We are excited to welcome Ella Grace Taatjes into our family. She was born at 8:52 PM on Saturday, September 30. She was 6 lbs 9 oz and 19 inches. We think she is pretty amazing.

After the last drop in my fluids, they decided to induce us Saturday morning. I have included the last picture of my pregnancy. Things couldn't have gone more smoothly. At 3:30 PM my water broke naturally, and the real contractions began. After an hour of those and still only be dilated to 3, I made the decision to utilize modern medicine and had an epidural. I took a nap from 5 - 7, woke up to find out that I had gone from 3 to 10 with a baby ready to come out in those 2 hours. After waiting for the doctor to arrive, I started pushing a little before 8 PM. Yes, we did have the Ohio State (and sometimes the Michigan) football game on in the background (on mute of course). We also have worship songs playing in the backgroud. During one of the hardest points of pushing, Matt Redman's "You Never Let Go" was playing. We were told it was a girl at 8:52. Playing in the background was "How Awesome is the Lord most high."

I can't put into words the joy that overcomes you at that moment. Our little girl was here. What an absolute miracle. God has truly blessed us in an immeasurable way. We think Ella Grace is the most beautiful girl in the world, of course we are biased. Loving someone so much even though they have never said a word to you is the greatest experience.

We went home on Monday, October 2. This is her first dress that she wore home from the hospital.





All future postings will be at www.ellagracetaatjes.blogspot.com

On January 26, I was in San Francisco on a business trip. Noticing I was a few days late, I decided to take a test to see if we were pregnant. So in the lobby bathroom of Hotel Nikko, I saw a faint second pink line. It was so faint, I had many doubts. I called Derek, telling him it probably wasn’t true, but there was a chance we were pregnant. So there we were in this world of uncertainty. Later that night, I was at friends’ home, Joya and Bryan. I ended up showing Joya the test. She said, “You are Pregnant!” I still was skeptical. So, I took another test….same exact result…very faint light pink line. So, I spent the next 10 hours convincing myself I wasn’t pregnant. I didn’t want to be disappointed, if we weren’t pregnant. The next morning, Joya had gone out to run some errands, and she returned with a digital display test. 30 seconds later….the word PREGNANT appeared on the little white wand. I called Derek immediately. After trying for nearly a year, we were so thankful and felt truly blessed.