These have been three of my favorite pictures so far. The last one was taken the day after Mercy was born. Look at all that hair!
Our family will be sharing Mercy's birth story coming from the eyes and hearts of some very special people. Before I let those special people share their perspective....I am going to share mine.
Twelve days had passed since our estimated due date. I was finding it very difficult to walk with all the pressure and some pain as well. I was also experiencing mild contractions off and on. The baby was getting bigger. Our midwife checked me that day for the main reason of us kind of knowing how quickly we needed to get out the door and head her way once true labor began. Without giving details, she told me that we needed to come right away! That night before supper and bed I was so uncomfortable. Surely this can't go on much longer. We all headed to bed a little early and I actually slept pretty good through the night.
Around 5:47 I awoke to go to the bathroom. Soon after I had a contraction. This was not unusual, so I didn't think too much about it. 10 minutes later I had another one and both were fairly strong. I woke Keith up and told him that this may be the real deal. A few minutes later I had another contraction. It was time to wake up mama and the four girls that would be going with us. It was also time to call the midwife and our sitter to come over to stay with the three little ones. First call to midwife and no answer. Second call and no answer. Two calls to sitter and no answer. A call to sitter's husband and no answer. Midwife called back almost immediately. She said she would begin to get things together. Keith calls our backups and gets the husband on the first try. They come over almost immediately and everyone is about ready to go. As I was giving the wife instructions on the little ones a very strong contraction came and I had to stop talking and just let it happen. It was time to go!
We had a 40 minute drive ahead of us. The contractions were coming pretty regular and I would get a really hard one that was followed by a milder one. I was praying, focusing, trying to relax, and giving Keith directions as well. Girls were giddy with excitement. The sun had not come up yet. It was still dark out. I remember telling myself that I would tell Keith to help me walk through the different parts of my body during a contraction to make sure that I was fully relaxed. I was having LOTS of pressure. I was also beginning to wonder if I could do this again. What if I had hours left of this kind of pain and pressure?
When we pull into the driveway everyone begins to unload and take in all of our stuff. I don't know if I will make it inside. I get out and have to stop at the front of the van. Please let me make it inside is what I began to pray. Once the contraction let up, I walked as fast as I could to get inside and down the stairs. Barely down and I have to stop again. It passes and I get on the floor. Everything was happening fast. They begin to fill up the pool. I am trying to think good thoughts. The flow of the water was relaxing. I prayed for breaks in between the contractions. It was the only way I thought I could make it. With the next contraction I knew we were not going to make the pool.
"Keith....." He came over and I told him it was about to get very hard. He talked calmly and lovingly to me and assured me that we could do this. They stopped with the pool and began to get the bed ready. Another contraction and I felt the urge to push. "Mrs. Brenda....." She began to quickly give orders to put a tablecloth under me. It became clear that we were not going to make it to the bed. I barely could get my legs up so they could get the tablecloth down when another contraction came and I began to push the baby out only to hear everyone tell me to slowwwww dowwnnnnn! What?? I reluctantly obeyed. I waited for another contraction, buried my head in the pillows on the floor, held on tightly to Keith's hand, and pushed with all my might. I heard Keith say, "Breathe Nichole." I decided that I would be glad to breathe once this baby was out. And I did not take another breath until SHE was out. It was instant relief like you would not imagine. 8:05 a.m.. Only minutes after arriving. 25 at the most.
I lay back to look up to see my midwife for the very first time and she hands me our precious little girl. Her color looked great and she had a head full of hair. At this point everything looked fine, until I delivered the placenta and that is when I began to lose blood again. Thankfully it got under control and although I had to be very careful with getting up for several hours, I regained enough strength to be able to go home later that day.
It was a very special time for me. I was able to really enjoy Mercy for the rest of the day. She and I and my family. There was even a couple of hours when Keith took mama and the girls back home that I had her all to myself. I couldn't sleep. All I could do was thank the Lord for His great mercy and grace that He showed to us that day. He had answered my prayer for a fast delivery and for it not to happen in the middle of the night. I didn't deserve one bit of what He chose to give to us that day. But out of His great love.....
The only thing I would change is I would have left our cell phones in the van. It was nice to send out messages for people to pray and them respond. But, we could have waited to read their responses later. It was too tempting with our phones there by our side. Technology can drive me crazy sometimes.
I am continuing to regain strength. The hemoglobin that I worked so hard to get up to an 11 dropped down to under 9. So, we will keep doing what we have been doing for months and hopefully in no time I will be back to normal. Mercy is doing great. She nurses so well and has already gained back the weight she lost plus 4 more ounces, making her 8 pds. and 12 ounces. She is beautiful and sweet and everyone adores her. We have truly been blessed with another little life that we pray will fall in love with our Lord and serve Him all the days of her life.
