Elias Joshua – my God is the Lord who saves and delivers
Tuesday, June5 – I had several contractions throughout the day, but nothing regular. We had waited over 2 hours at the DPS office to get our new Texas driver’s licenses and had driven over an hour each way to get to the DPS office. I let midwife Nanci know about my contractions and the swelling in my feet and ankles and slightly elevated blood pressure. We joked that the DPS office would send anyone into labor! She said to rest and put my feet up and eat lots of cucumbers and watermelon, which would help flush the excess fluid out of my body. The contractions subsided as I rested that evening, but it was very comforting to know that my body was at least getting ready to have a baby soon.
Wednesday, June 6 – Jeremy had to work, so the boys and I had a lazy day watching Cars. I could tell my body was ready to slow down. For the last couple of weeks, I’d kept busy so as not to think too much about my approaching due date and to stay mentally prepared to go a couple of weeks late, as I had with Corban. No contractions, but enjoyed the rest.
Thursday, June 7 – My due date! We had an appointment with midwife Nanci. No concerns about blood pressure and swelling. Everything looked good. We went to Costco to walk a bunch, then home to rest. Late in the afternoon, I started having contractions and started losing the mucus plug. I was trying hard not to think about them too much, and knew my body would let me know when I needed to pay attention. We had plans to have dinner with some friends. After rescheduling twice with them, I really didn’t want to miss it! We drove an hour to their house, having contractions the whole way, but still not timing them. When we arrived, we let them know I was having contractions in case we needed to leave suddenly. The contractions continued for a while, but eased up throughout the evening. I had a few more throughout the evening, and again they subsided throughout the night. However, I didn’t sleep well, since I was cramping all night.
Friday, June 8 – My midwife reassured me that my body was warming up and that we just needed to be patient and trust God’s timing. What a blessing to have this reminder! She also said several times that I needed to get a nap today. Well, just as I was about to fall asleep for a nap around 3:00 pm, I felt a slight “pop” and realized that my water broke! I texted my mom and Nanci and told Jer to get our bed ready and start getting the birthing pool ready. I sent the Romers a message letting them know that my water broke, but the boys were still napping and we’d let them know when we needed them to come get the boys. I also messaged Jamie Istre, who was going to come take pictures for us. About 30 minutes later, I laid in our bed and started timing the contractions that were picking up in intensity, and they were 8-9 minutes apart. Nanci was about an hour away, so at 4:00 pm, I told her that I there more intense and she said she was coming. By 4:15, Jeremy had everything ready, and I asked him not to leave me. I went to the bathroom to relief some pressure from the contractions, and Jeremy noticed that the baby’s umbilical cord was coming out!
Jeremy immediately went into paramedic mode, very calmly but firmly, giving me specific instructions to get on our bed on my hands and knees and put my head down. He put his hand inside of me to hold the baby’s head off of the cord so it would cut off the blood flow and oxygen to the baby. He called Nanci and then called 911. I texted the Romers to come immediately! In the meantime, Jeremy is getting more and more firm with the 911 dispatcher, who obviously didn’t understand the severity of the situation. I’ve got my head buried in our sheets praying in tongues and trying to relax through each contraction, but the pain massively intensified having Jeremy’s hand inside. The Romers arrived in only a few minutes. Dan took the boys to the garage so they wouldn’t see or hear anything. Susie sat on the bed with me and cried out to Jesus for me and for the baby. It was amazingly comforting and brought and unreal amount of peace to have Susie with me, knowing that she’d had a prolapsed cord with Harry, she knew the baby’s life was in danger, and she also knew the pain and panic I was feeling.
Nanci and the paramedics (all 6 of them!!) arrived at the same time. Nanci took over for Jeremy, holding the baby’s head off of the cord. She got her doplar out to check on baby’s heart rate, which was really strong and brought even more peace to me to hear! The paramedics were very slow to do anything. It felt like they stood around for an eternity trying to figure out what to do. Nanci and Jeremy made an amazing team coaching me through the contractions and the increasing pain. Nanci was trying to work the cord back into my uterus around the baby’s head in between contractions, but so much of the cord had prolapsed that each time she’d get part of it back in, another part would come out again. At this point, I began crying out in pain during the contractions and while I couldn’t help it, I was so worried that the boys would hear me and be afraid. Nanci and Jeremy were telling the paramedics what to do since they were just standing around and couldn’t decide what they should do. Nanci said that I was fully dilated and asked if I could push. I told her I could, and she ordered the paramedics to be prepared to resuscitate, because we were delivering the baby. So, for the next several contractions, I pushed with everything I had knowing that we didn’t have any time to lose. I grew more worried as I pushed, because I could hear Baby’s heart rate slow tremendously. After each contraction, the baby’s head would slide back some and the heart rate would pick up again. Nanci knew we didn’t have much time, but would have enough to get to the hospital. The paramedics were still deliberating over how to get me downstairs since the stretcher wouldn’t fit up our stairs, so, again, Nanci told them what to do. I then ran down the steps and jumped the stretcher and resumed the knee-chest position and Nanci again held the baby’s head off of the cord. They covered my exposed backside and took me out to the ambulance in the pouring rain. Trying to hold on to a moving stretcher on my hands and knees, butt in the air, in the middle of a contraction, with Nanci holding the baby’s head felt like a circus act! Once we were in the ambulance, one of the paramedics took over the dopplar, but had a hard time finding Baby’s heart beat. I was still praying in tongues, while another paramedic put an IV in the hand that was holding onto the stretcher rail with everything I had just to keep my balance as we bumped along. Nanci had me lay on my left side to see if they could find the baby’s heart beat there. That was SO much more comfortable. My arms were shaking from holding so much weight and balancing. I was so glad that they found the heart beat right away so I could stay in that position. The ride to the hospital felt like an eternity, especially as I overheard the paramedics radioing the hospital only to find out there was no OB at the closest hospital!
