Well, it took a few days to put 'pen-to-paper' as it were and let you all know how the birth went.
First off, Friday's are busy days here at For Zion's Sake, because we have a group Bible study here in the evening, so all day is usually cleaning, shopping, and preparing for that. Plus, it's Shabbat Eve (Sabbath) and nothing is open on Saturday so if you need anything for the weekend, Friday is the time.
Also, it's been record heat here in Jerusalem, and the air conditioning has not been working. All in all, not a good combination if you're pregnant! We had just finished the service and were relaxing in front of a movie and Rachel said, 'Wow, I sure hope I don't go into labor tonight, I'm beat.' Of course, not an hour later she announced that her water had broke!
We called the mid-wife, Ilana, who lives about an hour away, and she wanted us to time the contractions and call her back when they were 10 minutes apart. So we waited about an hour until they were closer to 7 minutes apart and called and she left her house and was on her way, she called another 45 minutes later to say she was getting close. By now it was close to 11:30p.m.
Rachel did fantastic and we had moved into the apartment and set up the pool for a water birth. I filled it up, but Ilana wanted Rachel to wait and get in until she got here. The contractions were a lot stronger and about 3-4 minutes apart, and still no Ilana. So, after another 15 minutes, I called Ilana and she said she'd gotten lost somewhere and had no idea where she was!! She wanted me to explain how to get here, but I really have no idea where we were, much less where she was, or what roads to tell her to get here! All the while, Rachel is really wanting to get in the tub and relieve some pain! A 'bit' stressful!
I talked Ilana though what I knew and she was reading signs as she was passing them, hoping I'd recognize one eventually....I heard horns honk as she almost got in an accident turning at the last minute at an intersection. Quite a time. She did find it, or finally found something I knew was near, and got here around 12:30, with Rachel really uncomfortable and ready to be done with this thing! Ilana checked to make sure everything was OK and Rachel got in the water and immediately felt better. Ilana knew she was on the right track and almost close, so she went next door and read a book! Talk about laid back! She said come and get her when she felt close and ready.
After 45 minutes, we had Emma go get her and she came in about 20 minutes before her final contractions and THERE HE WAS!! It was fantastic!! Rachel did an awesome job and Miles kicked around in the water for a few seconds before coming out screaming! Maggie, Levi and Emma were all close by and were a huge help getting things and bringing Zoe and Lily in right after he was born. Emma got to cut the cord and she was just amazed by the whole experience. Certainly made a memory to last a lifetime!!
It's such an amazing rush of emotions, even after 6 kids, we all sat on the bed and cried with joy as we checked him all out, snapped pictures, and just thanked the LORD for how healthy and perfect he was. Praise our amazing GOD! Thanks for all your prayers!
~sevensailors +1!!
There's a link to his photo album down on the right.
While we've been here at For Zion's Sake, we've been able to start a remodeling project on some office space. The ministry here is consolidating and moving offices, so Levi and I have been working on framing, drywall, and some electrical. 
I thought some people might like to see what we've been up to since were off the boat for a bit, in Jerusalem. (In case you thought since we weren't sailing, we were just sitting around!) 
