Note: This entry is longer than usual, and contains semi-descriptive labor and delivery content. 
However, the miraculous story is one I have wanted to share. So, if you’re into it, read on…
My first child, Ashton, was born at 2:32 pm, and my second, Lauren, was born at 2:33. No joke. That’s how it happened. I always did joke, though, that if I had another, he’d have to arrive at 2:34, just for good measure. Well…here’s how that third one came into the world.
I went into birth armed with scripture and a hearty dose of faith. God’s instruction to me? Just show up, and know that I am Powerful and Mighty. I had been meditating on it for weeks. I’d collected my own book of Psalms, along with other key verses, to claim during birth, and they were on the rolling table next to me as the nurses came in to start the induction.
Everything went smoothly for the first several hours. My bloodwork was great, showing that I had the platelets needed for an epidural. (This was a major concern going into delivery.) Turns out much of the early labor had been at home the night before. Nate was ready to come. The doctor easily broke my water, and my nurse, Stacy, started the pit. (That’s short for pitocin, for those of you who maybe have never had the induction experience.) Immediately, things began to progress. I kept flipping through the scriptures, and was really drawn to a scripture about Elijah – who was a man just like us, but prayed that it would not rain, and it didn’t for three years - and then He prayed that it would rain, and it did. I knew this big event was covered in much prayer, so I was not surprised to see it unfold so perfectly.
Then, around lunchtime, things got a little dicey. For the first time in any of my labor experiences, I met three new nurses at once. One grabbed my belly and began gyrating it in a circular fashion that made me laugh out loud for a moment. Another rushed to the other side of the bed to “help me change sides.” A third tapped nervously into the computer beside me, highlighting contraction patterns and baby Nate’s heartrate. It took a moment for me to realize that something just wasn’t quite right.
The next thing I knew, I was being handed an oxygen mask as my sweet nurse explained that we were experiencing something called variables. They aren’t always problematic, she reassured, we’re just watching the patterns. But when my OB made an early appearance (they really only show up for the very end of this event, typically), I once again had the sense that something was not quite right. As she examined the patterns of my contractions, the doc told me how I was almost fully complete (that means ready to push!) except…for some reason, baby Nate was not dropping down. My body was responding to the induction, but something was keeping Nate from descending. So…yeah…that part is pretty key.
Even more scary, little Nate’s heart would drop off the charts during many of my contractions. His vitals were dropping too low; he wasn’t sustaining the contractions well. This explained the entourage of new nurses, the people ringing into the room offering to help my nurse, and the sometimes panicked look in their eyes.
The doc and I discussed the options. She was candid about the possibility of a C-section. I began to pray fervently. At one point, as she stood at the head of my bed, I remember her saying, “I just don’t know why this is happening, and we may not know until we deliver, or ever.” At the moment she was mouthing those words, I was praying over her my own, Lord, give her Your wisdom. A wisdom that exceeds her own. Show her exactly what to do next. Her decision was to allow me to continue for a bit longer, since my body had done this twice before, and carefully watch Nate. We would restart the pit (it was cut during one of the groupie nurse visits) and see what my body, and this baby, would do – one last time.
All of the medical team left the room. I didn’t realize until later that several of them were watching every contraction and variable on large screens just outside the door at the command station.
Adam and I prayed. Although I continued to flip through the scripture cards and read and reread the verses, I felt like the Centurion in the Bible as I told my husband, “I feel like God has made us promises about this delivery. I am trying so hard to still be full of faith.”
Trying so hard to still be full of faith. I prayed silently that God would help me to trust Him now, when the situation was so far beyond my control. I prayed that I could trust Him with whatever outcome He desired for us. I prayed for safety for Nate and for myself. I prayed to be full of faith. I prayed for my requests to be heard like Elijah was heard. I don’t think I ever stopped praying.
And then…it happened. The nurses had flipped my bed elevation so that my head was lower than my feet, which, by the way, is very uncomfortable when you are in labor! They call it the T-bird. It gives the baby every opportunity to reposition, if that is part of the problem.
I’d been T-bird twice; the first time for 25 minutes, and the second time I can’t recall how long I was in this position. All I know is I was horribly dizzy, and the oxygen was still strapped on. I was shaking like a leaf, and feeling pretty sick. My nurse asked if she could use the restroom for just a moment, and when she went to leave, she flipped my bed back up.
While she was out of the room, something changed. I suddenly had an overwhelming desire to push…a desire I knew from two other deliveries. Nurses rushed into the room again and started all of the same motions – Nate’s vitals had dropped off the screen once more. Through the door my doctor came running. She’d just received a page in the basement of the building that Nate’s vitals had dropped again. She was moving fast, thinking I was in trouble.
But as another nurse checked my progress, she said, “She is fully complete, the baby has dropped, and she is ready to push!” I’ve never heard better words, really. God had answered our prayers! The doc looked at me and said, “If you want to hit 2:34 pm, you’d better get going!”
I’m a girl who loves a goal. And so, I welcomed Nate into the world at 2:31 pm. He beat the other two – but by just one minute. And so I can tell my children that I had them at 2:31, 2:32, and 2:33 pm. And that God showed up in a Powerful and Mighty way for each and every birth. So thank you, friends, for praying for me on Tuesday morning.
I can’t wait to tell Nate of his miraculous birth. God knit Him together, and then He produced His fine work in His timing, in His Power and Might. I am overwhelmed by God’s faithfulness, and learning myself to be faith full. That was the lesson for me in meeting Nate.
