I have a beautiful story to share. During the last weeks of my pregnancy I was trying so very hard to get labor started. I did not want another c-section as we want more children and the doctors will usually limit out on you at three c-sections. I tried brisk walking, red raspberry tea and some other methods to no avail. I was becoming desperate and unhappy. I went to the Lord about this on August 16th and He gave me the words to "cease from my works". I got my Bible and opened it exactly to Hebrews 4:10: "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." I knew He had other plans for me and wanted all the glory that is surely due to Him. I am so very grateful I followed the Lord. This is what followed:
Early morning of 8/21 I had contractions for a few hours. The following day I started to lose the mucous plug and continued having contractions periodically. On 8/22 I woke with contractions at 1:30am. I recorded them until 6:00 that morning and thought that we would be going into the hospital but they subsided and we went to our 8:30 appointment to find that I had only gone from 65% effacement to 100% effacement and still at 1.5cm dilation. We were a bit disappointed.
We went home and continued having contractions throughout the day. Finally at 4:00 we decided to have our friend Jane come over to watch Elisabeth. She could tell I was visibly uncomfortable with each contraction and felt bad for me. We arrived at the hospital and they were very busy so we were last priority. When they finally checked me there had been no change. I couldn't believe it as I had been having some very uncomfortable contractions since the night before and worst throughout the day. They were getting worst to where when one of the midwives saw me have a contraction she wondered if I should go home. We decided to stay another 1 1/2 hours and then see where we were at. There was no change once again so they gave me some sleeping pills (Ambien) and sent me home.
We arrived home at 9:00 or so and by now I was nearly delirious I was so tired. I laid down to sleep and was so glad to be feeling the full effects of the sleeping pill by now. I knew I was so tired that I would be able to sleep between contractions. Unfortunately this was not the case. I woke up being "seized" with a contraction that was absolutely unbearable. Then another and another being 2 1/2 minutes apart. I cried, I tried every position possible and just felt like I was dying. My husband called Labor and Delivery and they shared to get me into a hot bath. She then heard me cry out and groan and she asked, "Is that your wife"??? He replied, "Yes, she's in the bathtub upstairs." She then recommended that I come in.
When we arrived, Matthew dropped me off at the door so he could park. The door was closed and I had to walk to Emergency and stop during contractions. I was in so much pain I didn't care what I looked like to anyone. I walked over to the window and cried out, "I need to get to Labor and Delivery (L&D)." She could tell I was in serious pain and looked as frantic looking at me as I was being there in full blown labor. She asked if I needed a wheelchair just as Matthew and Elisabeth arrived. Yes, Elisabeth was with us as we had sent Jane home at 9:00. It was now 11:30 or so. I was then wheeled up to L&D. According to Matthew, the nurses at the front desk looked at me like they just wanted to get me checked and get me home as they were not expecting a change. I was seized by one of my horrific contractions and apparently one of the new nurses looked like I was going to have the baby right then and there.They quickly got me into a bed and the same nurse who kept checking me a couple of hours before checked me again and said I was dilated to a seven, almost an eight. I asked, "Are you kidding me?" I was not in the mood for jokes. Apparently she wasn't. All of a sudden we were top priority. Two other nurses came in and hurriedly they were bringing in all sorts of equipment for me and the baby. I couldn't believe we were going to have a baby so soon. I was still in so much pain that it was hard to be joyful. But, I was so very relieved as I knew I would be having a vaginal birth this time.
Little Hannah was born on August 23rd 2007 at 2:05am. She has slept from 11:30pm to 6:00am each morning with the exception of last night. So, mommy has had a chance to have some good rest. She's a beautiful little girl and looks almost identical to her sister Elisabeth. She's very content and so far a very easy baby to deal with. Her name means "favored one."
