Daddy's little boy

Having a baby changes everything!  Little Benjamin is only a few days old but already there have been so many challenges and so many joys!  One of my greatest joys is seeing how much Daddy loves his little boy.  He is so proud and I just loving watching his face as he looks at his son.  There is nothing like it in the world! 
I have to take a moment to brag on my husband...  He has been absolutely amazing these last few days.  Well, he is always an amazing husband but he has been such a great support, caring for me and waiting on me hand and foot, always ready to bring me whatever I may need.  I am truly blessed to have him!
It means so much to me that he is so willing to be near and help me during this time.  Culturally, here in Rwanda, the husband would not be very involved in the birth or taking care of the mother after giving birth.  Usually their will be another woman, mother, sister, or friend, that would be doing these things.  I guess it is kind of seen as "women business."  Appolinaire has been such a trooper!  A couple of times I catch him saying "I didn't know it was like this."  But he never fails to be by my side.  He was there for the birth and I could not have done it without him.  And he is here with me now as I recover, try to learn how to breastfeed, and deal with all the changes, physically and emotionally.  He says I am a hero but he is my hero and my best friend, and a wonderful father! 

Muhire Benjamin Ntiganzwa...our little angel!

Our precious little boy, Muhire Benjamin Ntiganzwa, was born on May 20th around 5:40 pm (Rwanda time). He weighs 4 kilos (about 8 lbs. 13 oz.) Muhire means "one who is blessed." God was totally looking out for us! We live an hour from the hospital but we went to have a normal appointment in the morning. We were told that my doctor was not going to come until 1:00 pm. So we enjoyed a nice morning in town, having no clue that I was so close to giving birth! We went back to the hospital around 12:30 to be told that the doctor was coming at 1:30 but could not see us until 3 pm. We sat around trying to decide if we should wait or go home and try to come the next day. Thankfully we did not try to go home because when we did finally see the doctor she sent us right to a room because I was already 4 centimeters dialated. The next moments flew by so fast. I started feeling really really strong contractions and in no time my water broke and then in a matter of minutes I was being taken to the birthing room to start pushing! There was no time to waste... four hard pushes and we had our baby!
Imagine, we almost went home and if we had, I am pretty sure he would have been born in the car! Thank you Lord for Your protection! It was the most painful thing I have ever felt but I am thankful it went so quickly. And it was totally worth it! We love you Benjamin!

Our Dear Benjamin,
Words can not even begin to express the love in Mommy and Daddy's hearts for you.  We have loved you and prayed for you from the moment we knew you were growing inside.  To see your sweet face and hold you in our arms gives us more joy than we have ever known.  You are so precious to us, little one!  We love you forever and ever!

Preparing for baby!

We are getting ready to welcome our precious little baby boy into our family any day now!  I can hardly believe that the time has finally come and we will finally get to hold him in our arms and see his sweet little face!  I must say, preparing to have a baby in Rwanda is a bit different than preparing for a baby in America.  No Babies R Us here, that's for sure!  I have been collecting things here and there whenever I come across something and I am very thankful for a good friend here who had a baby boy last year who has been passing on lots of little boy clothing!  The baby will be sleeping in our room for awhile so there is no preparing a nursery but I have tried to make his crib and little corner of the room a little bit special in my own way :)  Cribs here are unbelievable expensive so we decided to get a local carpenter to make one for us.  Not too bad for $50!  They make mosquito nets especially for babies but I saved about $20 by using a regular one and adding my own special little touches by hand.  I purchased a cute little mobile to hang in the crib at a little craft cooperative in Kigali.  I made my own boppy nursing pillow cause they don't sell them here.  Just cut up a soft blanket and hand sewed it.  Of course I looked everywhere and could not find what I needed to stuff the pillow so I ended up just buying a cheaply made pillow at the market and using the stuffing from it to stuff my pillow.  A couple blankets, some diapers, and we are pretty much ready for this little guy.  Nothing like America where there are huge stores full of baby "stuff" that we are convinced is essential!  haha, life is simple here and that is just okay with me :)