May 2010: Isaiah's Birth Day
I started having contractions every night around my due date. They were typically pretty sporadic and would die down once I went to sleep. I had an appointment the day before my due date (May 
and was told that if I went another week, I would have to begin having non-stress tests. When the next Friday rolled around (six days after my due date) and I was still pregnant, I went in for my appointment and was monitored with a non-stress test. At that point everything looked good, but the doctor said that I would need to be scheduled for an induction on the following Friday. I tried to talk him into letting me go until Monday, but he said the concern with a reduction of fluid after 42 weeks didn’t make him comfortable doing that unless I went and had a high level ultrasound every day after 42 weeks. So I went home from my appointment praying I would not have to be induced.
That night the normal contractions started once again, but this time I was awoken by them around 1:30am. I was up for a couple of hours before I decided to try and get some more sleep. I ended up falling back asleep but was woken up by them once again around 6am. At this point, I decided to get a warm shower to see if they continued. I went to the bathroom and found I had some bloody show, so I figured this was the real thing. I got a shower, got dressed and gave Joe a heads up that I thought this was it. I then finished packing up my bag and I called our parents to let them know what was happening. Next, I called the doctor (my favorite one in the practice was on-call) and told him that my contractions were about 5 minutes apart, but not too strong yet. He said to go ahead and head to the hospital to be checked out.
So we spent a quick family worship time and then got the cars packed up. We took the kids and the minivan over to Joe’s parents’ house. It was about 10:15am at that point, so we said some good-byes, grabbed a few pictures and then we drove the Jeep to the hospital. On the ride there the contractions started to get a little stronger, which I was thankful for. I still didn’t feel like I was in full labor and didn’t want to get there and be sent home. We arrived at the hospital and I got into the gown and examined in the admitting room. After answering questions and having my contractions monitored, the nurse found I was already 5cm! So I was officially admitted to a room at around 10:45am. At that point labor was still very manageable. In fact, people were surprised I was in labor. The next hour was taken up with the regular routine of being admitted into the hospital.
After an hour passed, my doctor showed up (there was construction outside his housing development so it took him a bit longer to arrive). So he checked me once again and I had progressed to 6cm. At that point he felt things would move along quickly if he broke my water, so at 12pm my water was broken. The doctor was right about it moving things along quicker. The contractions immediately got much stronger. My nurse that had commented that earlier I had no looked like I was in labor said that I looked like it now. After about an hour, she checked me once again and I had progressed to 8cm. At that point, she had called in to another nurse to get the room set up for the delivery. This was when labor started to get much more intense. What a difference it made to have Joe with me this time around (as opposed to Naomi’s birth when he wasn’t allowed to be with me). Just to have him get me ice (I am a big sweater during labor!), smooth my hair back from my forehead and give me a kiss and offer an encouraging word made it a wonderful experience to go through together. I had really been praying about staying relaxed and allowing my body to do what God created it to do, and it made the whole experience so much more enjoyable. I didn’t have any pain medication and was able to just pray and breathe through the entire process.
Around 1:35pm, I started to feel some strong pressure, so I asked Joe to go get the nurse. She and the doctor came and he checked me and said I was about 9.5 cm, but on the next contraction to give a little push so he could see if the cervix retracted the rest of the way. When he found that it did, they got the bed ready for the delivery. At around 1:50pm they were ready and I was able to begin pushing. It only took a few contractions, and some very good coaching on the doctor’s part (I didn’t need any stitches or anything due to not tearing at all), and our little Isaiah Sean came into the world!
Every time I have a baby the feeling of instant love just amazes me. Here is this little life that I have just met and yet I would lay my own life down for this precious baby. Isaiah was certainly love at first site for both Joe and me. We enjoyed our time alone with him before he was taken to have all the early tests done. As we sat and recounted the ways God had shown Himself faithful once again through the birth of a child, we were humbled and amazed. God has done great things for us; we are glad (Psalm 126:3)!