What an amazing journey this birth experience has been!
After being dilated at 2 cm for 4 weeks I thought it might be possible that this baby would never come. I had no clue what I was talking about! I missed the lesson of patience that God was trying to teach me with those 4 weeks.
I went into labor on 14, March (Uriah's due date) at 9am while we where at home doing our normal Saturday morning rituals...a whole lotta natta! Jer and I were shocked because Mehkai was born on his due date. What a coincidence, ay! The contractions quickly became close together and very consistent. We called a family friend, Debbie, who is apprenticing as a Midwife and flew into town to assist with the birth as our doula (an irreplaceable figure) from VA, as well as her daughter Lindsay, and Auntie Shan. The day filled with God's magical blessings! I don't think I could have asked for a better labor... that is Chapter 1 of the labor. I was surrounded by loving, nurturing, happy people. I labored in bed, on a Pilate's ball, on the floor and this warmth, that even richly illuminating candles couldn't compare to, of these people followed me. The best part of it all was hearing sweet Mehkai laughing and playing during a time when I wasn't quite sure how he was going to react to me and my actions.
Around 10pm we left for the hospital only to find that even though I had some signs of being in the transition phase of labor, I was only 4 cm dilated. I was pretty bummed but thought... God isn't done knitting yet... he much have a few more final touches. After considering our options Jer and I decided that admission would be best instead of going back and forth to the hospital. We had no clue what was ahead!
At the hospital we kept pretty busy walking hallways, sitting on the Pilate's ball to help open my pelvis, taking showers, and enjoying each other - all in an effort to help the process along! Well, it would help for a while... then things would pause, we would try it all again... and again it would work and then pause. (and by pausing I mean things stopped progressing and took a step or 2 backwards. contractions about 20 min apart.) All the while the we had nurse and midwife shift changes. It seemed as though every time it was close to a shift change the pressure would be on and they would bring up the topic of pitocin or c-section to "hurry up and get this baby out safely".
My bag of water had yet to brake and so Uriah wasn't feeling the stress of labor, his heart rate remained pretty much the same as it did throughout my labor. And as for me, I was tired.... T.I.R.E.D., but I was in labor and that is just part of the whole equation! Jer was ready to take me back home so that we could just continue laboring at home as we were before we got to the hospital. Looking back... that was really good idea!
After 35 hours, the contractions seemed to stop completely. With the thought of having more contractions - which is what I wanted so desperately, and the thought of having more pain - which I didn't think my exhausted mind could handle, we decided that some intervention was needed. I wanted to enjoy the rest of this experience and with a sane mind hold my little treasure when he emerged. An epidural and even the lowest dose of pitocin was something that we never in a million years would have thought we would need to or want to use, and I am so glad that I am living in an era were it exists!
Three and a half hours after getting the pitocin, the contractions and my body where in sync and God worked though the whole situation to let me feel the contractions to push Uriah out and feel his body emerge. (I was planning on asking them to turn the epidural meds down so that I would have the experience of feeling him emerge - a amazing experience - but for some reason I didn't need to, who else deserves the credit but God.)
12:45 am - He was born... the best way to start off a new day, wouldn't you say?
He weighed in at 9lbs 2oz
21 inches long
And is amazingly precious!!!!!
This baby boy and his big brother Mehkai have something in common already. They both came out head & hand together.
Mehkai was in and out during the labor. It lasted so long that Shannon would take him out and about or home to sleep during the duration. I was so excited that he was there with us when it was time to push. He witnessed the whole thing and just gazed in amazement. He kept his tongue in his cheek the whole time, which told me he was excited and nervous. And rightly so... he too is forever changed. As the midwife was doing the little repair work that was needed Mehkai gasped out "Ooooh! I forgot my doctor kit!" My heart just swelled with love for him that entire day and he topped it off with making a comment like that.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that we would have had an experience like this, after all, the 2nd labor is "suppose" to be easier; or so they say. But God planned everything just perfectly. He gave me the support of my husband and us the support of our son, my "sister" Shannon, Stephanie, Debbie and Lindsay and I can look back and say it was so wonderful!
After being dilated at 2 cm for 4 weeks I thought it might be possible that this baby would never come. I had no clue what I was talking about! I missed the lesson of patience that God was trying to teach me with those 4 weeks.
