Nate and Ruth’s blog has various photos of the delivery. One of the nurses got some good shots for us! To see them, just click on this link:
Be sure to scroll down to see all the pictures and the picture and text of “the promise blooms” — our “rainbow” reminder just before delivery!
Appreciate you!
Jeff and Becky
At about 10:40pm our time (8:40pm EST), two beautiful little girls were born to our daughter Ruth and her husband Nate! I don’t know who cried more–the babies or all of us waiting! As the babies were born, Becky, accompanying the birth, called me on her cell phone and I put it on speaker phone so everyone could hear the babies’ first cries (great lungs!), Ruth’s laughter, and all the excitement going on in the delivery room!
Ruth is doing great! Rebecca Joy (2.60kg–5lbs, 12 oz) and Anna Grace (1.6kg–3lbs, 8oz) are beautiful and will be in the nursery for 3 hours for observation before being taken to Ruth’s room.
The blood tests showed Ruth’s platelet level to be high enough to just have the spinal block–another big answer to prayer!
Now we ask you to continue to pray for a quick recovery for Ruth, that her milk will come in quickly and that there will be no complications as the babies adjust to life outside the womb. We’re not going to let down our guard!
We’ll have some pictures later.
Your prayers make the difference!!
Jeff and Becky
Ruth’s doctor called this morning and said that he wants to go ahead with the delivery of the twins. He feels that the dropping platelet count is serious enough to go ahead and schedule the surgery for tonight at 9pm rather than wait for the exam results. Ruth will be checking into the hospital shortly.
What about the blood tests?
When the blood results are in later today, the platelet count will determine whether she can have a spinal block or will have to have general anesthesia.
If you are available at 7pm Eastern Standard Time, would you intercede on behalf of Ruth and the delivery?
We are at real peace about the situation. Yesterday Ruth was having a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions so there would be major concern to wait until the doctor returned from his travels. Ruth cannot go into true contractions because her last delivery was a C-section and there is a danger the uterus could rupture during a contraction.
We talked with the anesthesiologist yesterday at church (he goes there too) and he answered a lot of our questions about the risks. We all felt a real peace if it was determined that the babies should be delivered now. We were also informed that additional incubators have arrived in Santarem so that there would be no problem of availability if they were necessary. And both our anesthesiologist and doctor have access to the resources of the new regional hospital if there were any special needs (the hospital is on strike!).
Becky and I are pretty emotional right now–in the good sense! We are going to be grandparents tonight!
We appreciate all the loving responses to our e-mails. God bless you all!
Jeff and Becky
Our big evangelistic crusade at the city stadium starts tonight and goes through Sunday. Strong winds and rain on Wednesday night damaged the huge sets for the drama presentations that will occur during the crusade. The coordinator of the event was pretty discouraged and they are working around the clock to get everything repaired for the presentations tonight. Please pray for Forta and his team as they work to finish all the mounting of the sets and coordinate final rehearsals.
Also pray for good weather, protection, and an outpouring of the Presence of the Lord as we believe for the salvation of 2000 souls through this crusade! We are experiencing a lot of spiritual warfare and are counting on your prayers!
Great Surgery!
My follow-up surgery to remove the catheter between my kidney and bladder went very well on Tuesday–painless, quick, and with no complications! When the doctor showed me the catheter after they pulled it out and I saw the curly “pig tails” on each end which kept it in place, I was especially thankful for the general anesthesia! Thanks so much for your prayers!
Also, we just talked with Ivanildo’s wife and Clea said that Ivanildo continues to improve. He remains in the hospital receiving antibiotic treatment. The doctors don’t want to do the cortisone treatment for his eyes because the high dosage could cause undesirable long term effects. His eyes continue to be crossed with double vision but the doctors are pleased with his general improvement.
Please pray for his continued recovery and especially the restoration of his vision.
Ruth with her girls
They’re girls!
While I was in the hospital, Ruth had a routine ultrasound and the doctor confirmed that she is carrying twin girls–Rebecca and Anna! It was amazing that the doctor could read the name tags on their wrists! Just kidding–Nate and Ruth had already picked the names!
Here’s a picture of Ruth at about 18 weeks. She is in good health but just a little anemic. Please continue to pray for Ruth’s continued good progress in her pregnancy!
God bless you!
We talked to Ivanildo’s wife, Clea, last night and she said that Ivanildo is out of any life-threatening conditions. His infections are under control and other symptoms are being treated. However, the doctors still don’t know what the root cause is. Ivanildo still has double vision and one of his eyes has moved into a “crossed” position. The doctors believe they can treat the condition with cortisone but do not want to do so until all other diagnostic tests have been performed as cortisone treatment could mask those results.
Please continue to pray for his complete recovery.
Clea also wanted to thank all of you for your prayers. She knows it is making a huge difference!
I will be going in for surgery tomorrow morning (Tuesday) to have the catheter removed that was put in from my kidney to the bladder. It should be a quick process and I’ll be under full anesthesia. Please pray for complete success of the surgery and a quick recovery.
Again, thank you for all your prayers. It’s wonderful how the internet makes it possible to have the body of Christ around the world praying for you!
God bless you!