When we finally got to the hospital, Nanci stayed with me as they pushed me up to the Labor & Delivery floor. The L&D nurses took over for Nanci and the paramedics and they transferred me to a hospital bed before they took me to the operating room to get ready for the C-Section. Little did I know that the nurses had been praying for me since they got the call from the ambulance. The whirlwind of events seemed to slow once we reached the OR. I continued to pray and tried to relax through each contraction while one nurse held Baby’s head and another held the dopplar and another prepped the room for surgery. The anesthesiologist asked me a million questions, which I did my best to answer. I heard someone on the phone asking if there was a general surgeon in the hospital. Then I began to get a little nervous that a general surgeon wouldn’t do as good of a job as an OB would with the surgery. While there was a calm in the room, it felt like we were there forever before the doctor arrived. The OB on call finally showed up (she was stuck in rush hour traffic in the rain!). I remember very clearly that the nurse holding Baby’s head had to climb over the operating table before me WHILE holding the baby’s head. Then I had to help them get myself onto the table in the middle of a contraction while the nurse was still holding the baby’s head. That was an extremely painful process. Once on my back, someone put a mask over my face to knock me out. Only 6 minutes elapsed from the time the doctor arrived to when she pulled the baby out. When he gave a loud cry, I later found out that all of the nurses and staff cheered for him! The Lord had protected him and delivered him! Our sweet baby was born at 5:50 pm, but it would be a while before I woke up to meet him.
Around 7:30, I was starting to wake up and at first didn’t know where I was. The searing pain in my abdomen quickly reminded me where I was and what had happened. I asked Jeremy to wipe my nose, because I couldn’t breathe and was totally congested from being upside down for so long. I was completely overwhelmed from all that had happened. My body was shaking uncontrollably, and I did everything I could to keep from crying knowing that if I did, my incision would hurt so much more. Jeremy so sweetly asked if I knew if Baby was a boy or a girl, which I didn’t. I didn’t want to know yet, because I would cry either way and was so afraid of the pain. After a minute or two, he couldn’t contain himself and informed me that Adon, Gabe, and Corban had a little brother! He asked if I wanted to hold the baby, but I was so shaky, I didn’t feel like I could. So, Jeremy held Baby close so I could touch his cheek. I had heard about the power of touch between a mother and her baby, but that experience was so much more than I ever could have imagined. Immediately, my body stopped shaking and the overwhelming feeling dissipated as I stroked his cheek. Jeremy held our sweet baby boy so his cheek was against my cheek. That was the most incredible feeling in the world! I felt like my body was melting and it was so reassuring to have him close and know he was alive and safe!
We didn’t actually name him until the next day, because we needed to find a name that would always remind us and him of what God did for us! His name is Elias Joshua, which means my God is the Lord who saves and delivers. He was born at 5:50 pm on Friday, June 8. He weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz and was 21 inches long. We saw the hand of the Lord as He ordered our steps and the series of events that lead to Elias’ miraculous birth.
A few things God did for us along the way:
- Dr. Heiman had great respect for and was very warm with our midwife Nanci! She even agreed to let Nanci do my postpartum follow up.
- We almost refused the health insurance through Jeremy’s new job since we planned to have a homebirth and they wouldn’t cover it. We are thankful that the Lord prompted Dan and Susie Romer to ask us to consider getting the insurance just for this year, just in case we needed it. Well, we needed it, and we are so thankful that the Lord went before us so we had it.
- A prolapsed cord is somewhat rare. In 20 years of delivering babies, Nanci had never seen one (I was her first!). Dr. Heiman hasn’t seen one in 6 years, and one of my postpartum nurses has only cared for 2 mom who’d had prolapsed cords in the 12 years she’s worked as a nurse. As evidenced by the 911 paramedics, most don’t know how to handle it as they’ve never seen it. However, Jeremy knew right away what to do as did Nanci when she arrived.
- Jeremy and Nanci made an incredible team fighting for me and the baby from start to finish.
- Dr. Heiman’s husband was able to meet her at the hospital to their children.
- Despite the chaos, God helped me to remain (mostly) calm and mentally alert through everything.
- And best of all, God saved and delivered our precious Elias! The nurse explained that he had plenty of reserve when he was born. He wasn’t deprived of any oxygen through the process! While it wasn’t the birth we had planned, God ordained the events of Elias’ birthday so that He would be glorified. Every time I look at Elias’ sweet face, I am reminded of how kind God was to us.
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