Our Birth Story...The Final Part

October 4th...Day 4

The night was not good. The sleeping pill was not very effective and even through I tried getting through the contractions alone sometimes I just couldn't. They seemed to just be so piercing. Once again I had oatmeal and prune juice and hoped that it would be effective. We met a new doctor today, Dr. H. She was young, very friendly and pregnant too. She examined me and had said that you were still in a good position and that it could be any moment. She also had said not to try to push when I felt I had to go to the restroom. I had many visitors that Monday, but the pain was just so consistent that I know I was not very pleasant. I hadn't wanted to be touched or cared for. I prayed through each contraction and hoped that I could relax enough not to strain our baby. I remembered the message that Warren Wiersbe had given and concentrated on that. I knew that God was in control. My husband's mom had sent us some encouraging words that her dad use to say. She was on her porch when she thought of them...

"FAITH IS THE BIRD THAT FEELS THE LIGHT AND SINGS WHEN DAWN IS STILL DARK"

Since the contractions were more frequent the doctors had taken away my eat privileges. I started to feel very uncomfortable... as if I thought it could have gotten worse. My mom had a feeling that tonight might be the night so she stayed until about 10:30p, but had decided to leave as I was very sleepy. I went to bed and then..... I awoke with more contractions back to back. I was tired and couldn't breath, I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to keep the baby safe, I was panicing and that is when my husband shared some of the words that I will never forget. He has said that God wanted Him to share them with me. From Revelations 2:10.. he said, " 'Do not be afraid for what you are about to suffer...' God is in control and He will decide when Caleb will come to be born, not you. So don't be afraid'" Those most unusual words..."about to suffer" brought so much comfort to me. I knew that I din't have to try to keep the baby in, I just needed to be the vessel He wanted me to be. After a few more contractions i noticed that the pressure have changed and the pain was different. The nurse came and called the doctor. Dr. H said, "it time".

My husband was called mom and telling me to remember that God was in control and that there was nothing we could do, but BELIEVE this was how He had written our story. Dr. H asked about the baby's name and we told her Caleb George. She said "hey my son's name will be Lucas Caleb!" How about that. I couldn't see anything because I didn't have my glasses or contact.... so as I began to push I couldn't see anything. After 3 pushes our son was born inside his sack. Dr. H had to cut him out and there was a small squeak of a cry. They allowed my husband to cut the umbilical cord and them right there they worked on stabilizing our son. I remember the doctor saying that she knew I was uncomfortable and that she was going to try to help me... I wasn't sure what that meant until there was pain again and then she said . "WoW there is a lot in there... you can go to the restroom now" Before they took our son away to what would be his home for the next 4 months they brought him to me to see. At that moment I was so overcome by feelings I cannot describe even today....

On October 5th 2010....Our life had changed forever and we would begin a new journey as a FAMILY with a baby boy that weighed 1 pound 10 ounces and was 12.5 inches long!

Our Birth Story...Part2

ok.....I drove myself to the hospital and the reality of what was happening didn't seem very urgent. I knew a lot of people who had some bleeding and it all worked out fine. I was more anxious about all the red lights I was hitting. I parked about as far as I could form the triage unit because it seemed like everyone was at the hospital that day. The unit was checking in 3 other people and as we stand there in the line I felt more and more uncomfortable. My tummy began to cramp every now and then and I told my hubby that I was a little worried and I had to go to the bathroom. He is and will always be my hero! He walked up to the counter and politely explained what was happening with me and explained how early I was in our pregnancy. They took us behind the curtain to a bed and said that they would get to us in a second. As we are waiting there my tummy is getting cramps a little more frequent which was so uncomfortable, but not painful. We joke that If I couldn't handle these cramps how would I handle contractions when he came in January... It was then that I looked at my hubby and told him " do not compare this situation to laboring that was scary" and about 20 minutes later the nurse said that they are still trying to put us into the system. She was really nice and asked if I felt anything and we explained about the cramps. She decided to put me on the monitor to be sure that the baby was okay. We could hear his heart beating strong and loud. A few minutes later she returned and looked at the print out. I remembered her saying, "well it looks like you are contacting a bit I'll go let the doctor know". I looked up at my husband and felt immediate comfort from his eyes. I asked him could a baby survive this early and he said he didn't think so. I felt a rush of uncertainty and started to pray.

