New baby, family visit, and more!

So we thought it might be time to post another blog...:) After all, we have a new baby! (As most people have probably already seen on Facebook). Hannah Elizabeth Cahill was born two months ago on August 24, 2017 by God's grace via a normal delivery. She had been breech (bottom down), stubbornly so, up until about 36-37 weeks of pregnancy. She then flipped to head down about 5 minutes before we were about to do an ECV (external cephalic version- or manually flipping the baby to head down from the outside)- praise the Lord! Lori then developed high blood pressure about a week or so later, so we had to induce her labor. She delivered a healthy baby girl at 38 weeks and 4 days (which is the exact day of gestation that our other two daughters were born- crazy!). After a bout with neonatal sepsis and IV antibiotics for a week, bad reflux with feeding, and bowel movement difficulties (one time going up to 7.5 days between BMs- associated with increasing fussiness), Hannah is now doing better (although still having reflux). By God's grace, despite all that was happening with her, she has continued to gain weight appropriately.

First day of life after first bath

Day 3 of life with her two big sisters

Almost 2 months old!

We were also blessed with a visit from Lori's parents and her oldest niece, Rachel. They arrived the week after Hannah was born and stayed for a couple of weeks. Lori's mom and Rachel assisted Lori with the cooking, laundry, and keeping up with the home, which was a blessing since Lori had her hands full with keeping Hannah well-fed. Rachel also helped out some with homeschooling our older girls. Lori's dad helped to fix several things around the house, including some plumbing issues and a broken gutter. We also enjoyed learning some new games and playing some old ones (like NERTS!). It was nice to finally be able to host some of our family at our home in Ghana!

On a walk to the nearby river with Lori's family

Also while Lori's family was here, we harvested our corn (not spectacular, but better than previous years!), the rest of our green beans, and some of our cucumbers. We also held a baby-naming ceremony for Hannah at our church, Fulbe Baptist. Traditionally, babies are given an English name and a Mampruli name here in our region, and both names are introduced to the public at the baby-naming ceremony. Oftentimes, the ceremony is held around the eighth day of life, but because of Hannah's infection and some other issues, we had to postpone it until about 2.5 weeks of life. Her Mampruli name is Wulim Albarika (essentially "beloved blessing"), and because our pastor is Fulani, he gave Hannah a Fulani name as well, which is Jede (meaning "God's gift").

Whole family just before baby-naming ceremony

Hannah's baby-naming ceremony with Pastor Alex and his wife

 A final noteworthy event happened on the day that Lori's mom and Rachel left Nalerigu: Rebekah lost her first tooth! She received a 20 pesewa coin (kinda like 20 cents) on her nightstand that night, and she was able to buy some of her favorite gum in town a few days later. She then said later that she planned on buying some fabric and making a dress with the money that she gets from losing more teeth. It may be awhile though because fabric to make a dress costs more than 50 cedis (kinda like 50 dollars) :)

Momma and the girls (and dada!) are crazy about Hannah!