It's A Girl!

It is with great pride, joy, happiness and celebration that I announce the birth of Ashley Passawe! She arrived into the world around 7am this morning. Both mother and baby are doing well! And she's pretty stinking cute, don't you think?!

Momo's wife, Marthalyn, has been on bed rest for more than a month now, so we have all been anxiously awaiting Baby P's arrival. I selfishly planned my trip to Liberia for later in March, in hopes that I would be here for the baby's birth. The 'birth window' was mid-March to mid-April, so I was just praying that I'd be in Liberia at the right time. I figured the baby would come a day or two after I left...just my luck. But God is good, and now I get two weeks to enjoy Small Ashley!

Marthalyn was a pro! She started having pain around 9pm last night and Momo woke Deb up at 3am because 'the pain was too much and she was crying like a baby.' They took her to the hospital and she was whisked inside...nobody else was allowed to go with her. Around 7am, Momo got the news that it was a girl!

Of course, I turned my phone off last night, so Deb had no way to get in touch with me. Just before 8am, I had a knock on my door and I heard, "Debbie's trying to get in touch with you." I said ok and turned on my phone. Right then, my door opened and Momo came in, yelling, "Marthalyn born girl child!" I was still half asleep, and was shocked that only a few hours earlier, I was sitting with Marthalyn and she was telling me that she felt good and wasn't having any pain. I packed my bag, changed clothes and off we went to wait for the visiting hours at the hospital.

Momo is such a proud father! He was calling everyone, riding his bike around to spread the news, and had a huge grin on his face all day! He kept saying, "I young baby pa today-o! Eh, Small Ashley."

For giving birth [no pain meds here!] only 3 hours prior, Marthalyn looked great! She was sitting up, talking and laughing. At one point she got quiet and I saw her eyes water, so I asked if she was in pain and she nodded yes. Small Ashley is tiny, has a full head of hair, looks like her mom [expect we determined she had Momo's nose, feet and allergy....she kept sneezing!] and was incredibly content to just look around. Everyone kept saying, "her eyes shining-o!"

There has been plenty of dancing and celebrating around here for the new Liberian princess, and tomorrow there's going to be more celebrating with a big meal. Marthalyn and Small Ashley should get discharged in the morning, and then we can all just sit around and stare at her!

Thank you Jesus for a safe delivery without complications and for a healthy mom and baby!