Thankful for mercy and Mercy,
Nichole
Twelve days had passed since our estimated due date. I was finding it very difficult to walk with all the pressure and some pain as well. I was also experiencing mild contractions off and on. The baby was getting bigger. Our midwife checked me that day for the main reason of us kind of knowing how quickly we needed to get out the door and head her way once true labor began. Without giving details, she told me that we needed to come right away! That night before supper and bed I was so uncomfortable. Surely this can't go on much longer. We all headed to bed a little early and I actually slept pretty good through the night.
Around 5:47 I awoke to go to the bathroom. Soon after I had a contraction. This was not unusual, so I didn't think too much about it. 10 minutes later I had another one and both were fairly strong. I woke Keith up and told him that this may be the real deal. A few minutes later I had another contraction. It was time to wake up mama and the four girls that would be going with us. It was also time to call the midwife and our sitter to come over to stay with the three little ones. First call to midwife and no answer. Second call and no answer. Two calls to sitter and no answer. A call to sitter's husband and no answer. Midwife called back almost immediately. She said she would begin to get things together. Keith calls our backups and gets the husband on the first try. They come over almost immediately and everyone is about ready to go. As I was giving the wife instructions on the little ones a very strong contraction came and I had to stop talking and just let it happen. It was time to go!
We had a 40 minute drive ahead of us. The contractions were coming pretty regular and I would get a really hard one that was followed by a milder one. I was praying, focusing, trying to relax, and giving Keith directions as well. Girls were giddy with excitement. The sun had not come up yet. It was still dark out. I remember telling myself that I would tell Keith to help me walk through the different parts of my body during a contraction to make sure that I was fully relaxed. I was having LOTS of pressure. I was also beginning to wonder if I could do this again. What if I had hours left of this kind of pain and pressure?
When we pull into the driveway everyone begins to unload and take in all of our stuff. I don't know if I will make it inside. I get out and have to stop at the front of the van. Please let me make it inside is what I began to pray. Once the contraction let up, I walked as fast as I could to get inside and down the stairs. Barely down and I have to stop again. It passes and I get on the floor. Everything was happening fast. They begin to fill up the pool. I am trying to think good thoughts. The flow of the water was relaxing. I prayed for breaks in between the contractions. It was the only way I thought I could make it. With the next contraction I knew we were not going to make the pool.
"Keith....." He came over and I told him it was about to get very hard. He talked calmly and lovingly to me and assured me that we could do this. They stopped with the pool and began to get the bed ready. Another contraction and I felt the urge to push. "Mrs. Brenda....." She began to quickly give orders to put a tablecloth under me. It became clear that we were not going to make it to the bed. I barely could get my legs up so they could get the tablecloth down when another contraction came and I began to push the baby out only to hear everyone tell me to slowwwww dowwnnnnn! What?? I reluctantly obeyed. I waited for another contraction, buried my head in the pillows on the floor, held on tightly to Keith's hand, and pushed with all my might. I heard Keith say, "Breathe Nichole." I decided that I would be glad to breathe once this baby was out. And I did not take another breath until SHE was out. It was instant relief like you would not imagine. 8:05 a.m.. Only minutes after arriving. 25 at the most.
I lay back to look up to see my midwife for the very first time and she hands me our precious little girl. Her color looked great and she had a head full of hair. At this point everything looked fine, until I delivered the placenta and that is when I began to lose blood again. Thankfully it got under control and although I had to be very careful with getting up for several hours, I regained enough strength to be able to go home later that day.
It was a very special time for me. I was able to really enjoy Mercy for the rest of the day. She and I and my family. There was even a couple of hours when Keith took mama and the girls back home that I had her all to myself. I couldn't sleep. All I could do was thank the Lord for His great mercy and grace that He showed to us that day. He had answered my prayer for a fast delivery and for it not to happen in the middle of the night. I didn't deserve one bit of what He chose to give to us that day. But out of His great love.....
The only thing I would change is I would have left our cell phones in the van. It was nice to send out messages for people to pray and them respond. But, we could have waited to read their responses later. It was too tempting with our phones there by our side. Technology can drive me crazy sometimes.
I am continuing to regain strength. The hemoglobin that I worked so hard to get up to an 11 dropped down to under 9. So, we will keep doing what we have been doing for months and hopefully in no time I will be back to normal. Mercy is doing great. She nurses so well and has already gained back the weight she lost plus 4 more ounces, making her 8 pds. and 12 ounces. She is beautiful and sweet and everyone adores her. We have truly been blessed with another little life that we pray will fall in love with our Lord and serve Him all the days of her life.
Thankful for mercy and Mercy,
Nichole
