Welcome Shiloh Jubilee Milligan!

Shiloh Jubilee was born at home on Monday, Febrary 23 at1:50 am. She weighed 7# 2oz, was 20 in. long, and has lots of beautiful dark brown hair.

Once again, we packed meaning into our child's name in hope that God will answer what we have spoken into her and fill her with the power of His Spirit. Shiloh is a Hebrew name meaning place of rest, to be in safety, tranquil. It was the location of the tabernacle in biblical times - the place of worship before the temple was built. In Genesis 49, the word Shiloh refers to the coming of the Messiah - the fulfillment being Jesus Christ our confident expectation or hope. Jubilee means celebration, to be set free. Every 50th year for the Hebrew people was to be a Jubilee. It was the time when the slaves were set free, land returned to the family, a Sabbath rest for the whole year!
Shiloh's arrival was surprisingly our quickest one yet, continuing our pattern of unpredictable, adventurous, and exciting birth stories. Our prayer was for God's timing and He blessed us with perfect peace. As each birth has been, it was an opportunity of faith and trust in the true Deliverer of life.


Sunday, Kim began the day as a usual getting-ready-for-church-morning and noticed she was having contractions. They were short, mild, very sporadic, and continued throughout the day. We went to church, had an indoor picnic lunch after church, visited an open house just for fun, enjoyed a long quiet time (nap time), and spent the evening relaxing - Kim cozied up on the couch and caught up on some reading while the children played. Grandpa and Grandma Strub decided to spend the night at the last minute and arrived at our house around 9 pm. We watched a Monk episode borrowed from the library and stayed up chatting till about midnight. Kim had still been having ctxns, more intense as the day went on, and noticed them being closer together as we talked. She wasn't really kepping track and hadn't felt the need to time them yet, so we all went to bed thinking maybe we would begin labor in the morning!?!

At 12:15 Kim woke up to a more intense ctxn lasting about 30 seconds and 2 more good strong ones followed at 12:30 and 12:45 maybe a minute long. Then at 1:20 she woke up to water breaking. Soon after, she had one long, intense ctxn requiring a lot of concentration. Kim asked Mark to pray as she was beginning to feel a bit fearful Mark prayed and immediately God gave us this great sense of peace. Mark asked Kim if he should call the midwives and Kim suggested we wake up her mom first. Just as Kim's parents were getting up, Kim began a series of ctxn with only seconds of pause between. At this point, we recognized things were going to progress quickly. Yet there was no concern that the midwives would not make it. We knew this was God's timing and He was covering over us with His presence. Mark asked Lucy to turn up the thermostat while he called our midwife. Just as Grandma returned to our bedroom, our daughter was born with Daddy and Grandma as the birthing team. Grandma Stub had the delight of "catching" the baby!


All was PERFECTLY well! Once our midwives arrived, we did all of the ususal: delivery of the placenta, cutting of the cord, momma and baby checkups, and got pampered by our midvives blessed service, all in the comfort of our home. We cannot describe how wonderful it is to have a home birth. We love that God has given us this gift!




The children met their new baby sister in the morning. This is one of the best parts of having baby #6. They were all delighted and excited. We took lots of pictures and videos to capture the joy of the morning's surprise. Kim could hardly sleep anticipating being able to share Shiloh with her big brothers and sister.

Yes, Leannora LOVES having a sister! She thinks everything about Shiloh is wonderful - her tiny fingers, her pretty clothes, her little diapers, and that she is a girl! We have a little momma in the making.

Nikao calls her "baby Low" and was convinced that she was a baby boy for the first couple of days. He tells us when "baby Low uh whihn ing" (whining = crying).

Able calls her "Shi shoh" or "Shah doh." He giggles and squeals as he says his word for doggie "dahgee" and points to Shiloh. It has become a game to him - he says doggie, we answer baby, and then we all laugh together. It must be pretty confusing for a 16 month old little boy. All he has known is that we have called my tummy "baby." How could he understand that Shiloh is really the baby that was in momma's tummy? Well, it's hard for me to grasp the miracle of God's creation of life in the womb too. Anyways, it's adorable.

The children have all taken turns holding and caring for Shiloh. She will never be in need of a protector with 4 big brothers. We are already looking forward to seeing how all the childrens relationships will develop with one another as they grow. I imagine Hogan and Owen will have a constant admirer in their sweet baby sister.

Grandpa and Grandma Strub stayed with us for the first few days letting the momma get losts of rest. It was a wonderful time of blessing as they enjoyed the children to the fullest, took care of meals, dishes, laundry, diapers, quiet time, play time and everything in between.