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This week we welcomed our baby girl, Diana, into the world. We are so thankful to have a healthy, beautiful daughter and a blessed delivery. I wanted to share her baby story with you along with loads of newborn photos. Thank you to everyone who prayed for our family during my pregnancy. I’m so grateful to be surrounded by such caring readers, friends, and family. 🙂
Our first child was born via Emergency C-section which I won’t go into, but my prayer for this delivery was to have a normal labor with a healthy baby and healthy me :). Once you’ve had a cesarean, it’s risky to go too much past your due date so I scheduled an induction with my Doctor about a week after I was due. All the while, I had been praying to go into labor sooner on my own. The morning of my induction came and I was so excited that I didn’t sleep much that night. My husband, son and I were all up early getting ready.
[My hubby took this belly pic of me on my Due date (March 7th)].
Just before we left the house, I got the call that the hospital was full and I would have to reschedule. We were bummed and tried to go back to sleep so my son crawled into bed with me (because it was the only way we could get him back to sleep) and my husband went to David’s bed. Then I felt a strong kick and boom; she broke my water. My son could tell I was in pain and became very concerned. I told him to go get daddy right away because mommy needed his help so David bolted out of bed yelling, “Daddy it’s an emergency mama needs your help.”
Literally, a few minutes later my Dr. called to apologize that they had to reschedule but she was happy to hear that Diana had already decided that this morning was her time. Since we were packed and ready, we were on our way. I am in awe of God’s timing in jumpstarting my labor naturally; a last minute miracle!
On the way to the hospital, my contractions grew stronger and more painful and my son was very concerned saying, “Daddy can you drive a little faster?”
[Of course we took a picture together before we entered the hospital doors, knowing that when we came back out, life would never be the same].
[Ha ha this is what girls do before the real contractions kick in].
I’ll spare you the labor details but I will say that I wanted to hug my Mom and tell her how much I appreciated that she gave birth naturally to all 5 of us and in Ukraine no less (labor pains cannot be compared to any other pain).
[David’s first time holding her – he was singing rock-a-bye when she started crying and then he was shushing us when she fell asleep. It was so sweet]
The hospital provided a service from Bella Baby and all of the photos below were taken by Kim Price who did an amazing job capturing our sweet bundle and our overwhelming joy.
My husband Vadim was wonderful and helpful during the process and I’m so thankful that he was there to support me. I’m also incredibly blessed to have a Christian Doctor who I know prays for all her patients and who stuck it out the entire day to deliver our daughter. Diana was born at 10:12 PM on March 13th, weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20″ long. It was such a beautiful moment to be able to hold her in my arms and hear her cry as soon as she was born. It was definitely a piece of heaven on earth. She is perfection – wonderfully created by her Creator. Her hair is so long, dark, and gorgeous. I’ll be making ponytails in no time.
“Behold, children are a gift of the LORD…” Psalms 127:3.
She is just so precious, I’m so happy for you both, ahh makes me want another one, I have 3 precious gifts already, and we are so happy, may God Bless you continually as you trust in Him and put youre hope in Him, Blessings to you both.
Thank you so much Kristina :). Sounds like you have a little bit of baby fever 🙂
AWWWWEEEEEE!!!! I’m melting! I love the emotion captured here! Congratulations on your baby girl and may God bless you abundantly!!! May she grow healthy and happy and beautiful, like her mama 🙂
Thank you so much Olga :). You’re so sweet 🙂
Congratulations to you and your family !! Diana is beautiful !(great name by the way ).
Thank you Diana 😉
What a beautiful birth story to a beautiful baby girl! I am so happy you were brave and had her VBAC. You are amazing! Beautiful pictures of your family!
