I had a gut feeling from the moment I took the pregnancy test that this was going to be a little girl. Both Gabriel and Veronica had mentioned to me casually a few weeks before that there was a baby in my belly, and I laughed it off nervously. No way. Or so I thought. 

I grew up with 7 sisters and 3 brothers, so the diamonds that sisters are is no foreign concept to me. They have been my most loyal friends, supportive confidants, and examples I have looked up to throughout my childhood and adulthood. So when Veronica prayed for a baby sister, I would send up the same hope with her. I just wasn’t expecting it so soon. But Veronica knew! And with the earnest confidence that only children have, she informed me it was a sister when I told them the news that a baby was indeed on the way. Gabriel and Max agreed that “we had enough boys”, so they were rooting for a girl too. 

I would have been so happy with either considering I just love babies in general, and know whoever came home with me would be just what was intended for our family. I have to say though, when we found out it was a girl, I cried tears of gratitude. There is nothing sweeter to witness than answered prayers. We held the surprise to ourselves for months until little Azelia Jane arrived. We captured a few moments on film of the day they met their new sister, and Chelsey Heidorn snapped these photos for us. Some moments you can’t let escape you, and this was one of them.

Thank you all so deeply for your warm welcome to Azelie Jane. I am blissfully exhausted and so richly full. Yes, life is chaotic and messy right now, but I have never felt more sure of where my two feet stand in life. This is home.

P.S. We found out after naming her, that the hebrew translation for Azelie is actually “flower” after all! I guess we should have saved ourselves the perplexing hunt, and just listened to Veronica from the start!

She made her way into our lives as a surprise, and decided her debut should be one as well! Azelie Jane arrived a month early on Monday evening, Aug. 29th. I still can’t believe she is here, and that we get to keep her forever. Her life has taught us so much from the start, and I have a feeling she will continue to be a light bearer in the years to come.

By the way I had been feeling the week before her birth, I had the gut instinct she would be coming early….but maybe a week early like Rocco Samuel. It never crossed my mind she could come any sooner. I had just been to the doctor for a normal 35 week “measuring on time” visit. I was looking forward to this week to use up all of my nesting energy and clean the house from top to bottom, dig up Veronica’s old baby clothes, prepare meals, pack my hospital bag, and maybe do something spastic like chop my hair. As you can guess, none of it happened…

After a weekend of hosting family who had just moved to town, I admit I was probably on my feet more that I should have been, and went to bed pretty zonked on Sunday night. I was having very restless dreams and kept being woken up by what I thought braxton hicks contractions. I finally acknowledged that they might be something more than that since they were getting painful. I started to panic slightly since I didn’t have a hospital bag packed, so at 5am, I got up and started pacing…. and packing. Never underestimate what the adrenaline of a woman in early labor can do! That bag was packed in ten minutes flat. Gabe woke up to get ready for work, and was slightly confused over the sight of his wife buzzing around the room at such an hour. After calling the doctor for advice on what to do, we called up family to stay with the kids so we could head to the hospital. My mind was spinning, as I tried to process what was happening. I wrote a goodbye note to my kids, and squeezed Rocco extra tight as tears welled up in my eyes. Life was about to shift sails. 

Gabe and I are so secondary that it didn’t really hit us until a few hours later when the nurse reported I was 4cm dilated. “You are going to have a baby today!” We looked at each other in disbelief. We were kind of expecting they would want to slow down contractions and send us back home. This is when we finally started to grasp the reality that despite being totally unprepared, this was the day we would meet our girl.

It was my longest labor because the epidural slowed down the contractions….. but it was full of peace. Although, I am pretty sure Gabe’s hand was bruised by the squeezes I gave him throughout the process. My mother got to be there through the day, which brought me so much comfort (as only a mother can!) When the time came to push, it was evening, and I was more than ready to hold her! Pushing has always been pretty quick for me so it felt like only a few moments later, I had a dark haired little beauty on my chest taking her first breaths and letting out a little squeaky cry. It’s the sound that makes time stand still, and heaven draw near for a moment as you realize a new little soul has come into the world, and that you were just a part of their journey here.

I don’t have the words to adequately describe what it feels like to have 5 children. Just typing that out has me looking over my shoulder. Who me? My new reality is equally dumbfounding as it is encompassing. As I looked at the face of our daughter for the first time, I felt a brand new love rush over me. Another chamber of my heart I didn’t know was there, manifested in the shape of a tiny 6 pound soul. Every emotion of the year from the surprise beginning, the fear and doubt, and the shock of her early arrival were swept away with the downward flood of tears as I held her on my chest for the first time, and our hearts beat on top of each other. The emotions rooted in the conviction that this little girl was written into our lives by our creator long before we came to meet her, and that she was always meant to be. My heart is officially split 6 ways for my husband and 5 children.

We took two days to name her….until they were asking for the birth certificate forms. We knew we wanted her name to hold meaning, but we had a hard time finding a good fit. Not many names flow well with Liesemeyer, ya know. Veronica suggested we name her “flower” the day she met her (Rainbow Dash being another suggestion) so I wanted to try to make that happen somehow! St. Therese the “Little Flower” was always a personal favorite saint of mine, and her mother’s name was Marie-Azelie, whose life story is even more impactful to to me now as a mother of 5. Gabe and I both loved her story and felt this was fitting for our little flower. Azelie (Ah-zell-ee) Jane.

Thank you all so much for your outpouring of love and support through this journey. I can’t tell you enough how much it has encouraged me along the way. I will share soon the pics and video of my little ones getting to meet their sister for the first time. It deserves it’s own post!

Post baby photos by Chelsey Heidorn.