Two Special Requests Granted

Back to Australia...an "in-between" detail. (It's hard to put absolutely everything in precise order of occurrence! Chronological un-order! So I apologize for rambling. I'll try to at least keep things coherent!)

When we were first married, we had already asked God for a girl and a boy, and named them Daniel Isaac and Débora Noemí.

When I was expecting Dan, three other women in the church were also pregnant. There were a number of little girls in the congregation, so all four of us wanted a boy. The first one had a girl...then I had a boy...then the third one had a girl...and then the fourth one had a girl.  They jokingly asked me what I had done to ensure having a boy. Tongue-in-cheek, I answered, "All of you said you preferred a boy, but would be fine with either sex, as long as the baby was healthy; whereas I was specific and said 'We're having a boy.'" (Period. )

Six years later, Debbie was born in Ecuador, in Shell, a small town on the edge of the eastern jungle. (I know, this didn't happen in Australia, but it sort of interlaces with other events in our journey.) We didn't want that big an age gap between the two, but nothing happened. I almost cried whenever my body told me I wasn't pregnant. Then I had a dream...

I dreamt that I had a baby in November. Great!...except that this was in July, and I was pretty sure babies take longer than four months to make their appearance!  I thought, "Maybe it means I'll get pregnant in November."

We decided we'd seek some medical advice. But before we could, I got a horribly bad infection, for which I had to take a super-strong antibiotic. The doctor told me to not even think about getting pregnant!  Then some friends asked us to fill in for them for a couple of months at a Christian camp outside of Quito. So we moved out there and I put the whole fertility question on hold. While we were there, I started feeling...pregnant! Yes, I was pregnant...while working in a camp called "New Life"...and in November!

During the pregnancy, we always spoke of Débora. When Dan was asked if he wanted a sister or a brother, he always told people, "We're having a girl." They all thought his faith was amazing for an almost-six-year old. Actually, he told us later that he just figured there was some way one could tell for certain ( though this was before ultrasounds, in a jungle hospital). Besides, at six, kids still believe their parents know everything!

See you again soon!