7 Weeks

7 Weeks ago today we were not so patiently waiting for our precious Annaliese to arrive. My water broke on Easter Sunday at 7 in the evening. We just assumed we would have a baby in a few hours, but that did not happen. Monday morning we decided to walk and try some herbs and tinctures to get my labour going. After a few hours of walking I was exhausted and needed some sleep. I layed down for about and hour and then was awakened by a very strong contraction. Things were finally beginning to happen 20 hours after my water broke. I still felt in my heart that something was not right, it was just not like any of my other labours. I had my midwife check me and she said that the baby was so high she couldn't even feel her head. I just felt like she was not positioned right and I still don't know if that was the case. I don't know what time I started pushing but after 45 minutes I knew something was not right and so did the midwife. She checked me again and found that I had a huge cervical lip that was very swollen. She tried to get the swelling down with ice and I had to breath through contractions with out pushing. I did this for about 20 minutes but was beginning to get delirious. This is when I decided I needed to go to the hospital. The drive only took 15 minutes but it seemed like and eternity. By the time I got checked in, examined and comfortable, we found out that there was meconium and that I was only a 9. Now we had to wait and pray that my body and the baby would cooperate for me to have a vaginal birth. It was 9:30 p.m. and the doctor was not happy that it had been over 24 hours since my water broke, but she was willing to wait and let me try to do this vaginally. We waited and baby was not cooperating very well so we prayed. The Lord granted our request and at 1:01 A.m. Annaliese was born. She was not breathing and she was completely limp I could not believe this was happening. Again the Lord was gracious and I heard them say we have a heart rate of 100, then a couple of seconds later I heard that most glorious sound that every mother longs to hear, her first CRY. What a beautiful sound that was. With in 5 minutes my daughter was laid on my chest and she was beautiful and healthy. She weighed 10 lbs and was 21 inches long. She did have a broken clavicle but that was nothing I was just thankful to be holding her. What a mighty God we serve.

Annaliese Joy her first day of life.