There's A First Time For Everything....

And have we ever experienced some "firsts" today!  This morning at 4:11 am The McCalley Family grew as our daughter, Frances Rose McCalley, made her grand entrance.  Frances tipped the scales at 6 lbs 3 oz, measured a long and lean 19 inches, and let us know immediately that her lungs were working just fine.  After 12 hours of trying to make sure friends and family were updated on our new arrival, it became clear that it was time to enter the world of blogging.

For those of you who are new to the story, Will and I, were presented with an incredible blessing just a few short months ago.  God had been doing some amazing things in our lives leading up to November 11, 2010, but we had no idea what He ultimately had in store for us.  We found out about an opportunity to adopt a child; a baby girl who would be born with Down syndrome.  Up to this point, the word adoption had never even surfaced in conversation between Will and I, but when God placed this in our hands, there was absolutely no hesitation in our hearts or our minds.  We both knew instantaneously without saying more than a few words to each other that this was what God had been formulating in our lives over the past several years.  We formed an instant bond with the birth mother and everyone involved felt immediate peace about the journey we were preparing to travel. 

Fast forward a few months, and here we are- proud parents of the most beautiful baby girl we have ever seen.  We knew from the start that Baby Frances would have a congenital heart defect, one that is common among babies with Down syndrome.  Frances has an Atrioventricular (AV) Canal Defect, which will require surgical correction- likely between the ages of 6-12 months.  She came into the world today exceeding all expectations and is doing better than we could have hoped!

So where are we now? Frances is in the NICU and will remain there for at least 3 days (this is standard protocol) while blood cultures are run.  She also has to be able to maintain her body temperature on her own (she was in a warming bed all day) in a crib and eat well for 3 days before she can come home.  Her vital signs and O2 saturations have been great all day- never once needing supplemental oxygen!  And boy does she have a nice pink coloring!  We got word tonight after we left the hospital that they are going to give her the first bottle feeding tonight and she will be moved to a crib...which also means we get to take clothes to dress her in tomorrow.  Big steps in less than 24 hours! 

So Will and I are resting at home tonight- with Frances in the NICU there was no need for us to stay at the hospital, so we can't wait to get back there in the morning and see how she is doing.  Please pray specifically that Frances is able to keep her body temperature up and that she tolerates the bottle feedings.  We are excited to share our joy with all of you! 

Praise be to God on this day for our beautiful Baby Frances!