Nathanael's Birth

From the Archives

I was sick throughout the whole pregnancy.  I only required IV hydration once at the beginning, but was miserably nauseous all 9 months.  My husband remembers me losing my breakfast the morning he was preaching at church two weeks before our due date.  The nausea was actually reassuring to us though, as we had a miscarriage the year before and when I stopped being nauseous was when we lost the baby.

My mom was flying to Tampa the afternoon before the due date and she was to stay for a week.  It was a Sunday, and happened to be Pastor’s Anniversary dinner.  My in-laws went up to get my mom from the airport and brought her to our house.  She had enough time to change into fresh clothes and we headed to the party.  It was an evening of fun and hilarity.  I laughed so much my sides ached.

We returned home and I began making a jug of sweet tea.  I put the sugar in the old milk jug and the hot tea and screwed the lid on.  I gave it a couple big shakes to dissolve the sugar.  When I did I felt like I wet myself a bit.  So I went to the bathroom to check.  I was convinced my water had broken!  I came out to the living room and told my husband and mom that my water had broken and they both thought I was joking at first, till I asked for the phone so I could call the midwife. 

The midwife said to go ahead and go to the hospital to be evaluated so we packed up and went.  When I checked in the nurses didn’t really believe I was in labor.  I didn’t feel like I was either, just constantly leaking.  So they determined I had broken my water, and hooked me up to a monitor.  I was having small contractions every 8-10 minutes, so they finished up the paperwork to check me in. 

It took forever!  My water broke at home at 7pm, and by about 1am I was exhausted. I was determined to continue to have a “natural” birth but my confidence was waning as my desire for rest was increasing. I asked for my options and my husband and I decided to try phenergan so I could get some sleep.  I told my husband to take a nap, my mom and mother-in-law took over caring for me.  I napped between contractions and would wake as the contraction peaked.  That was more unpleasant than enduring the swell of pain and feeling the relief of it as it passed. 

About 7am I wanted to be done. The contractions were getting harder to breathe through, so we asked the midwife to come in, and she said it was time for baby to come.  I was so ready.  The nurses started filing in and preparing the room for a baby.  A nurse asked if I minded if a couple students watched, and I was too distracted to say no (I have since discovered I am too much of a push-over when in labor).  Looking back at pictures later, there were three students in the room.  I pushed and pushed and pushed for 3 hours. 

Finally at 10am, the midwife announced “It’s a boy!”  It was so overwhelming to hold my son.  I was privileged to have my mom and my husband’s mom in the room too.  He was perfect! My mom was taken back to our house, my mother-in-law went home, and all of us slept!

It was hard work, but I had lots of support and I trusted everything would be fine.  It was such a relief to hold my son after suffering the loss of a baby the year before.  God had been merciful to us.  We grew closer as a couple through our trials and closer to the Lord as well.

~Shared by Laura A.