12 | March | 2006 | THE RAMOS FAMILY

Hi everyone, it’s me. I wanted to thank you all for your prayers and support! I feel the love! I’m recovering quite well. The pain killers are so deceptive. I am supposed to be at home resting and not doing any activity for 3 weeks. Well, let’s just say that after going through labor, my standard of pain has dramatically changed. I feel fine! Israel and my in-laws are constantly yelling at me because I give in to the temptation of cleaning the house and doing chores when I should be in bed with my feet up. My whole body was so incredibly swollen because I retained so much fluid from the IV. After the C-section, we came home 3 days later and when I weighed myself then, I was the same weight as before I gave birth!! That gives you an idea of how swollen and bloated I was. Slowly the fluid and gas are exiting my system and I’m beginning to lose some weight. So anyway, my point is that I’m really trying to rest so that I give my body the chance to recover completely.

The entire delivery process was a big scare for me. I did a lot of praying and pleading and asking God to give me strength to accept His will for me and for the baby. I really thought the baby wouldn’t survive and it was a very scary experience…but God remains good! I never thought I would love being a mom this much.

The first week was a blast for me. The drugs were doing their magic, Imanuel changed so much in just 7 short days, and no kidding, it was literally a joy for me to wake up every 3-4 hours or so to feed and change the baby. We’re in the process of getting the baby on a schedule and he’s getting some good sleep stretches during the night so that has been a blessing. I love waking up and having family worship with the three of us. It is so wonderful to be able to depend completely on God to help us raise this child. It gives me such assurance that with God with us, we cannot fail.

Well, I could go on forever about how amazing it is that we love our baby so much even though we just met him a few days ago. He has really turned our world upside down. We ask for your continued prayers and love as we attempt to raise one of God’s children despite our sinfulness and weaknesses. It is our prayer that Imanuel will learn to grow into God’s image rather than our own.

Now here are some pics that hopefully you will enjoy.