• Phineas Steven Justus Lund • Born yesterday at 1:03PM in Nairobi, Kenya • 8lbs 2oz (3.7 kilos) and nearly 21” long (53cm) • For over ten years I have dreamed of naming my first boy Phineas after the Israelite who had the zeal of the Lord in Numbers chapter twenty five. 'Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed. And that was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever.'--Psalm 106:30-31 ESV
When we found out Farrah was a girl, I was surprised because I had always thought I’d have a boy first. But God’s timing is perfect because, in fact, 2020 is the year of a plague. I feel his birth signifies the end of the the virus and a confirmation of God’s call on his life. Phineas, may you have the zeal for the Lord that proclaims His salvation by Christ’s blood which stays God’s wrath on mankind. Thank you Lord for this Hope we have now in Jesus in 2020 and forever and ever. Welcome, little one! #PhineasStevenJustus #inlundswithyou #soinlove @sklund77
Since I'm a millenial mom and trying to embrace it, I thought I'd start with the birth announcement I put on Instagram. Phineas' due date was December 15th, 2020. That meant he had only ten extra days before Christmas to join the party or he'd be late. In my house, Christmas is the biggest holiday and I couldn't imagine having to split it with a birthday (first world problems...maybe...) It's bad enough Steven's birthday is New Year's Eve! I told my doctor I wanted to get induced that week if he didn't come naturally and not to mention he was feeling pretty big. She also didn't hide the fact that the hospital in Nairobi slows down around that week of Christmas. Of all the inductions I had been around and heard about, they all seemed like no big deal, so we went with it. "Planned" felt easier, including the fact that we were trying to nail down childcare for Farrah and we were organizing that with the friends we had just made in Nairobi. It was another complicating factor to say the least.
Baby ready or not, Steven and I went in on December 16th at 8PM and started the induction process that night. He was born three days later via cesarean on December 19th. It was some of the most emotionally exhausting days that I had gone through of that year--at let's remember it was 2020! All day on December 17th the doctor kept thinking we'd have a "baby by midnight" because of my consistent contractions but the truth is, he never descended into my pelvis like normal and by December 18th she deemed him a "mal-placement". We prayed, made
lists of what we were thankful for, and and wrote prophetic words for
Phineas. We labored physically and emotionally for this boy. At the end of it all I remember sitting in silence as we waited for the gurney to take me to the
operating room. I was just seeking to trust the Lord.
Steven wasn't allowed in the operating room due to Covid guidelines. After he was born I heard his cry and everyone commented on how big he was. Eight pounds didn't seem like much but maybe it was by comparison to my smaller frame. The doctor did confirm a "loop of cord" around his neck which is possibly why he didn't descend to start labor naturally.
I have a deep peace that though this was not ideal, the Lord taught me something. Pushing on and pressing through trial with full faith in His goodness is our only option. Birthing something isn't easy in the spirit or the natural. If we want to see sons and daughters physically or spiritually we have to labor and keep faith and trust. Thankfully, I never fell into a "woe is me" mindset or ask "why God?" It was the Lord that kept me quite far from that--reassuring me that I was going to have my baby in the end. He kept giving me a picture of Him holding me as I was handed my boy. I surprise even myself as I reflect and only think of the joy in those first few moments and weeks after his birth.
Allow me to count a few of them:
1--I was in the recovery area dozing in and out, thanking God I wasn't pregnant anymore and I roused immediately when I heard Steven's voice sneaking into the room to find me. He was told he had to leave right away due to health measures but not before he said hello. We both laughed at how Phineas looked JUST like me.
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| Steven and Finn waiting for me in recovery |
2--On December 21st we finally got to go home. Being away from Farrah for five days with new people is still taking its toll on her needing a little extra security as she goes to bed at night etc. But, that moment of seeing her again and meeting Finn. Oh, I could watch that video over and over!
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| Farrah holding Phineas for the first time |
3--Our whole team was flying in from Island Life to Nairobi and they all got to meet Phineas that day.
4--On December 24th we ventured out to the mall to get Phineas his passport photos. It's a process to get the birth certificate from the Kenya government and apply for the US passport so you can't waste any time! We "visited Santa" masked up for Covid and I scooted through the grocery store buying anything I wanted so we could celebrate Christmas Eve with our team at our guest house. Not even recovering from a c-section was gonna keep me down. With the mix of Christmas and the joy of a new baby, these memories get filed away in special category called "favorite Christmas and baby Phineas." That night we had a charcuterie board I think even Pinterest was proud of, and Farrah simply encapsulated our party with one word (way past her bedtime) "Candy!"
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| Picture with Santa 2020 |
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| I think its hilarious this is something I specifically remember about his birth story |
5--Our first Christmas morning as a family of four was when we finally got our first photo taken of all of us together! Somehow with the no visitors policy at the hospital and the big groups of people visiting in and out of the house it had evaded us. We also had some pretty fun gifts for everyone too and we lit the Christ candle for Advent.
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| First picture as a family of four | |
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| Opening their joint gift--a new comic book Bible |
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