Thanks for your prayers for Jeff. Now, we are asking you to pray for one of our Braziilian pastors, Ivanildo. He started seeing double and was having facial pain. He was admitted to a different hospital here in Fortaleza and they are suspecting a very serious and rare infection. The MRI ruled out any tumors, but they are doing some very specialized exams now. The doctor says it is very serious.
Ivanildo and Cleia
We are believing God for a miracle. His wife Clea (a nurse that I was privileged to lead to the Lord years ago in Santarem) called me last night crying. Please agree with us in prayer for his complete healing with no permanent consequences. Here’s a picture of Ivanildo and Cleia leading a couples retreat.
We appreciate so much being able to call on our family, the body of Christ, to pray and stand with us!
We love you!
Becky–for Jeff also
Thank you soooo much! First of all, I really appreciated all the letters of prayer support and encouragement! It was especially interesting to hear how many of you have been through the kidney stone experience and the empathy I felt with you!
The surgery went well. Becky, being a nurse, was allowed to be right by the doctor as he did the procedure. It turns out he did his medical training in Indiana!
I was also thankful that Brazil beat the US in the finals of a major soccer cup competition on Sunday. It was a good position to be in–the “victorious” doctor being merciful to the poor “defeated” patient! 
The main anesthesia was a spinal block. What a strange sensation to not feel anything from the waist down for hours! I was also given IV medication and though I was always conscious, I suddenly heard the doctor say he was done when I was waiting for him to get started! This procedure has to be perfected for use when going to the dentist!
Lord willing, I will be released in the morning. We fly back to Santarem tomorrow night. I will have to go back in for minor surgery in a week to have the catheter (stent) removed that runs from the kidney to the bladder to help the drainage.
Please continue to pray for complete healing–especially against infection from the kidney being “backed up” for so long. The drainage, drinking lots of fluids, and the use of antibiotics should help prevent any problems.
Again, thanks for your prayers. I feel wonderful but am tired of sitting around in a hospital! We’re looking forward to getting home!
God bless you!
Last Tuesday morning in Santarem I began having extreme pain in the area of my right kidney. The pain became so intense that I was admitted to the hospital and put on strong IV anti-inflammatory and pain medicine. (For those of you who have experienced kidney stones, you can probably sympathize with me!) The doctors thought I had a kidney stone but an ensuing ultrasound Wednesday morning showed nothing. I felt much better and was released from the hospital believing that whatever had been there was flushed out.
On Thursday, Becky and I flew to Fortaleza where we planned to take advantage of the trip and spend a couple of days at a nearby beach to celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary (it was June 12). I would then be preaching at our Fortaleza church on Sunday and we would be having meetings on Monday and Tuesday with a number of church leaders to discuss the growth of PAZ around Brazil.
During those days at the beach, I again began experiencing waves of pain but controlled them with oral medications the doctor had prescribed before leaving Santarem. However, on the drive back from the beach to Fortaleza on Saturday, excruciating pain began to dominate my body. We went to the emergency room where I was again given IV medications to ease the pain. I returned to the hospital this morning for an ultrasound which showed no stone in the kidney but some swelling of the kidney. I was then given a CAT scan which revealed a large stone stuck in the ureter just above the bladder. It has apparently been there since Tuesday, so I was admitted to the hospital and tomorrow they are going to go in with a laser to break up and remove the stone. They will also put in a catheter between the kidney and bladder to allow the kidney to freely drain and minimize any chance of infection. That will stay in for about a week.
The surgery is scheduled for Monday around 11am Eastern Daylight Time. Would you please pray with us for complete healing of this condition? We are scheduled to fly back to Santarem Tuesday night and the hospital there can remove the catheter next week.
I’ll write again after the surgery. Thank you so much for your prayers!
Bonita Blankenship sent us this photo explaining exactly how twins are made in the technology age! Now I understand!
How Twins are Made
Please pray for our trip to the US. We leave tonight arriving in Miami tomorrow night. Here’s our schedule:
Tue 4/21 – Fri 4/25: Denver–board meeting and visit relatives
Sun 4/26: Speaking in Mansfield, OH
Tue 4/27 – Sun 5/3: Tulsa, OK for our daughter Debbie’s graduation from ORU and time with my parents
Mon 5/4 – Wed 5/6: Peoria, IL
Wed 5/6 – Sun 5/10: Chicago, IL, Encounter with God weekend
Mon 5/11 – Sun 5/17: San Diego and Los Angeles, CA — visits, speaking engagements, Isaiah Huber and Erin Kleinjan wedding
Mon 5/18 – Fri 5/22: Vancouver, Banff, Calgary, Edmonton — visits, sight-seeing, speaking engagements
Sat 5/23 – Tue 5/26: Tampa and Miami, FL areas — visits, final purchases and packing
Wed 5/27: Leave for Brazil, arriving home Wed 5/28
We’re counting on your prayers!
Ruth just got back from having an ultrasound. It showed there were two distinct embryos with two distinct heartbeats! Needless to say, there has been a lot of hugging, shouting, crying, and general euphoria around here!
But…
The doctor also said the placenta was slightly pulled away from the uterus and there is a little bit of internal bleeding. The doctor has ordered her to bed rest. So, please join us in prayer for health for Ruth and the twins.
Get more details from Nate and Ruth and read about the “promise flower” by clicking on this link:
We appreciate your faithful prayers!
