to visit with his parents three times a day for now.   He was taken off the ventilator today and seems to be doing great so far sleeping on his belly while things heal a bit.  

Thank you again for keeping this wonderful family in your prayers.  We know that spina bifida won't hold Rowan back from an amazingly full life, and we most certainly know that he is extremely, extremely loved.  

[I stopped by on Sunday evening to take a few pictures of Steph and Kyle before the baby arrived, isn't she just beautiful??]