Prayer

I am so grateful for prayer.  During the last few months I poured my heart out to God about all sorts of things relating to me and my family: staying mobile enough during pregnancy to keep up with Emily and go on walks in the morning even with all of my pain; blessing our baby to grow healthy and strong and come as soon as he was ready; having the right nurses and doctor with us at the hospital that would be just right for us and have the inspiration they needed; that Emily would be in a place where she felt comfortable and safe while we were at the hospital; that Andrew wouldn’t be awake with me for days so he could stay healthy and take care of Emily; that my labor would be faster than 26 hours and wouldn’t include back labor or end in stitches; that I wouldn’t have group b strep and could avoid an IV and the miserable antibiotics they gave me last time; that I would recover quickly and not become sick so I could take care of my family; that no matter what happened I would be able to have faith and trust in God. I prayed to feel peace and comfort, and I did.

The day we went to the hospital it was warm enough and I felt good enough to walk about 3.5 miles. I carried Emily all around the house and we cuddled (which we almost never do) before naptime, bedtime, and outside at the park. I didn’t have any problems lifting her or wrapping her up in my arms and sitting her on my lap. I’m so grateful we had that time together.

I went into labor at 38 weeks which means two less weeks of morning sickness and two weeks sooner on my long road to recovery. He was born a healthy 8lbs 8oz and I’m grateful he didn’t have any more time to grow bigger.

I had the most amazing nurses. The first was a happy, young lady on her very last night of night shift. The contractions weren’t painful and she was great to chat with as she got me all checked in. The next nurse came at 5:30am and she reminded me of a drill sergeant at first but turned out to be so kind and amazing. Carol knew when to suggest different positions and when to just leave me alone. She knew when to tell it it would be awhile and when to tell me I was getting close. She knew how to encourage and how to get me to listen (she told Andrew what to say and he could get me to focus on him). After our baby was born she was fabulous with both of us during recovery. She went above and beyond trying to make us comfortable and looked up my chart from last time to make sure we were  matching eat worked last time. She came in and chatted with me when she was no longer my nurse and I learned about her family and her youngest daughter who is my age and getting married soon – it was nice to not think about labor and delivery for a bit.

Carol transferred my care to Karen once we had gone through recovery protocol. Karen worked a 16 hour shift, slept for five hours, and worked another 12 hour shift, so we spent a lot of time together. Everyone that heard Karen’s name couldn’t rave enough about her and I’d have to agree. She was doing some routine newborn checks shortly after Nathan was born and asked if it was okay for him to stay in the isolate across the room or if I wanted him close. I said he was fine there for a few minutes but then she changed her mind in case he started chocking. I asked if he had been, and she said no but pulled out the bulb syringe and gave me some chocking training, even though I probably wouldn’t need it. Andrew was picking up Emily and staying home so she could rest for awhile when our little boy began gasping for breath and his mouth filled with fluid he couldn’t get out. I was feeling really grateful for Karen’s inspiration then. It was the first of many chocking and throwing up moments during the first 24 hours of his life. By the next morning Karen was back teaching us all about reflux precautions which are time consuming but make a huge difference. She also had a wonderful talent for making it easy to ask for things and receive much needed help.  She is truly and angel.

Emily was well cared for with people she was comfortable with. We had friends that ended their halloween party a little early so they could come over and sleep at our place and be here for Emily in the morning.  Emily was then able to spend the rest of the day at the house she had been asking to go to when the baby was born and had a great time.  Knowing she was thrilled to be with friends I didn’t worry even a little bit. My mom hopped in the car and was there to take care of Emily while we were in the hospital the remaining days.

Andrew was able to sleep a good portion of the night and during the majority of my labor because I didn’t have any back labor and I really just wanted him to sleep so he could take care of Emily.  He was right there the last few hours when I needed him, and we were both much better off than when Emily was born and we hadn’t slept for a couple of days.

I still needed and IV, but they gave me different antibiotics and it wasn’t a big deal at all.  I only had to endure four hours of really intense pain instead of 26 hours.  My very specific prayers were answered, and when it didn’t go exactly how I would have liked (I still ended up with lots of stitches) I felt peace and have been blessed with reassurances to know that God is still very much aware of me and with me on this journey.

I am so grateful for prayer and the blessings that are poured out over me and my family because God is listening.  Most of all, I’m grateful this little boy has joined our family.