Our sweet Elijah was born a week early on August 26, 2026, weighing 8 pounds, 13 ounces, and measuring 21 inches long. Looking back at his birth, we are completely overwhelmed by the undeniable miracles and the covering of prayer that brought him safely into our arms.

🎥 Watch me tell his birth story: https://youtu.be/POgJS8Ys44M

We had originally planned on a hospital birth. But when I woke up at 2:45 a.m. to my water leaking, something inside me shifted. Even though we had toyed with the idea of a home birth, I just felt a sudden, incredibly strong conviction that we were supposed to stay home. That plan had a real reason behind it: I had tested positive for Group B Strep, and the hospital was where I could receive antibiotics during labor to protect him. I’d spent weeks doing everything I knew, naturally, to try to clear it — so the decision to stay home was not one we made lightly. My midwife, Evelyn, arrived, Matt rushed home from a camping trip, and after praying together, we all felt a deep, unified peace about staying right where we were.

For most of the day, labor was surprisingly manageable. But by the evening, I had hit a wall.

Unlike my previous births where the baby would slide out smoothly once I was fully dilated, Elijah simply wasn’t descending. After hours of intense labor, I was in absolute agony on the bathroom floor, exhausted and frustrated. I actually started talking to the baby, crying out, “Why won’t you come out?!”

Matt heard me. He didn’t want me speaking negatively or rebuking the baby, but he also knew how much pain I was in and didn’t want to rebuke me, either. So instead, he made a choice that changed the entire atmosphere of the room: he just started praising the Lord.

He began thanking God for bringing our baby boy out, even though nothing was happening yet. Immediately, Evelyn and the girls joined in, and suddenly, the whole room was filled with praise.

Hearing them gave me a massive surge of renewed hope and strength. I pushed with everything I had left, and within seconds, Elijah was out! I thought they had started praising because they saw him coming, but I only found out later that they had raised their praises to God before they ever saw the answer.

It wasn’t until weeks later that we realized why his birth had been so difficult—and just how much of a medical miracle his delivery truly was.

God protected Elijah from three massive complications that day:

1. The Rarest Fetal Position (Brow Presentation)
   Evelyn explained that Elijah had emerged in a “persistent brow presentation.” In the medical world, this is the rarest and most unfavorable position possible—even more difficult than a breech birth. Because his head was tilted back rather than tucked to his chest, the absolute widest diameter of his skull was forced against my pelvis. For a nearly 9-pound baby, medical textbooks consider this a complete physical roadblock. Hospitals almost always require an emergency C-section for this because a vaginal delivery is considered nearly impossible. Yet by God’s grace, our big boy was born vaginally, at home, and I did not have a single tear!
2. A 46-Inch Cord with a True Knot
   Elijah’s umbilical cord was 46 inches long—nearly double the normal length! Tied directly into all that extra slack was a true knot. If a knot tightens during delivery, it cuts off the baby’s oxygen. My body pushing him out so fiercely and quickly in those final seconds is exactly what kept him safe as the knot finally pulled taut.
3. A Frightening Moment
   Late in labor, Evelyn checked his heart rate with the Doppler and was concerned by how low it sounded. Moments later he was born, and thankfully he recovered quickly.

Looking back, God’s orchestration over that day was breathtaking. At 6:50 p.m., just moments before Elijah was born, Evelyn had my daughter text our community prayer group, asking them to start interceding for me immediately. But even earlier that day, four different friends—people I don’t ordinarily hear from—had independently messaged me to say they were praying for us. None of them knew I was in labor a week early! But God knew exactly how difficult this birth would be, and He was prompting people to pray before we even realized how much we needed it.

After he was born, we did go in to the hospital to have him checked over, and every examination was reassuring.

Today, Elijah is perfectly healthy, growing, and giving us the sweetest little smiles. His birth stands as a profound reminder for our family: we can bring every fear to the Lord, and sometimes, even before we see the answer, we can begin praising Him.

Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers!

(Feel free to share or forward this to anyone who needs a reminder of God’s miraculous timing today!)