Then doctor, Dr. A came in said that she wanted to check me and see what was going on and in the meantime she wanted an IV started..... Ummmm for those of you who know me you know that I do not do needles well and those words sent the fear right up to the surface. I mentioned to my hubby that I didn't want one, but he gave me this look which told me I didn't have a choice. Dr. A came back and started her pelvic exam........

I am sitting here writing this entry and am feeling very overwhelmed by the reality and severity of what our son has gone through. .... Okay back to the exam.......

Dr. A shot up from under the cover and told the nurse something so quick that I missed it, but I could see her fear stricken face very clearly. I heart began to race because I knew It wasn't the best situation. I will never forget the words when she said," You are 100% effaced and fully dilated. You need to be prepared because you will have this baby in the next couple of hours. I need to get an ultrasound to see what position the baby is in." I remembered laying there not fully comprehending what she just said. I look at my hubby an realize this was certainly not what we had planned and apparently those were contractions! Dr. A came back and did the ultrasound. She explained that the baby was measuring on schedule and he was in position ...head down and ready. She explained that there wasn't anything holding him back except my water had not broke. She also said that they needed to give me 2 does of steroids to help the baby's lungs. . They explained that it would help the baby's lungs develop and if they were lucky they asked all sorts of questions, did we do this? and did it do that? All I could think about was everything was going so well. The nurse gave me the 1st shot which I didn't even feel and then they took me through the hospital's secret passages down to an Labor and Delivery room. It was then that Ryan and I decided that we should probably call our parents and tell them what was going on.

The contractions were very close 1 to 2 minutes apart and came all of a sudden. The room filled with nurses and different doctors of different expertise. Dr. A started me on "MAG" to stop the contractions. I focused on the only thing that reminded me how much God loved me...the "plus" button for the TV. It was a cross and it spoke to me... it reminded me that not only did God love me, but that He created me to have this baby that He knit in my womb. My whole body was seized and I couldn't breathe...then it was over and that is where we met Dr. S. He would be that doctor would care for our son when he was born later that day he told us. He explained that our baby would have an 80% survival rate, a 50% that he would have some mental defect, and a 20% that it would be severe. He told us that when he came they would do all they needed to to help him live and then he would find a new home in the NICU. Both Dr. A and Dr. S said they would see me later and they would be near by when the time came. The contractions continued to come as we prayed that God would rapidly grow this child within me and keep him in as long as He had planned. The nurse came in tipped my bed backwards so my head was toward the ground and my feet were up and said that I needed to get comfortable and stay put. Under no circumstances was I allowed to leave the bed. All we did was pray and wait....

Our Birth Story...Part1

As I said before I want this blog to be an encouragement to other families who have walked the same path we did in 2010 and 2011 with the birth of our son. I feel we have had such an exceptional experience and I know that it's been our faith in God that has made the difference. Although our story began in 2010, many people still don't know the full extent of how it all began. So, I figured that this would be a good place to tell our story for anyone who may come across our blog by intent or by chance. It will be detailed.....I want to share a little back story because it just goes to show how God plans everything out so perfectly and for good.

