Say hello to Augustus Constantin who was born at 2:14 pm on Thursday, September 29th at our home in Georgetown, Texas. Both lion cub and mama are doing very well. Praise the Lord! Thank you for your prayers, warm wishes, and support throughout this beautiful journey. We love y’all.
Andrei:
The last 40+ hours have been an amazing joy ride. Apurva went into early labor around 2 am on Thursday. She shifted into high gear and active labor around 11 am and gave birth to our beautiful son at 2:14 pm. Completely unmedicated. Completely (super)natural. Wow, what a marathon! No, I can’t call it that. I’ve run the Boston and NYC marathons, and they are mere warm up jogs compared to what Apurva accomplished.
I’ve always admired and respected women in general and my wife in particular. After witnessing Apurva give birth to our son and spending 12 hours in labor to get to that glorious, crowning moment, my respect for womanhood now knows no bounds. Women are indeed amazing. They are strength and beauty. To paraphrase what the Good Book states in Proverbs 31, many woman do noble things but my wife exceeds them all. I’m grateful for Apurva.
Apurva:
It was indeed a truly amazing journey. Andrei was a steadfast rock by my side, and I could not have done this without his unwavering support and encouragement every contraction and step of the way. He was fully present and constantly supportive. Andrei had the honor of catching our baby and later cutting the umbilical cord. Nothing compares to the joy and gratitude that we feel from sharing together in this divine experience.
Andrei was overflowing with emotion when we woke up this morning. With tears of gratitude in his eyes, Andrei contemplated God’s beautiful calculus. Our Father in Heaven made the “two” of us “one” when we got married last year, and yesterday He turned “one” into “three” with the birth of our son.
We are grateful for the professionals from Central Texas Birth Center: our midwife Salli, who was always available to help at any hour of the night or day, and her assistants Ruth and Ashley. We are grateful for our doula, Drea. We had an amazing team. Their gentle touch, softly spoken words, wisdom, insight, and supporting presence made this journey peaceful and delightful.
We are grateful for God’s love, grace, and favor. We are humbled by the miracle of birth and the gift of our son, Augustus. Today we have a deeper and better understanding of God’s perfect love for us expressed through His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him we give all the glory!