Presenting Princess Victoria Antonela

Presenting Princess Victoria Antonela Roque Altimirano

January 2015 also brought a very huge change to our lives.  An indescribable blessing!  We have a new ‘boss’ and she came to us weighing in at 6 pounds 3 ounces and making a huge presence in our lives!

God brought Sofia to us in February of 2014.  I had met her the year before, but didn’t really have much interaction with her.  She came to work for the ministry as a part-time housekeeper.  After just a day, God made it possible for her to move in to Living Grace House, too.  She lost her mother when she was young, and her father has not been a big presence in her life.  She has many half siblings, but no family that could provide her with a place to live once she became an older teenager.  God brought her to me and the ministry, and step by step, He has made us into a family.  There have been many ups and downs and challenges and blessings, but like all families, that grew us closer.  We didn’t know at the time what He was up to, but we have prayed a lot over the past year and watched Him work in our lives to prepare us for this time in our lives.

Sofi helps to take care of the house and is an excellent cook.  She is finishing highschool and wants to take some college classes in the future.  She is talented in handcrafts, and has been making items to sell to support herself and baby Victoria.  She also has studied pedicures/manicures and is planning on studying to become a beautician.  She was surprised by an unexpected pregnancy, which taught her a lot about choices and relying on God.  Through the experience, she came to put her faith in Christ as her Savior and Redeemer, and she wants to minister to other young girls, using her relationship with God as a resource. 

It took a lot of prayer and seeking for God’s will, but I know in my heart that He wants us as a family.  He gave me the opportunity to come before Him with choices of my past and let Him redeem me from those secrets.  All of this prepared me open my heart and my home to Sofi and baby Victoria with pure love, and know that the emotions of regret, fear, unforgiveness and shame had nothing to do with our new family.  What a healing time for me.  What a blessing to be able to minister to Sofia in God’s timing.  What an example of His unconditional love.  So… we are a family.

Baby Victoria was due the end of January or first part of February.  (the docs here gave her a large window of due dates)  However, on January 16, Sofi went for a dr appointment.  They were concerned about her blood pressure.  It wasn’t very high, but they could get a better reading at the hospital, so they sent her there for a check up.  Everything was fine, just a little elevated blood pressure.  They are VERY QUICK to do Cesarean Sections here, and wanted to do one then.  But Sofi said no, she wanted to wait.  We all agreed.  They kept her in the hospital all weekend trying to induce labor (she wasn’t ready) and trying to talk her into a C-section.  Finally, on Monday morning, she started into labor.  They were still trying to get her to do a C-section through the whole time.  Since she wasn’t dilating much, they cut her a lot to deliver the baby.  Victoria was born at 11:57am on Monday, January 19^th.  I was so excited!  The ladies in the hospital thought it was funny that this Gringa was crying.  Then they were told I am like the grandmother and they started congratulating me.  No one could be in with Sofi when she delivered, especially a gringa, so I prayed over her so much not to be afraid.  Momma and baby were both fine.

Now, let me explain about the (government) hospital in León.  It is NOT a place I want to go to, even when well.  I had visited it before many times for ministry and when Sofi was hospitalized at 7months pregnant with chikungunya.  It is filthy, I mean fitlthy!  There are roaches crawling all over the floors, walls, everything.  It is not sterile, the windows are open to the outside (if there are window panes at all).  Birds are even inside walking around.  It is hot and dirty and miserable.  The rooms are crowded, usually 5 or more beds to a room.  When Sofi was in labor, one night there were 12 pregnant women sharing 6 beds.  Crazy!  You bring your own sheets, pillows, gowns, etc.  Your family takes care of you, including bathroom trips, bringing food, going to buy medicine, etc.  Someone from your family usually stays overnight to swat the roaches and take care of your needs.  It broke my heart that Sofi had to be there for 4 days.  I could only visit at certain hours, but our friends Yamilet, Veronica and Estefanie helped with taking care of Sofi.  (they especially don’t want North Americans in the hospital seeing all of this, but they learned that I was just concerned about Sofi like a daughter.)

The first night of Victoria’s life, I spent the night at the hospital with Estefanie and we took care of Sofi and Victoria.  Since family is there helping the new mammas and babies, there are lots of people in the rooms, including daddies, who sometimes slept on the floor on top of cardboard.  The lights stay on all night.  It’s hot and nasty and buggy.  What a miserable night!  I thought about the horrible conditions of Jesus’ birth.  His life was a miracle of the most High God, and the conditions of His coming was even worse than here.  My, how our God loves us to go through that!

Anyway, the next day, Sofi and baby Victoria got to come home.  I left the hospital before them (our friend Veronica was with Sofi) to run to the store and get things ready at the house.  We sent our special taxi driver friend, Edwin, to pick them up.  When they arrived at the house I was soooo excited!  Victoria was wearing the special dress that Veronica had made for her homecoming.  (it was pink and white crochet with a matching hat and crocheted sandals!)  I hugged Edwin and he was happy to be a part of the event. 

We brought Victoria into her room and unwrapped her.  Sofi, Veronica, Aura, and Yamilet all surrounded her for prayer.  Even though I had been looking at this precious babe and taking her picture for the last 24 hours, it was like I saw her for the very first time.  I broke out in uncontrolled tears and couldn’t even talk.  I couldn’t believe that God had brought this precious person into my life and our home.  Veronica worded the prayer and we were all in tears, with me still sobbing.  It was so good to have Victoria home!

We took many pictures of her firsts… first diaper change at home, first time in her crib, first bath, etc.  I’m known for always taking a picture of everything that happens.  How fun to have her here.  Sofi was very sore from the extensive cutting and stitching, but was doing pretty well.  Having Aura (the temporary nanny) here helped a lot.  We began our journey of our new lives by all taking a very much needed nap!

Baby Victoria is such a blessing.  Sofi is learning how to be a mom.  I’m learning about newborns (even though I have helped care for many).  (It is a common belief that all North Americans have servants for everything… cooking, cleaning, childcare, everything… because we come here and hire people to help.  The main reason for hiring people is to give them JOBS, but it does make it hard for some people to believe that we are capable of taking care of ourselves or others.)  Not only have I not given birth, but I am a North American, so I was supervised with my first diaper change (they couldn’t believe that I knew how to change a diaper!), feeding, burping, etc.  And with the multitude of myths and wife’s tales here, my advice fell on deaf ears.  It has been very interesting being respectful of their customs and traditions while trying to be sensible and healthy with childcare.  But we are all doing well.

I know that God is going to do awesome things in Victoria’s life.  Sofi and I take very seriously our roles as caregivers.  Sofi has had to grow up into a maturing woman and it has been interesting to see how the difference in culture affects common experiences. 

God has been prompting me to prepare for a new part of the ministry, that of young ladies and especially young mammas.  Now I know why He was moving me in this direction.  May He be glorified through each and every experience that He brings our way.  He is the ultimate Father of us all.