Our precious Janessa (the Lord is gracious) Ruth (friend/companion) arrived at 5:27pm on Wednesday – April 11th at 8lbs. 7oz. at 21 1/2 inches long. She is PRECIOUS and we are THRILLED to have her!! 
What can I say other than this midwife- Sandra Cottle- ROCKS! 
She and the assisting physician worked MIRACLES and I was able to have a safe, natural delivery….the true desire of my heart.
Thank you also Doctor Thomas! I love you both and literally owe you my DEEPEST gratitude for the REST of my life! Janessa is showing EXCELLENT skills thus far! Also, we owe a thank you to all of our followers prayers too! We serve an awesome God!
The day after Janessa was born, she had quite a bit of testing to see what the exact damage there was to her little brain. We were hoping for a RAVING review, but the diagnosis was disheartening. Honestly, it is too early to draw conclusions or diagnoses, so I simply let my tears run as I CHERISH every moment with this precious, perfectly fashioned by God baby girl. 
When we got back the results from the MRI, it was disheartening. Not only did it appear she had a possible in utero stroke but also her brain was formed differently. She is missing a large portion (if not all) of her Corpus collasum. 
Her brain is slightly swollen in places it shouldn’t be. And, she has a cyst. In a nutshell, those were the discoveries. Thank God, NONE of them are life threatening to her at this time! Again, the doctors assured us it was nothing we did, but a malformation that occurred in her developmental process.
The doctors are THRILLED that she is already acting SO normal despite the significant malformation in her brain. 
It reminds me of how GOD formed and fashioned her in my womb. She IS perfect in His (and our) sight!
We already have doctors appointments scheduled with neurologists in the near future and we are on a journey that will entail many doctors visits in the future to monitor her progress closely.
However, the doctors simply will NOT give a definite diagnosis of what her possible damage may be in the future…..because they don’t know. At this point, there are NO signs of damage, but that could change as she grows – but our prayer is that we will see God work a MIGHTY miracle on her behalf!!
I am BLESSED to be a child of the KING! A Master that is kind, loving and gracious! The Bright and Morning Star! The Fairest of Ten Thousand to my soul! A Jesus that STILL works miracles. A God that will give the grace NO MATTER WHAT! A Saviour that will work ALL things together for His Good! That is MY Jesus! I am HONORED to know Him and have Him in my heart! He knows the future! I worry, shed tears, and cuddle Janessa a bit more closely. It is then I am reminded that my Father God is doing the same for me. Holding me (and Janessa) lovingly in the palm of His hand!
I LOVE you all and thank you a MILLION times over for your love and prayers!
Thankfully though, up to this point, she has shown NO signs of distress whatsoever. So even though the MRI results weren’t good, but her actions say (so far) that she is doing excellent! The brain is a unique organ that can overcome odds in a way the doctors can’t explain. We are excited to see how God will work through this little girl!
We are HOME sweet HOME for a little over a week and we are SO thankful! Janessa already LOVES the sound of her siblings, the vacuum, etc. Below are some PRECIOUS pictures of Janessa’s siblings “loving” on her and seeing her for the first time. Nurie said that she loves her so much, it makes her heart ache. I think ALL her siblings feel the same. We are indeed SO blessed! 
Below are some pictures (including my DEAR sister – Amy Foster and her family) of the PRECIOUS people that have visited us to see sweet little Janessa. We are thankful to have SO many kind, thoughtful, Christian friends. Our church even rallied together and delivered meals to us during my recovery time. We are blessed!! THANK YOU!
Our wonderful Pastor Bartlett.
My sweet Parents.
I was switching over my maternity clothes to normal clothes. Well, Sadie (4 yrs.) LOVES to dress up and be just like Mommy. Here (below) was her outfit choice. She even did her own hair! Isn’t it gorgeous?
Before Janessa came, she CONSTANTLY had a blanket rolled up and stuffed in the belly of her clothes – to look “pregnant”. NOW, she is always nursing her baby dolls. SO cute!
Mamas, teach your little ones to EMBRACE AND LOVE motherhood.
Thank you for going down this incredible journey with our family as we serve Jesus Christ- striving to make a difference for the Kingdom of Christ! Thank you for your prayers as we walk through the valley in areas of our life. We appreciate you all!!
On another note……….A VERY Happy 19th Birthday to our OLDEST child!!
How was it that 19 years ago today, I gave birth to this beautiful, godly, kind, thoughtful, respectful, obedient, hard-working, LOVELY Nurie Katelin Rodrigues?!!
She has set a STELLAR example to her younger siblings and we are honored and blessed to call her our daughter!
Today David and I (for fun) figured out how many birthdays we have celebrated with our children……to make them feel honored on their special day.
Guess what it totalled to? 137 birthdays (so far)! Wow!
We are blessed!
We feel that we are the most BLESSED people on the face of the earth!! God is MUCH better to us than we EVER deserve!
We are THRILLED that our printing ministry continues to grow in leaps and bounds and David is SO busy in there now. It is a FULL time job and a half for him to keep up with it all! We are so blessed to see our burden to spread the Gospel through printed material come to a VERY sweet reality!
I am SO grateful to have a godly mate (husband) walk by my side in this journey of life.
David is SO sweet and was a HUGE support to me through labor, delivery, comforting me when we got the sad news of the condition of Janessa’s MRI results, etc.
He is always there to wrap his arms around me and tell me it will all be okay. He gathers the family and asks them all to lay their hands on Janessa’s head as we say a family prayer for her.
He is the ONE person in this world that SHARES the deep love I have for each of our children.
Thanks, Babe, for loving me and our 13 children. You are a RARE man of GREAT faith. Many live by faith, but not in the area of child-bearing. You encourage my heart. Thank you for the lovely gifts (pictured below) you got me in the hospital.
My Love Always, Your Jillybean
My LOVE!!
Well, I guess I will end with this. I am one of the richest women in the world. I am surrounded with a loving family and I could not ask for more! I am content. I lift the name of JESUS as the answer to EVERYTHING! HE brings peace that passes ALL understanding. I am SO thankful for the HONOR that God bestowed upon me to allow me to bear a child once more in my womb. Below are some pics of the pregnancy from beginning to GLORIOUS end!! Janessa, WELCOME to this world, honey. We love you MORE than words can EVER describe!!
SHE IS HERE! Hallelujah!!
Janessa Ruth Rodrigues……..
THE END. (for now) LOL