Thank you Lena :). It was such a beautiful experience compared to the first c-section; holding her right away and hearing her cry rather than waking up shaking and freezing cold in a strange room after a c-section. I’m so thankful to have been able to have a successful VBAC 🙂
Congratulations on the safe arrival of baby Diana..you chose a lovely name, and I love your recipe ‘s and blog. God Bless…Diana Barker…
Thank you so much Diana. Is there any particular reason you like the name? 😉
Congratulations on your beautiful daughter and successful VBAC! I was able to VBAC with my second son. My first son was born via C-section due to non progression and I really think it’s because I had an epidural too soon :-/ There hasn’t been a more proud moment for me than being able to birth naturally. I’m hoping to have another natural delivery for our baby girl that is due beginning of June 🙂 Share lots of pictures of Diana and David, they are so adorable together. Can’t wait to see my boys with their baby sister. God’s blessings to you and your family!
I’ve heard that from several gals that getting the epidural too soon had halted some labors. Congratulations on your baby girl! God bless the rest of your pregnancy and delivery! 🙂
Natasha! Congrats to you and your family! Your baby girl is absolutely adorable.
Thank you so much Sveta 🙂
Congratulations to you for the gift from Allah and to Diana to have a beautiful Mum like you and God bless you all as a happy family.
Thank you Salman. God has blessed our family so much 🙂
Congratulations…….Diana is beautiful! Blessings to all.
Thank you so much Gail 🙂
Congratulations! You have a beautiful family. You have many memories. I’m a mother of 4 sons (all grown men now) and enjoyed every minute of it!
Dot
Time goes too quickly, doesn’t it? I’m savoring every moment with her in her tiny stage.
What a beautiful family – Congratulations! I think Diana will love having David as her big brother! Thank you for sharing and may God bless you always.
Julia thank you so much :). David is a very sweet and caring big brother. I love seeing how he acts around her 🙂
Congratulations! I know from personal 3 times, that is the best feeling holding that newborn in your arms ( I think I cried every time). I hope Diana grows healthy, happy, beautiful, talented and brings you and your family lots of joy!
It’s such a beautiful burst of emotions and joy. Thank you so much Dorina 🙂
CONGRATS! God bless your beautiful family.
“The Lord bless you, and keep you
The Lord make his face shine upon you,
and be gracious unto you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26
Thank you so much Sveta. I love that scripture and it is such a blessing to us. 🙂
Thank you for including us in this joyous moment. We feel so close to you through your blog! Your family is beautiful!
Beth thank you so much for your sweet words :).
I am new to your blog and what a welcome this was! Congratulations on your new baby girl! Thank you for sharing your family’s experience with the amazing photos; you’ve been blessed with a beautiful family. May God continue to bless you all with his amazing love! I am also of Ukrainian descent and was very happy to fall upon your delicious recipes. On to cooking!
Noemi thank you for your sweet comment and welcome to my blog! I’m so happy you’re here :). I hope you find many new favorite recipes 🙂
HI Natasha… wishing you and your family best wishes from Australia. The pictures are absolutely gorgeous and what a way to go ..a boy and now a girl. Must be all that wonderful cooking you do for your family. Love all your recipes.. My Husband is Ukrainian but he was born in Germany ,as was I.( decades ago.) Been in “The land down under” for 50 yrs.. as you can tell I am no Spring Chicken..lol
Bless you all.
Hanna (Shortened version of Christian name)
Hanna thank you so much for writing in. We are so blessed and thankful to have both a son and daughter :). I think it’s so great that you’re reading my blog in Australia – that always amazes me. Hello and blessings to you from Idaho! 🙂
Congratulations and thank you for sharing. God bless you and your family.
Thank you so much Mary 🙂
Congratulations! Поздравляю! Чудесная девочка и прекрасное имя. Старший брат такой трогательный )) Здоровья вам всем и храни вас Бог.
Thank you so much for your sweet comment and blessings 🙂
Natasha & Vadim,
Congratulations on your beautiful new little one. I trust that the favor of God will be on her, that she would be protected by His Grace, come to know Him at an early age, and have a revelation of His will for her life. What a wonderful blessing!
Thank you so much for your blessings over her. She is such a blessing to our family 🙂
Oh how nice she was born on my birthday 🙂 Congrats! God Bless your family!
Happy belated birthday and thank you! 🙂