From Russia with Love

I had just left my cubicle for a few minutes and when I came back, I returned to this. 

 

A little back story:
When we first found out we were pregnant with Lana, we were told that her expected due date is today, November 5th. Nevertheless, things don’t always go as planned. After all, life is what happens while you’re too busy planning it. Certainly it has been rough couple of months, but even in our desperate moments, we are always reminded to be hopeful.

A little further-back story: 
I often get asked where we got the name, “Lana” from. How I answer that question is highly dependent on how much coffee I’ve had that morning. The quick and nerdy answer is, “It’s a name of a character in the Superman comics”. If I’ve had at least two cups of coffee, then I might elaborate more and mention that it’s actually derived from the name “Svetlana”, and how it originally comes from the Russian word svet, which translates into English as "light", "shining", "luminescent", "pure", "blessed", or "holy", depending upon context. If I’m feeling particularly scholarly, I might even throw in a theological reference. But ultimately it comes down to the simple fact that my wife “liked” it.

God has his own way of reminding us to be hopeful and keep faith - you just have to pay attention. Sometimes it’s through coincidences. These beautiful flowers were from my co-worker (and resident genius), Yelena. Where is she from? Russia. When is her birthday? November 5th. =)

"Tomorrow these will be for Lana" (Nov 4th 2015). Yelena, thank you for the flowers and also Happy Birthday!

Updated: Added a "Happy Due Date" Photo with one of Lana's favorite nurses, Sylvia!