On May 26th 2010 I announced to my hubby that he will be a daddy. It was also the anniversary of the day that he asked me to be his wife in 2003. We had just started to pray for a baby if that is what God had planed for us. The first week of June we had an ultrasound done and everything looked wonderful and sounded strong. We decided to buy these picture frames that said "MIRACLE" on them for our parents to announce that we are expecting...ironic how that will be the perfect word to describe Caleb. So I had been feeling wonderful the whole time, no morning sickness or vomiting, just a lot of saliva and shortness of breath. We were so excited and started praying for our baby. We were praying that God would allow us to properly care for the child he has loaned us. Everything is going super all the tests had come back great and there is no indication of any problem. One day my hubby and I listen to the same Bible message on the radio about parenting and both (unbeknownst to each other) feel that me staying home is the best choice for our family. We start praying that God will help work it out for us to be able to do that. So, with that in mind we decide that we would find out the gender of our baby to prepare accordingly. That ultrasound is scheduled for mid August and we find out we are having a baby boy! We had tossed around several names that we both liked and decided to choose Caleb because we wanted a biblical name and one that had a strong meaning and story (you can read the story of Caleb here).

So the last weekend of August I had to work and I bumped into a friend at the church that I was working at. We talked about the plans that my hubby and I have made and she decided to share a little bit about what she knew about pre-term labor and babies. It was a very interesting conversation which really stuck with my heart and I walked away amazed how some women are so strong. I see the doctor on September 22nd and had a list of questions that I wanted to ask. I started out asking if pre-term labor is hereditary. And she says "no". I ask her if I could fly to California on Oct. 16 for an amazing baby shower that my mom had planned and she said that wouldn't be a problem because everything has been perfect. I also let the doctor know that I was planning on doing the HypnoBirthing method and asked if anyone has had any experience with that and she said "no". I really wanted to do a natural child birth, just because I wanted to. I guess I really wanted to have the full experience of feeling what God had intended my body to do. I was going to buy the hypnosis tapes next week or so. There had been a lot of issues going on at the company I worked for and my boss and I were praying that God would change hearts of people who made decisions for our company. We are praying for very specific things, such as the company giving me the opportunity keep my job & insurance to have our baby in January. With all my heart I knew He would answer those prayers.

So that brings us to sometime the week of September 27th 2010 my lower tummy is a little tender to the touch. Nothing painful but just sore feeling ...like my skin had stretch too tight... which it had. Duh I'm pregnant! I really didn't think anything about it but I did tell my hubby. I told him that I wanted him to know just in case anything crazy happens because "you never know"! I tend to tell him random things with that same explanation. So the tenderness persists through the week not getting any worse. I am 23 weeks and 4 days along on Thursday when a co worker asks me to take an online test at the office so in the afternoon I go in and do the test online. During which time I feel like I had a little accident so I went to the bathroom and noticed a little dampness and something else. This had never happened before so I call the doctor's office a described what happened and the nurse said that since everything was clear looking there really wasn't anything to be concerned about. She also said that it was normal for that to happen during pregnancy. I said "okay" and go about the rest of the day. I get home and cook then relax with my hubby. A friend of our sent us an email that night and told us that her husband was in the hospital and wasn't doing very well. It was such a shock to get this email and I hope that the news will get better soon and I looked forward to seeing her at the baby shower in California in a couple of weeks. I told my hubby that I would walk with him in the morning if I felt better. I woke up on the morning of October 1st and I was very thankful that it had rained and that I was not in the mood to walk that day. I got up, showered and put on a pair of jeans, boots and a top for work. I got to work that morning and started made some calls and confirmed my visits for that day. I really couldn't get my friend and work issues off my mind and so about 9:30am I decided to send an email out to some very special friends of mine asking them to pray for my job and for my friend in the hospital. As soon as I sent the email I felt the urge to go to the restroom...if you know what I mean. So I walked into my restroom see the RED spot . I stood up and decided that I should call the doctor's office again. I am 23 weeks and 5 days...basically 6 months and shouldn't have been bleeding that far along. The same nurse I spoke to the day before answered and I explained what I saw. She is calm and said "not to worry" and said I can come in later in the afternoon when a doctor is there or I could go to Triage at the hospital. I called my hubby and asked him what he thought and in the end we decided that we would meet at the hospital ....just to be safe.