Jakob Marcus has arrived. . .

. . . seven weeks ahead of schedule. Yikes!

After spending an evening having a late dinner and watching a little television, we received a call from our case worker. Our birthmother experienced a few moderate complications and the hospital team determined they would need to do an emergency C-Section in order to ensure optimum safety for both baby and mother. So officially, Jakob was born on August 9, at 9:10 p.m., weight 4.1-lbs and is 15 inches long. Both he and the birthmother are doing well and Jakob has been taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for observation. We were able to see him tonight and are pleased to share the following images with you:

Tomorrow, we will head back to the hospital to spend some more time with Jakob and we hope he will soon be developed enough for us to touch and hold him. The medical team informed us he will be there for approximately two weeks so we have a little breathing room to continue to finalize things. Marc's parents generously provided us with the crib and a killer diaper bag. Now once we get the mattress (and rocker) we'll be in business! :) Once we have a better understanding as to how long Jakob will be in the hospital, we can get the legal proceedings underway and we will be one step closer to bringing him home and introducing him to friends and family.

We would ask that you be in prayer for the following related and unrelated things:

• The judge in our case and that God provide him with the compassion needed to grant us this child.


• Wisdom for us as we begin the financial process (coupled with juggling the other financials in our lives currently).


• Sunday night our friends Spencer and Jennifer were in a moderate motorcycle accident. Both are banged up but okay. Please be in prayer for them as they heal.


• As many of you know our friends Steve and Julie took their daughter Justine to the Mayo Clinic to hopefully get some answers on why she is having seizures. They pinpointed her as being epileptic, and things were going in the right direction. Justine had a relapse as they were leaving to come home and they will now be at Mayo until Wednesday. All are homesick and hoping for God's wisdom to shine on this situation soon.

So, needless to say, we're holding on to a mixture of being overjoyed and freaked out. But the good news is, our son is here and God is faithful.

More soon.