Celebrating The Arrival of #TeamWilliams Newest Member: Sylvia Ann

On October 21^st at 2055 EDT, (8:55PM) our lovely daughter, Sylvia Ann, entered into this world, wide-eyed and alert. She weighed seven pounds two ounces and was nineteen and three-quarters inches long. She is beautiful, and we are so very grateful to finally meet her. Jamie and I are incredibly excited to have her in our lives, and I feel like we have been sharing tears and joyful smiles with this little miracle from the moment we first laid eyes on her.

We are so impressed and grateful for all of the staff at MonGeneral—they have gone above and beyond in every way!l! One of our dear friends, Abby Hills, who is also a nurse on the floor, stopped in to visit us yesterday morning before traveling out of town to celebrate her dad’s birthday, and our midwives (Rhonda Conley and Stephanie Lowe) were incredibly supportive and offered sage wisdom and counsel throughout Jamie’s pregnancy, and they were both patient and encouraging as Jamie moved through the stages of labor.

Our first nurse, Jennifer Bender, stayed with us over two hours extra to make sure we were all set and this little bundle of joy made it out with no problems!!! It meant so much to us to have such strong professional support and encouragement all the way through Jamie’s labor. It was an added bonus to have Jennifer present because she also taught Jamie’s lactation class this summer. Providentially, we had previously met and spent time with the entire team who were walking Jamie and Sylvia through the home stretch. Throughout the time they all brought a superior level of care and encouragement, and they were as excited as we were to find out whether Sylvia was a boy or a girl upon her arrival!!!

And the team who have taken us through our stay have been incredible as well. Kylie, our nurse through the night, has just recently come back to work, and she really did an awesome job coaching Jamie through breast-feeding fundamentals. Sylvia was able to enjoy her first meal from Mom just a few hours into her arrival. And this morning, Nurse Stephanie Smith, took the baton from Kylie and has carried our training to another level. She’s teaching us the ropes around swaddling, using a Boppy pillow, and (for me) how to change a poopy diaper.

This whole journey has been absolutely incredible, and as of my writing of this post, Sylvia has only been outsider her mom’s womb for a few hours. She has been so curious and taking in this whole new world with fresh eyes. She is already teaching me so much!

And Jamie, she is such a warrior! She went through the whole process of labor completely focused and calm. I know a lot of people compare running a marathon to giving birth, but as an outside observer who has done one and will never do the other, the consistent thread between each of them that I have witnessed in Jamie’s life is this. Each of us are capable of far more than we realize, and when I think about Jamie’s labor and delivery (and her first marathon), I feel like I am witnessing a deeper awareness and awakening of all that she is capable of.

And as I pray for my daughter and her journey on this earth, I pray that God will awaken that same deep understanding of what is possible for her, and that He will guide me and Jamie with the wisdom and the discipline to nurture the development those gifts and possibilities.

Jamie and I are overcome by a rich sense of gratitude for this entire journey together, and we are excited for this next chapter of our lives with Sylvia. We are grateful for the prayers and support of so many friends—they have truly sustained us, and we know those prayers are a gift. My first words, before the traditional announcement of, “It’s a girl!” were “She’s beautiful!” I pray that she will always have a deep abiding since of how beautiful and loved she is.

Sylvia is beginning a life that, God willing, will see her grow to be a compassionate servant leader, a faithful steward of resources, and caring and considerate follower of the way of Jesus. We have found ourselves praying often for her to know God and to bring glory to His name, that she would go so much farther than we have in our own faith journeys, and that others would be blessed through the life this she leads. As we continue this journey forward we pray that just as we have prayed over the course of our marriage and relationship, that God would give us the discipline and wisdom we need to steward the gifts He has given. May we all faithfully and graciously walk together in the path that Love has set before us.

Introducing A New Member To #TeamWilliams And West Virginia’s Newest Citizen!

 For Jamie and I, West Virginia’s birthday has always been a very special day. As passionate natives of this state, and as alumni of West Virginia University, one could argue that it is only natural that we have such a rich love for our home state and for these wild and wonderful West Virginia hills. It was a Father’s Day six years ago and West Virginia’s 147^th birthday, that I asked Jamie to marry me, and in the spirit of that rich tradition, we have another announcement to make on West Virginia’s 153^rd birthday. This fall, Baby Williams, will emerge to greet the world!

We are incredibly excited to meet this miraculous child! We have been hopeful throughout our marriage that God would provide Jamie with a child, but we also held the attitude that if He didn’t, we could potentially adopt, and we were already blessed to be surrogate aunts and uncles to many of our friends’ children. Jamie has a health condition, poly-cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), that led to an irregularity with her menstrual cycle, and also contributed to an inability to have a menstrual cycle without taking estrogen. Jamie knew that taking the medicine would also prevent her from having a child, even if she did have a menstrual cycle, and so she began studying ways that she might be able to improve her likelihood of having a cycle naturally (healthy food choices, exercise, rest), and of course we both (and many of our friends and family) have been fervent in prayer.

Earlier this year, Jamie noticed a gap in her cycle, and she ordered some pregnancy tests, just in case. She has been taking similar tests for the last couple of years, and while we have always been hopeful, we have never centered our focus on having a child. We have placed our hope in God using our lives to bring Him the most honor, and to best serve our global neighbors. When Jamie took the test, she was shocked, surprised, and questioning the validity of the tests, so she took a second one. It came out the same, we even considered having me take a test as a control just to be sure they actually worked (must have been the chemist and exercise physiologist in us!). These tests are incredibly accurate, and we are going to be parents!

This child, even before touching down on the earth has been all over the world. This child has been to four national capitals (Washington D.C., London, Paris, and Addis Ababa). This child has star jumped with its mother in London, Paris, and Acadia National Park. And soon, this child will arrive in Morgantown, West Virginia to greet this world.

Jamie and I are overwhelmed with joy when we think about the fact that God has given us this privilege. We have found ourselves more keenly observant of the world around us, and the little treasures that surround each of our days. And we are filled with trepidation in the same way every parent from Adam and Eve to this day has been—we are responsible for a fully vulnerable life. Every parent, no matter how many books they read or how many classes they take on the subject, questions how they will steward this gift, and prays daily for wisdom and grace from above. 

This child will rely on us for every one of its needs, and then over time a mysterious metamorphosis will take place. One day, by the grace of God, this child will be engaging us and others in conversation, and will also grow to be someone who is able to serve, to bless, to protect, and raise up another generation.

This fragile human being is beginning a life that, God willing, will see him or her grow to be a compassionate servant leader, a faithful steward of resources, and caring and considerate follower of the way of Jesus. We have found ourselves praying often for this child to know God and to bring glory to His name, that he or she would go so much farther than we have in our own faith journeys, and that others, would be blessed through the life this child leads.

We are so grateful to be able to share this wonderful news of a new West Virginian emerging this fall, and we are in awe of the fact that Jamie has this amazing privilege of carrying a new life in her body. We also know that the gift of giving birth is not a guarantee to every person, and we were both at peace if it was not a grace bestowed upon us. As we continue this journey forward we pray that just as we have prayed over the course of our marriage and relationship, that God would give us the discipline and wisdom we need to steward the gifts He has given. May we all faithfully and graciously walk together in the path that Love has set before us.