On April 14, my son,
Christopher, was born. It was the most amazing
experience of my life, but it was also the most unprepared for experience of my
life. Nothing went according to
plan. My husband and I were prepared for
a vaginal birth, my mom and sister were to be in the delivery room with us, and
I was looking forward to the precious skin-on-skin time I would have with my
son immediately after his birth.
We arrived at the
hospital at 3 p.m. on Wednesday for my induction. By 6 p.m., I was hooked up to everything,
family came to check on us, and by 10 p.m., we were settled in for our last
night as a family of two. I started
feeling very slight contractions by midnight.
At 1 a.m. (Thursday), the vomiting started. My night nurse was absolutely amazing and was
checking on me every hour. The doctor
was originally scheduled to check on me at 5 a.m., but because I was vomiting,
she came at 3 a.m. and put me on the waiting list to go down to labor and
delivery (yes, a waiting list! There were
a lot of babies being born that day!). At
7 a.m., my family had arrived and we were transferred to our labor and delivery
room. I was given a walking epidural and
my mom had joined the team.
Meanwhile, somewhere over
the Atlantic, my sister, Jayme, was flying back to the States after a 10 day
trip to Ireland. Jayme had served as a
missionary with Missions to the World in Ireland from July 2012 through June
2013. She served with a church in
Greystones, County Wicklow, where she led the church’s youth program. She had the opportunity to return in April to
help with their Easter program and to visit with everyone. She was scheduled to fly into New Jersey and
then arrive in Jacksonville late Thursday.
We were praying that she would make it to Orlando before Christopher
arrived.
Throughout the day on
Thursday, I asked for the regular epidural, was given nausea medicine for the
consistent vomiting, and had a small flow of family checking on our
progress. Between the epidural and the
nausea medicine, I was feeling pretty good.
Because the nausea medicine made me very sleepy and a little loopy, I
was getting a ton of sleep and, of course, with the epidural, I couldn’t feel
any contractions. My doctor was in
periodically to check on my progress and everything looked to be going well.
By the grace of God, my
sister arrived around 9:30 p.m.
Unfortunately, when she arrived, I looked my absolute worst. I had been in labor all day, I was puffy,
tired, and loopy. At 10:30 p.m., my
doctor came in for an update. She
explained that I was only 7 centimeters dilated and had not made any progress
over the past five hours. She was going
to increase the Pitocin to help move things along and would be back in two
hours to check on me. However, only 15
minutes later, my doctor came back in, put an oxygen mask on me and said that
Christopher was starting to go into distress.
She explained that a few things could be happening, two of which were
that he was bigger than what they thought, and/or his cord was wrapped around
his neck. Unbeknownst to us, both
possibilities were correct. She strongly
recommended a C-section.
By this point, not only
did I look pretty rough, but I now had an oxygen mask on me and my doctor was
going through the possible things that could go wrong with a C-section. I remember looking at my husband, who was
shaking his head yes, and looking at my mom and sister, who looked more than a
little stressed. After I agreed to the
C-section and signed the paperwork, a team of nurses came in and immediately
started prepping me. I was taken to the
surgery floor, and, 30 minutes later, Christopher was born. I remember the nurse showing him to me and
him being taken away to the nursery.
Because I had labored for
so long and he was bigger than what they thought (he was predicted to be seven
pounds and he was eight), Christopher was born with low blood sugar and was
immediately taken to the transitional nursery to begin antibiotics. I did not get to experience any skin-on-skin
time with Christopher, but because I was still loopy from the nausea medicine
and then from the surgery, I really was out of touch with what was going
on. As I was being wheeled past the
nursery to our room, they briefly brought Christopher out for me to hold. He was kept in the transitional nursery until
Saturday morning, after he had completed his round of antibiotics and was
cleared as perfectly healthy.
Many people have asked me
if I was scared, stressed, or worried throughout Christopher’s birth. Even though this was my first pregnancy and
we really didn’t know what to expect and nothing went according to plan, there
was never a moment when I felt any form of fear. I trusted my doctor, my nurses, and, most
importantly, my God. I knew who was in
control and I trusted in His will.
Without the assurance of my salvation and the knowledge that the Lord was
in control, there is no way I would’ve made it through those 36 hours.
Have I not commanded
you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
Fear not, for I am
with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will
help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
God’s plan for this world
is so much bigger than my labor experience and Christopher being born. However, as Christians, we play in integral
part in his plan. Our attitude, reactions,
and choices portray God’s love, grace and purpose. Although I am far from perfect, I am
constantly reminded of how I am a light for Jesus, even in the delivery room.
For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
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