After an 8-week blog hiatus, it feels good to be back! A lot has happened in the last two months and it all revolves around a new little addition to our family. Ria Grace Cudjo was born on October 19th and it was the very best day of our lives. Here’s her story:

After walking around dilated to a four for over two weeks, I was ready to meet my baby. Everyone kept telling me, “Oh, you can have that baby any day now!” And each day — it didn’t happen. I’m convinced the last two weeks are the hardest weeks of the whole pregnancy! The waiting is torture!

My due date was October 18th so we decided to give her her due date but if she didn’t move out by then, she was getting evicted! So, I scheduled an induction for the 19th. The due date came and went. The night before going in, I started contracting a little bit. Thankfully, when I checked in that morning I had dilated to a six! I was pumped.

8:00 a.m. – They got me all hooked up and going!

9:00 a.m. – Dr. Chambers (who I love and adore!) broke my water.

10:00 a.m. – Time for the epidural! Those contractions are NO JOKE. How do people go hours and hours contracting? I thought I had a high pain tolerance — labor is very humbling!

11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. – Time to wait! Family came by for a little bit, they turned me every 30 minutes to an hour and we just hung out!

2:00 p.m. – around 3:30ish – Family left, Jermelle turned on a movie and I TRIED to nap. HA! Is that even possible?

3:30 p.m. – Showtime! I was dilated to a 10 and it was time for Mama to push!

As we started getting ready to push, Jermelle turned on my “RGC” playlist I made. With worship music playing in the background … the nurse gave me the rundown on what was about to go down, we performed a few practice pushes and Dr. Chambers got her crew all ready.

When the doctor gave me the go to start pushing, I remember hearing “What a Beautiful Name It Is”. God was there. The Holy Spirit was in the room. And I have no doubt my Mama was there the whole time. It was the most powerful moment of my life. I pushed for about 20 minutes and she was here.

Ria Grace Cudjo.
7 pounds — 6 ounces.
20 inches long.
Born at 4:03 p.m.
The most beautiful, perfect little miracle. We were thankful.

Can you believe Jermelle and I produced such a SMALL baby? Shocking to say the least! But hey, I’m not complaining!

The moment I met my baby, I could not believe it. People say we don’t witness many miracles in our time but I would have to disagree, every time a baby is born it is truly a miracle from God. The flood of emotions that shot through my body. Relief. Joy. Peace. Love. I honestly do not think there is a better moment in our lives. I can’t find the words to explain it.

Our 2017 verse we chose last January:

Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:19

After 9-months of worrying and wondering — she was finally here. Thankful doesn’t even seem to express how I felt that day. The Lord blessed us with a miracle. Our huge break. Exactly what we needed after almost two years of what we felt like living in the desert. He gave us our river.

ria
/ˈriːə/
noun
1. From the river’s mouth.