I had planned on posting a "Guess Our Baby's Birth Details" contest this morning, but that's an article sitting in draft that will never be published! Our wee little Anna Grace is already 4 days old! Several people have begged me for her birth story, so here it it - a testimony of God's mercy and grace!
Thursday morning, March 7th, Brad got up around 6:30am for work as he usually does. I was having a few mild contractions but didn't think too much of it. After a very rocky pregnancy that included 20 weeks of bed-rest, regular rhogam injections, 9 emergency ultrasounds, and steroid shots at 33 weeks to improve our baby's lungs, I chalked it up to another episode that would probably result in nothing.
I changed my mind around 10:00am, when the contractions hadn't let up. I called my midwife to let her know they were coming every four minutes and she told us to meet her at the hospital. My mother-in-law dropped whatever she was doing to pick our Charity and Judah and Brad raced home from work. We had never had a hospital birth before so deciding when to leave and how fast to drive was a whole new experience for us!
We arrived at the hospital at 11:00am. My Midwife could tell immediately that I really was in labor and a quick check showed I was already 5cm dilated. Contractions were now coming every 3 minutes and lasting for 45 seconds.
Shortly after 2:00pm the midwife called for the obstetrician and a team of nurses. Our baby was arriving 6 weeks early and they were prepared to whisk her away. I was so focused on getting through each contraction, I don't even remember how many people were in our little room.
At 2:30, I was ready to push! I barely felt our little girl enter the world; she was so tiny! She came out screaming and clearly had a great set of lungs! They handed her to me right away and Brad cut the skinny umbilical cord which had been wrapped around her neck. I was so caught up in the preciousness of the moment that nothing could've prepared me for the pain that happened next.
The placenta which we spent the whole pregnancy worried about detaching refused to separate from the uterine wall. The obstetrician waited as long as he could to see if my body would deliver the after birth on it's own. But, my cervix started closing and he had no choice but to remove it in several pieces by hand. I had no epidural or pain medication. It was by far the worst pain I have ever felt in my life! I don't usually make too many noises in labor (I think!) but I'm sure the whole hospital floor heard me screaming!
After spending 1/2 an hour making sure every last piece had been removed, Brad handed our sweet little girl back to my arms and she nursed for almost 2 hours before heading to the Continuing Care Nursery to be monitored in an incubator.
At the beginning of the pregnancy we decided that if our baby was a girl, we would name her Anna Grace. Anna means "God is merciful and gracious," something we can truly testify to since the very beginning of the pregnancy when we thought we had miscarried our second child in a row. The Lord was merciful in sparing her little life and graciously let her stay in the womb until exactly 34 weeks.
We are overwhelmed by His goodness to us and even though she'll be in the hospital for a while, we trust the she is being protected by His right hand. The Lord has done wondrous things for us, and we are glad!
Anna Grace God is merciful and gracious March 7, 2013 5 lbs. 2 oz. 46cm The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you! Psalm 145:8-10
Linking to: Raising Homemakers, Deep Roots At Home, Holy-Spirit Led Homeschooling, My Pregnancy Journal