The day that God's Grace truly shined upon me.

The Birth Story...

On September 16th I went in for my first visit of the week and had an ultrasound. Sweetey Petey was moving around nicely, he was practicing his breathing, and my fluid levels were still great. I distinctly remember asking the tech if the tech can ever tell if the baby has begun to descend into the birth canal. She told me that yes there are times that she cannot see part of the babies head due to it being in the birth canal. My baby, she said had not started to descend. So, I left that day with all of the rest of my visits scheduled and my eye on the prize. September 29th/30th we would meet our little guy. On the 19th I came in to have an NST. It was an absolutely beautiful late summer day. I was feeling good. I was pretty much dreading the NST just because of fear that the little guy wouldn't be behaving. My mother was with me and we had a nice chat in the waiting room. It was a glorious day. We had plans for the weekend and I had last minute baby things that I wanted to get done. The NST went well. I poked and prodded and jiggled my belly enough so that Petey was moving all around and his heart rate seemed great. The mid-wife Ms. C came into check the strip because Dr. C had just been called to an emergency c-section. The strip was great so she took me off the monitor. She asked me how I was feeling. My blood pressure had been super that day and my urine had been clean...Yay! She looked at my chart and noticed that I was 37 weeks exactly that day and announced that their policy is to start checking for progress at 37 weeks. I kind of humphed to myself...I believed that this was needless because there was no way that I had dilated whatsoever. So I stripped down for the torture. It hurt like the dickens. I had no idea that one woman could shove her entire hand SO FAR up into my lady parts! Seriously. It also seemed like she was really taking her time up there. She kept apologizing for taking so long. I just kept gritting my teeth and holding my breath. She pulled her hand out and it was covered in blood which really surprised me. I have no idea if that was normal or not. She said, "When did you say your induction was scheduled for?" I said the 29th. She said, "Well, you are definitely not going to make it until then. You are at 4 cm and your bag of waters is bulging. We are going to send you over to the hospital to have this baby. You are in luck because Dr. C and I are both on call today and this entire weekend so we will be there for you." I wish that I could have seen the look on my own face. Shock is not even the word. I almost didn't follow what she was saying. Having this baby today?!?!?! Seriously?!?!? Already at 4 cm?!??! Water bulging?!?! You had to be kidding me. No one has it this easy for the first baby. I had had a semi-difficult pregnancy...I never dreamed that I would hit the labor and delivery lotto. Ms. C said it all so calmly to me. Like it was just a walk in the park. My mother's face was priceless as well. I stuttered around not even able to form a sentence. My mind was racing, my heart was racing. I remember saying something like, "You're serious? I'm having this baby right now...today?" She informed me that she would call next door to the hospital and let them know that I was coming. They would get me settled and hooked up to the monitors and then she or Dr. C would be in to check me again and break my water. Then the labor would progress from there. Ummm ok?! I was truly speechless. She reassured me a little more and I brought up the fact that Dr. C had said that if this baby was estimated to weigh more than 8 1/2 lbs. that I would have a c-section no questions asked. She asked me if I would feel better if I had an ultra sound right then to check things out. I said yes so she told me to get dressed and go directly down to the ultra sound room. My mom and I just stared at each other. She was glowing. It was a magical moment. Umm, mom, The OP is an hour away working and dad is three hours away at our family farm which has little to no cell service. So she went out of the room while I got dressed and started to make phone calls.

During the ultra sound the baby was moving well, practicing his breathing, and had a good heart rate. The tech (who I knew very well by now!) was so excited for me. She said that she couldn't believe how lucky I was to have this happen with my very first baby. She was beaming for me. It was so nice of her. She measured everything twice and estimated the baby at just below 7 lbs. I was good to go. I was relieved. I had made peace with whatever delivery good might hand me. I wasn't afraid of surgery, but I also wasn't afraid of labor. I almost wished for labor. It's just a woman thing I guess. Like I wanted to say that I had lived through it. Been in the trenches.

I remember shaking uncontrollably from the anticipation of it all. I wasn't scared. I felt peace. I had prayed so much and God was answering my prayers. Throughout my pregnancy I had repeated two things to myself multiple times a day.
1) To remember that I have nothing to fear in this life because God is with me always.
2) God tells us to have courage without fear.
God was there with me in that room. Spurring me toward the delivery room. Holding my hand...wrapping his arms around my child. Keeping us safe. Giving me the courage to do this. To quit worrying about the potential what-ifs, the potential problems. I felt peace and that peace would see me through the delivery of my son.

So I took a deep breath. Then I had the courage to get up. I had the courage to make the phone calls that I needed to make. I had courage as I was admitted to the hospital. I had courage as I labored. And God's Grace shined upon me as I delivered my son.

Details will be in the next post.