We had been praying since the first of June, for our 6th baby to make his appearance. Due to some family things, we were praying that he would come sooner rather than later. I had had contractions regularly off and on for over a month, which is very normal when you have had many pregnancies. My parents came Saturday afternoon, and not much had happened labor wise that day, so I was not expecting anything. We made plans for church and lunch for Sunday and got to be around 10 pm.
About 2:30 am I woke up because I really had to pee. After settling back in bed I realized I was contracting. It was already every 5 minutes, but they were not strong. I tried to go back to sleep, but was unable to. At 4:30 I decided to get up and go to the living room to read my Bible and pray. After reading a couple of the Psalms that have been helpful and praying for God's grace in this birth, I was able to nap for about an hour.
Around 6 am, my oldest came into the living room. I told him what was going on and asked him to pray for me, and he did. (He prayed every day for his brother to come.) Not long after this, the contractions got a bit stronger and were more like every 3 minutes. Jim came down the hall at 6:15 am and I told him I was in labor. We got a quick shower and the contractions changes. I knew then was in full blown labor. I called the doctor to help me determine if I should head on to the hospital, and since it was my 6th baby, we decided to go ahead so I did not have a baby in the car.
A little before 7 am we got in the car and headed to the hospital. God was very gracious to me and spaced out my contractions a little so I did not have too many really strong ones in the car. Once I got out at the hospital, they were right back again. I checked in and went to triage. They told me I was 6 cm and got my IV in place. (This is the WORST part of the whole experience every time hands down.) I kept having to stand up because I could not sit during contractions. I walked over to my labor room where they got the baby on the monitor and saw everything was fine. I stood up again and did not sit down until after my water broke.
Around 8 am my water finally broke, as I had been praying it would since getting into my labor room (so about 30 minutes). Jim called out to the nurses station to let them know, and they came in to check me. She told me I was 9 cm so I could not fully push yet. I looked at Jim and said, "I need to have a baby." I could feel my body pushing with each contraction. They were busy getting the room set up as I finished my labor.
At 8:20 am, our baby boy entered the world! We named him Nehemiah Ezra, which means "God is my comfort and help". This is what God has been teaching me so much the past few years, and has taught Jim and me together the past year.
I was so blessed to have the labor I prayed for (except for the IV) and it could not have been any better. We are so thankful to have Nehemiah in our family and cannot wait to see how else God will use his precious life.
Original story shared on The Manor Manor
