Shortly after our last post on Tuesday, we welcomed the newest little member of our family: Grace Elizabeth Ma (馬恩怡)! She arrived at 5:45PM, weighed in at 5lbs, 13oz and measured 19.5in long. We were blessed with another very successful (and even quicker!) natural birth with Grace and are so grateful for God’s great mercy to us in this whole experience. We both think active labor and delivery felt more calm and smooth than last time even though it happened pretty much as quickly. From the time we entered to the hospital to when we first held our newborn was 40-something minutes, as it was with Timothy! As I was spending the first hours with Grace in my arms, my sense of the Lord’s providence and love on our family was overwhelming, even more so than when we first held Timothy and took in that big change to our family. Children are truly a gift from Him and it’s tragic that many aren’t able to catch a glimpse of the Father’s heart and delight in kids. I’m so humbled to have another little one join our family and take on this additional responsibility with Andrew.
Little Grace and I are doing well with recovery; resting, being nourished and getting to know each other. I look forward to the longer stretches of sleep eventually, but am overall feeling pretty good as I heal and take it easy. Andrew and I are a bit startled to see that Grace looks just like a delicate girl version of her big brother, right down to the double hair swirls on the back of her head. She’s been a bit more mellow than Timothy as a newborn, which we also appreciate. I love seeing Andrew snuggling and cooing sweetly with his baby girl so far, too.
Grandma Ma has been and continues to be immensely helpful caring for Timothy and us, our home, and cooking tons for lots of people; not just our household! Timothy loves having her around and it’s been so interesting to note how different his relationship is with her than with either Andrew or me. I was nervous about how Timothy would do this week since he’d never been out of my care for a long period of time and thankfully he’s doing well. He is talking up a storm and learning lots of Cantonese, especially ones associated with food and animals. He enjoys naming all of his grandparents by title in photos or with gifts he’s received. I’m excited for him to be a big part of Grace’s language development, too. It’s been so neat to hear him make associations and be able to show understanding of family connections, although most of it is still quite confusing to him. He’s slowly warming up to his little sister being around and getting used to sharing Mama with her. His tentative hugs and pats for her are pretty cute so far and we look forward to when he enjoys his little sister more.
We appreciate all the support and encouragement we’re getting as we adjust and transition into this new season in our family. =)