I went into labor on 14, March (Uriah's due date) at 9am while we where at home doing our normal Saturday morning rituals...a whole lotta natta! Jer and I were shocked because Mehkai was born on his due date. What a coincidence, ay! The contractions quickly became close together and very consistent. We called a family friend, Debbie, who is apprenticing as a Midwife and flew into town to assist with the birth as our doula (an irreplaceable figure) from VA, as well as her daughter Lindsay, and Auntie Shan. The day filled with God's magical blessings! I don't think I could have asked for a better labor... that is Chapter 1 of the labor. I was surrounded by loving, nurturing, happy people. I labored in bed, on a Pilate's ball, on the floor and this warmth, that even richly illuminating candles couldn't compare to, of these people followed me. The best part of it all was hearing sweet Mehkai laughing and playing during a time when I wasn't quite sure how he was going to react to me and my actions.
Around 10pm we left for the hospital only to find that even though I had some signs of being in the transition phase of labor, I was only 4 cm dilated. I was pretty bummed but thought... God isn't done knitting yet... he much have a few more final touches. After considering our options Jer and I decided that admission would be best instead of going back and forth to the hospital. We had no clue what was ahead!
At the hospital we kept pretty busy walking hallways, sitting on the Pilate's ball to help open my pelvis, taking showers, and enjoying each other - all in an effort to help the process along! Well, it would help for a while... then things would pause, we would try it all again... and again it would work and then pause. (and by pausing I mean things stopped progressing and took a step or 2 backwards. contractions about 20 min apart.) All the while the we had nurse and midwife shift changes. It seemed as though every time it was close to a shift change the pressure would be on and they would bring up the topic of pitocin or c-section to "hurry up and get this baby out safely".
*The only problem is that... there was no problem!*
My bag of water had yet to brake and so Uriah wasn't feeling the stress of labor, his heart rate remained pretty much the same as it did throughout my labor. And as for me, I was tired.... T.I.R.E.D., but I was in labor and that is just part of the whole equation! Jer was ready to take me back home so that we could just continue laboring at home as we were before we got to the hospital. Looking back... that was really good idea!
After 35 hours, the contractions seemed to stop completely. With the thought of having more contractions - which is what I wanted so desperately, and the thought of having more pain - which I didn't think my exhausted mind could handle, we decided that some intervention was needed. I wanted to enjoy the rest of this experience and with a sane mind hold my little treasure when he emerged. An epidural and even the lowest dose of pitocin was something that we never in a million years would have thought we would need to or want to use, and I am so glad that I am living in an era were it exists!
Three and a half hours after getting the pitocin, the contractions and my body where in sync and God worked though the whole situation to let me feel the contractions to push Uriah out and feel his body emerge. (I was planning on asking them to turn the epidural meds down so that I would have the experience of feeling him emerge - a amazing experience - but for some reason I didn't need to, who else deserves the credit but God.)
12:45 am - He was born... the best way to start off a new day, wouldn't you say?
He weighed in at 9lbs 2oz
21 inches long
And is amazingly precious!!!!!
This baby boy and his big brother Mehkai have something in common already. They both came out head & hand together.
Mehkai was in and out during the labor. It lasted so long that Shannon would take him out and about or home to sleep during the duration. I was so excited that he was there with us when it was time to push. He witnessed the whole thing and just gazed in amazement. He kept his tongue in his cheek the whole time, which told me he was excited and nervous. And rightly so... he too is forever changed. As the midwife was doing the little repair work that was needed Mehkai gasped out "Ooooh! I forgot my doctor kit!" My heart just swelled with love for him that entire day and he topped it off with making a comment like that.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that we would have had an experience like this, after all, the 2nd labor is "suppose" to be easier; or so they say. But God planned everything just perfectly. He gave me the support of my husband and us the support of our son, my "sister" Shannon, Stephanie, Debbie and Lindsay and I can look back and say it was so wonderful!
*For those of you wondering how we came up with his name, the short version of it is:
Uriah the Hittite is probably best known as the husband of Bathsheba who was betrayed by his king to cover up an adultery scheme. However, Uriah was much more than that, he was one of King David’s 37 mighty men, a true warrior and a man of honor and valor. In Hebrew Uriah means “Yahweh is my light”.
Athanasius is a reminder of God’s sovereignty over evil and reassurance that the truth of his word will stand through all seasons. Athanasius was a bishop in the 4th century from Alexandria, Egypt who defended the deity of Jesus till the end. Being exiled numerous times for the defense of Christ, and out numbered in many council meetings, Athanasius was one of the, if not THE main proponent used by God in preserving the truth of his Son. It is because of God’s providence in using Athanasius that we are able to understand the role of Jesus in verses like John 1:1 and Col 1 with clarity…
