Samuel

I know it has been quite some time since I have posted.  You see, I have this post in my head that I've been working on for weeks now.  I just haven't found the time to write it yet.  And now that I have a few minutes to do so, David has the book from which I wanted to quote! 

It's okay, though.  There will be another day for that.  Today is the day before Samuel's 3rd birthday, so I thought I'd take the time to reflect upon that day three years ago when we welcomed our first baby into the world and our life.

I wasn't due until April 10th, 2009, and everyone always says you go late with the first baby.  I had no reason to think that the 7th would be the day.  I got up and went to work at Star Drug as usual, working a 6-hour day as I had been doing since the end of March.  But that day, I knew something was different; I just wasn't sure what that was.  Looking back, I do remember the feeling that the baby was going to fall out every time I walked!  (Possibly gross part alert here!!)  I lost my mucus plug right before lunch, but I asked the girls in the pharmacy and they said that could happen up to two weeks before the baby was born.

I drove over to David's work as I often did over my lunch hour and asked him to get into the car.  "Something is happening."  I told him.  I still didn't believe that it was actually labor, though.  He insisted that I call Labor and Delivery and ask them what to do.  I don't like doing that kind of thing, and to be honest, I was embarrassed to call and just tell someone that "something was different but I don't know what"!  He told them what had happened and the nurse assured him that it could still be a week or two before the baby came.  Then she asked to talk to me and told me that I should probably go home and relax.

I certainly wasn't going to waste a good day, though!  I think I was in the restroom more than I worked that afternoon - I thought that I was constipated.  I have talked to many moms since then who have thought the same thing during labor.  I finished working at 2:30, and my friend Amanda had asked me to stay at her house during her kids' naptime, so I went ahead and did that.  Thankfully the kids stayed asleep - I would not have been a very good babysitter if they'd needed anything!  I laid on the couch for a couple of hours and watched "The Cosby Show" until Amanda's husband Trent came home.  I felt terrible by then, and couldn't wait to get home to my bed; unfortunately my demeanor showed that and it appeared as though I just wanted to get away from Trent :-) 

At home, I made supper as usual, and then headed for the bed.  David was very insistent that we go to the hospital, but I was not about to make a fool of myself and be sent home.  After all, I had an OB appointment the next day!  We ended up calling the hospital a couple of more times, and both times the nurse said no, she didn't think it was labor, and that I should stay at home.  Finally, at about 9:30 the night of the 7th, David coaxed me into the car telling me that we would go to the hospital, get a stool softener, and come home.  I reluctantly went along . . . and by the time we got to the hospital, my "constipation pains" were 2 minutes apart. 

We found out why the nurse had been so quick to tell me to stay home.  She was a very unpleasant lady who clearly did not want to be there.  Not only was she just plain unfriendly, she put the band on my tummy and told me that she couldn't find the baby's heartbeat.  FYI, that is not something that you tell a mom who's ready to give birth!  I told her that she had put the monitor on the wrong side and that I could see the baby's head on the other side.  She didn't believe me until David came into the room and told her the same thing, and sure enough, there it was.  We were so thankful to learn that she was at the end of her shift and that she was leaving a few minutes later.

Since I had been convinced that I wasn't in labor, I would not allow David to call either of our parents until we were in the hospital.  It was 10:15 when we got there, and I was dilated to 6 cm.  Dr. Wenzel, who I absolutely adore, just "happened" to be on call that night - thank you, God!!  It was one of my main concerns that she would be the one to deliver the baby.  At the point where they decided to move me into the delivery room, she was already on her way to deliver another baby of a mom who was on her third child and "goes fast", according to the staff. 

They broke my water and the contractions came so strongly, I changed my mind about the whole "natural" birth thing without an epidural, and I begged for one.  But it was too late.  I was dilated to a 9 and thing were progressing very quickly.  Dr. Wenzel flew into the room just as I was pushing, and Samuel was born at 11:35 that night - quite some time before the lady in the next room, for whom Dr. Wenzel had actually come.  I was in shock.  After all, hadn't I just come in as an obligation to my husband?!

I am in awe as I look back on the experience of our first baby's birth.  God showed Himself in control and mighty.  All of my fears, all of the unknowns that come with a first baby, were taken care of.  As I already mentioned, my own doctor was able to deliver (in fact, she has delivered both of my babies!).  I didn't have to have an epidural, as I had so often prayed I wouldn't have to do.  I didn't have to go through hours at the hospital or be sent home. 

I can't believe it has been three years since Samuel was born - the memories are so clear, as if it only happened last week.  I am so thankful for the beautiful son that God has given us.  For his great sense of humor, for his tender heart, for his love of learning.  I'm thankful that he wants to be just like his daddy, and I pray that he is. 

And most of all, I pray that he comes to know Jesus as his Savior at an early age.  I never fully understood the love of a parent  for a child - the love that God had even as He sent His only Son to die in place of my sins and yours - until I had Samuel.  What a gift He gave us!

Happy Easter as we celebrate Christ's resurrection, and Happy 3rd Birthday to my sweet son!