Where You Came From

My sister-in-law was here visiting yesterday and before she left, she said something that has stuck with me. She was commenting on the baby and my wifes delivery and she said (paraphrased): “Don't ever forget how God has delivered you. Don't be like the Israelites and forget where God has brought you.”

First of all, I could not forget God's goodness and mercy towards us. When you have a need and ask in faith for God to meet that need, He does. Even if it's not a need. He has filled so many “wants” in our life. What my sister-in-law said applies to each Christian. We should never forget where God brought us out of or how He did it. At this time, being so close to Susanna's birth, it means so much more to us.

We had Ross, our first child, about a year and a month after we were married. Pregnancy was great. Eshell (my wife) did wonderfully through it all. We went through Lamaze and learned the breathing and everything. The doctor induced her two days after her due date because her blood pressure was high. It's amazing that was ten years ago! He is such a big help to me!

Brookelyn came along 22 months after Ross. 11 weeks into the pregnancy, Eshell started bleeding heavily. The doctor told us that she was carrying twins and that she had lost one. He told her to stop nursing Ross as this was possibly adding to the complications she was having (which we now don't think had anything to do with it). She ended up delivering Brookelyn seven weeks early. She spent some time (I think seven days) in the NICU at Parkview hospital. That was difficult. Not only seeing our baby in the incubator, not being able to hold her, but seeing some of the atrocities in the NICU. I saw another preemie in there who was (thanks to the mother) addicted to crack-cocaine. The poor thing just constantly shook as it was withdrawing from the poison the mother polluted it with. Of all the time we spent at the hospital while she was in (we practically lived there) no one ever came to see that baby. The nurses or doctors were not supposed to disclose information about the other babies in there, but most of them shared pretty openly with us. Some mothers would go home after delivering prematurely and say “Just let me know when I can come an pick up the baby” and the staff would not see the mother until they called. Sometimes it would be days or weeks. We got Brookelyn home and she is developing into a beautiful young lady.

Dylan was another 22 months after Brookelyn. He was a surprise. Some of the same complications came. Heavy bleeding which led to bed rest and many visits to the ER for ultrasounds. I believe it was with Dylan that Eshell had a condition called placenta previa (the placenta is situated over the cervix). Dylan was born six weeks early and was in NICU for 11 days (I believe). Dylan now has two speeds: sleeping and 140mph. 100% boy! I love it!

Between Dylan and Abigail was another 22 months. Same old routine. We were seeing a specialist this time. Eshell developed a placental abruption (tear) with this pregnancy which caused more bleeding and more bed rest. The doctor kept telling us that with the last two babies being premature and the high possibility that this would be also, our odds of ever having a full term baby in the future were nearly impossible. It was recommended by any medical professional and most others (friends/family) that we stop having children. The delivery was not a good one. One nurse tried to “help” with our other children by offering to call social services to have them pick our children up. That wasn't much help in the midst of a terrible labor. They tried to turn Eshell's labor off by giving her magnesium sulfate. She had a terrible and unexpected reaction to it. First, it made her hallucinate. Next, it's effects were delayed. Her labor showed no signs of slowing down. She continued to have contractions for several hours. After they realized that it wasn't working, they thought they would just speed up the labor by giving her pitocin to increase contractions. Just about as soon as they gave it to her the magnesium sulfate kicked in. Her body was now trying to stop the labor. No need to worry, though. Then the pitocin started working and her body slowly started laboring again. It was miserable. She delivered Abigail seven weeks early. Abigail spent 13 days in NICU. Another lovely young lady.

We had been talking a lot about having a baby at home using a midwife. I didn't have much faith that that would ever happen. Given our history in childbearing, the future of home-birth looked pretty bleak. By this time, we were committed to letting God plan our family size. We had listened to all of the risks and had taken it into consideration, but like I've said in the past, I really felt that God was to be in control of every area of our lives. All of our children and Eshell were healthy. Early deliveries and hospital stays were inconvenient, but the blessing far out-weighed this. Needless to say, Eshell got pregnant again. We were going to a different family doctor at this time. A very godly man whom we respect very much. I may be wrong, but I think the first time we met him was with this first prenatal visit. We expressed to him our desire to have the baby at home if she could make it to full term. I was expecting a negative response. He had her file. He was looking through our past deliveries. Instead, he was very supportive of us. In fact, he prayed for us before we left the office. He laid his hand on Eshell's shoulder and prayed that God would heal her womb; that she might carry the baby full term, and that God would honor our desire to have the baby at home. Eshell's early pregnancy was pretty rough. A lot of sickness. She would wake up in the night to throw up. We made contact with a midwife and explained our situation. She was very informative. She explained her situation. She would not be able to deliver a baby any earlier than 37 weeks. That was our goal to shoot for. Several nights I would lay in bed with my hand on Eshell's belly and pray for healing and that we could meet the required 37 weeks. 37 weeks came and went. We had Grace at 39 weeks; 30 months after Abigail! What an amazing experience. The midwife let me deliver Grace as she coached me. Very moving. Needless to say, we praised God! We're still praising God. Grace is now 2 and a half and has four older siblings that wait on her hand and foot. They all get along great.

After such a positive experience with Grace, when we found out that we were pregnant again, we didn't even consult the doctor. We went right to the midwife. From the beginning of the pregnancy I felt so strongly that God had healed Eshell, I may have gotten arrogant. Her pregnancy went very well with Susanna. At around 32 or 33 weeks, the devil started planting some fear and doubt in my mind. This is when Eshell labored with our preemies. God strengthened us through this time and brought us to (almost) 39 weeks; another 28 months after Grace. Praise Him for His goodness!! Susanna and Eshell are both doing wonderfully. I know Susanna will bring us as much joy as the others have!

We have not forgotten where we came from or how we got here. We do remember God's mercy to us. He knows our needs and is mindful, but he also blesses according to our desires. I pray that God is blessed and glorified by this family. I thank Him for giving us the strength to press on when the trip looked dark and painful. He was with us each inch of the journey.

I know this post got a bit long. If you stuck it out till the end, I appreciate it. It's a peek into our personal (and usually private) lives, but it's a story that is worth telling. I hope somebody else may be blessed by it and, once again, God might be glorified by it. All praise to HIM!!

God Bless!!