Br..... = Braewyn (and Jackie is out of hospital)

A quick update on a couple of the last postings. Rachel is home with Br...... , who turned out to be Braewyn Eliana (Brown). We also just found out tonight that Jackie went home from hospital. I had spoken to her last night and at that point the insulin shots were not resolving the diabetes problem. The doctors were going to try a new medication today. We haven't spoken with her...only just got a brief e-mail informing us that she's home and would be in contact tomorrow. Will keep you posted; keep praying.

It's a girl! (But we've known that for a long time)

The phone call came shortly after 10 a.m. our time this morning. We were waiting on it...not to know "what is it?", but "when?", "how big?", "how long?" Modern medicine has taken nearly all the surprise out of childbirth...a couple has to really make a determined effort NOT to know if it's a boy or a girl. So we knew Rachel and Chris's fourth child is a girl, and we knew it was very close to the due date.

Our eighth grandchild, who shall remain unnamed in this report, but identified only as "Br------ Brown" (her older siblings are Brody, Brennan, and Briony, so I think it's safe to call her "Br-----"), arrived shortly after midnight Mountain Daylight Time (Colorado) or shortly after 7 a.m. here. Rachel, who is completing some courses to get her full teacher's certificate, HAD to be in class last night to give her final presentation. She asked the professor if she could be the first one, and she gave her presentation, with labor pains at 5-minute intervals. Then straight from class to hospital, and 12:09 a.m., little Br----- was delivered by C-section. For the benefit of the women readers, who seem to find the information especially important, she weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and measured 20" in length. (Notice how babies, because they don't seem to be able to stand at this point, are measured for length, not height?)

Rachel herself called about 3 hours after the delivery. Chris, the father, was reported to be fine, and resting comfortably. (Fast asleep, actually.) Rachel is fine and looking forward to a fast recovery: she has to be back in class next Friday and Saturday. She'll be taking the baby with her, who by that time is expected to have a name. Your prayers for all are appreciated, of course.

Jackie - Update

I spoke with Jackie tonight. The doctors are concerned about her heart and tried to give her a stress test today, but she fainted during the test, so they couldn't complete the readings. Insulin was being given in an IV drip, but the doctors have changed to direct injection of insulin, with her readings still swinging from 7 to 22 (see previous post). Her blood pressure is staying at around 190/90 (19/9) and only comes down to 150/90 for an hour or so after medication. She sounded weak and tired. The doctors have said they're not going to release her until they find out what is going on.

Jaime had travelled to Portugal to take care of some business and is due back in England tomorrow.

Prayer for Jackie

I've mentioned Jackie before because of her health problems. When we were in the States 4 years ago, she was very ill and at the point of death. She's been to doctors here on the island, in mainland Portugal, Australia and now, England. She has so many problems that the doctors don't know where to begin, and comments from doctors range from "you're a very sick woman" to "I don't understand why you're still alive."

Jackie and Jaime left Madeira about a year ago, and after spending time with family in mainland Portugal and Australia, they are with their son, Sergio, and his family near Oxford, England. This picture with Lara, their granddaughter, was taken at the end of May, when we visited them there.


Jackie sent a brief message Tuesday to say that, based on her latest blood tests, the doctors ordered her to be hospitalized immediately. Her sugar count was so high that they feared she would go into a diabetic coma. We spoke by phone with her tonight. She's in a hospital near Oxford, where she's being given medication to prevent cardiac arrest. The doctors are unable to keep the sugar level down, and it is so high that it is beyond "coma stage". On the UK scale, a reading of 7 is normal, 17 causes cardiac arrest, and her readings are as high as 22. We appreciate your prayers for her and the rest of the family.

Not forgotten

You, the faithful reader, are not forgotten. This blog is not forgotten. The problem is all that has been going on at the same time I remember you and the blog. Yesterday was a red letter day, though. For the first time in more months than I can remember, I actually could say that I had no translation work in hand, waiting to be done. The work piled up while we were away and other jobs came in while I was still trying to eliminate the backlog, but yesterday I turned in the last job and got all related paperwork done. That wouldn't have happened, however, if I hadn't turned down jobs, and some other jobs were not cancelled for one reason or another. There are already indications that a project is coming up any day now, so I'm trying to enjoy the break while I can.

We had a visiting pastor and his family with us for a couple of weeks...somewhere there's a photo I plan to post. We spoke with our daughters, Rachel and Joy, in the past few days. Both are pregnant, and Rachel, our eldest, is due before the end of this month---her 4th child. Joy, our youngest, is due to have her first child, a girl, around September 18. Both seem to be doing well for the condition they're in! We have a lot of travel plans to work out here in the next few days.

Other plans slowly take shape regarding our vision for reaching Madeira and Porto Santo with the gospel. A lot of praying about this has been done here, and on the Portuguese mainland, too. We will keep you informed as we see doors opened.

And a final bit of news: work has begun on constructing a website. We have the domain name registered and a host for the site; the challenge we face now is to get our ideas and the content fused together into something concrete and publishable. I'm not going to make any rash statements in the way of a projected date for going on line with the site. If it doesn't happen soon, it won't be because it's been forgotten; I foresee two explanations: 1) we want to do a good job and build a useful, attractive, informative site, which means we won't rush just to get something on line; 2) a flood of translation work will have come in, giving me something to do while I remember you and the blog...or the website.