are not always going to happen how we expect, or plan for them to happen. We’d like to thank all those nurses and doctors out there who have been a part of God’s wonderful training regimen. After ten hours 
of labor and a C-Section, Elijah William Rice entered the world. He is a beautiful 9 lb 8 oz baby, 21 inches long, and his head has a circumference of 14 ½ inches. He was only two days over due, but was obviously ready to come out. I can’t describe how overwhelming it was to carry him from the operating ro
om into the nursery while trying to wrap my head around the fact that this was my son; it was overwhelming and awesome. When he arrived he did have some problems breathing, and had to stay in the nursery for a few days. He was put in a 100% oxygen environment and he steadily improved, within 24 hours they started removing the oxygen. Because of these complications, Leigh Ann was not able to hold or see him until the following morning. She was disappointed to say the least. This was not what having a baby was supposed to look like, but obviously God was still doing some training. Thankfully, Elijah improved over the first night, and by 8pm on Saturday night, Leigh Ann was able to hold her new son for the first time.
Leigh Ann is doing very well. She was thankful for an epidural when she was finally able to receive one Friday afternoon. It turned out to be a huge blessing as she kept it after the surgery. This helped her get up and around on Saturday morning and sped up her recovery. Her pain is being held at bay, and she is doing very well. She is allowing Jeff to help her with things, but only to humor him and make him feel like he has some purpose in all of this.
She was discharged on Sunday afternoon but Elijah was not yet ready to go home. 
The hospital put us up in a boarding room for free so that we could stay close. We were yet again reminded of the many ways that God is so good in providing for us. By Monday morning, Elijah was breathing completely on his own. He still had a few hurdles to overcome and so we had to continue to be patient as the pediatricians placed a few more goals in front of him before he could be released. He began retaining a lot of fluid and therefore got very bloated. At one point he reminded me of Rocky Balboa because his eye lids were so swollen. However, with the help of a diuretic the swelling went down. Unfortunately, that caused his potassium levels to drop. By Tuesday night, they were saying that everything was leveling out, and there was a possibility that he would be released Wednesday.
Wednesday morning brought much anticipation. Finally, the pediatrician came in and we were given the go ahead to take Elijah home. He still had to endure the circumcision but did well. As you can imagine we were overjoyed to have our son and finally be allowed to go home as a family.
We cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it is to be able to hold our son without having to call the nursery and get permission to see him or to be able to have him with us 24/7. We are still on a learning curve about this thing they call parenting, 
but we are loving the journey! Thank you all for you prayers. Hopefully, this will conclude our hospital stays for a while. This blog does not include all the typical first baby stories but God is good and we have been able to see His hand at work in all this!
