Below is a birth story from a dear friend...enjoy!
The Birth of Our Molly Ann, and the End of a Season
Our first three children, Shannon, Emily and Daniel were all born at home. I am a small, 5’ 1”, 110 lb woman. I strongly believe that had I given birth at a hospital with any of my children, various and unnecessary interventions would have been used, affecting the health of my babies and myself.
This pregnancy, unlike my others, was completely unplanned and unexpected. I did not have good dates, and was uncertain about the due date. I was supposedly due June 11. A week after my due date my midwife (who had delivered my second and third born babies) called and said she had a family trip planned and she would be leaving on Saturday. She had thought that I would have had the baby by then. She was very disappointed and concerned about how this news would affect me. God immediately gave me a peace about it and I knew that Alisa, the midwife who practices with our midwife, was the one God wanted to deliver our baby.
June 20th I began having painful contractions, but they were spaced out and not regular. This continued until the wee hours of the morning on June 22nd. We called Alisa around 4:30 am thinking the contractions were consistent enough. When she came and checked my cervix I was only dilated to 2 cm. But I was about 95% effaced on one side and 50% on the other. This was encouraging. Alisa left and I took a shower. Things began to slow down and I wondered if this was really the day. After an hour or so the contractions began again and were more regular and more painful. By 8:30 am I knew things were getting serious, we called Alisa again. When she arrived I told her I knew I was only dilated to 4 cm. She checked and I was exactly right. But now I was completely effaced…Hallelujah!
All three of my other births had gone far more slowly than this, so I was beginning to dread what I thought I was in for a full day of labor. I prayed that the Lord would bring the baby soon, but gently. After another hour or so of labor Alisa checked me again. I was only at 5 cm, but while she was checking me she accidentally broke my water. This was definitely not in my plans. My water broke at the beginning of my labor with our second born and the active labor was terribly intense because of the broken bag. But, I knew Alisa didn’t mean to break it and so I had to accept it as God’s sovereign plan.
After breaking my water the contractions began to come back to back, with very little break between. The contractions were extremely intense and painful, but the Lord knew exactly what I could handle. He allowed me to dilate from 5 to 10 in one hour! During this time I was crying out to God (screaming is more like it!) to sustain me and strengthen me, and to bring the baby quickly. While I was dilating my cervix began to swell (this happened with my son, and our midwife had to actually draw fluid out of my cervix so that it would dilate completely). Alisa had me get on my hands and knees and she also gave me some arnica. This helped the swelling to go down and once I was dilated she actually held the cervix open. Once dilated I sat on the birth stool (which I loved!) and began to push. I remember feeling the baby pass through my cervix in one push and begin to crown. My quickest pushing stage with my babies was 1 hour…this time, it was only 10 minutes!! I felt her little head when it was half way out. Never before have I had to breathe instead of push during crowning, but Alisa was trying to keep me from tearing, since the baby was coming so very fast. Then in one more push I looked down and her head was born. Alisa suctioned the baby right away before I pushed out her body because she had seen meconium in my water when she broke the bag. Then, one more gentle push and she was in my arms!!!
What an amazing, beautiful gift from God…an unexpected, unplanned little life…whom God had designed for our family from the beginning of time. Truly God knows what is best for us and will give us the strength and grace to accept each “change in our plans”.
After hemorrhaging with my last two births, we were extra cautious this time around, praying that the bleeding would be normal. I wanted to avoid pitocin if possible and so the midwife gave me several herbs to help my uterus contract normally. But the herbs didn’t stop the bleeding so we had to do pitocin. Within a few hours we knew everything was okay and my blood lose was minimal. Praise God!!
Our little Molly Ann was born at 12:04 pm on Sunday afternoon, June 22nd. She weighed 7 lbs 1 oz (our smallest baby) and was 20 inches long. She was absolutely perfect in every way. Why does God choose to bless us like this?? We don’t know, except that He loves us with a love we can not fathom.
In the past 6 years, God has allowed me to give birth to 4 precious children, naturally and at home. They ranged in size from 7 lbs to over 9 lbs. Even with the 9 lb baby presenting military style (forehead first), I didn’t tear or have any damage to my cervix. Molly is our last baby and I know that the “birthing season” of my life is all over. It is bittersweet…but I rejoice over the gifts God has given me. He has sustained me through probably the worst pain and hardest work I will ever experience. He used my husband to support me and encourage me through it all. And He gave me three amazing midwifes who were gentle, knowledgeable and full of love for their job. He is a great and mighty God…and I rejoice in His perfect gifts!!
Amy, joyful wife and mother of 4
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