Our little “Rosie Roo” is here, and we are all excited to finally love on her (especially her older sister).
Rosie surprised us since the day we found out I was pregnant with her and the way she entered this world was no less surprising.
Of course I had all my plans of how I wanted her to be born, but babies come their own way, don’t they?
We wanted to try for another home birth with our midwife from our previous baby since we loved the way she cared for our family.
My pregnancy was difficult but healthy. I struggled with intense symptoms of nausea/vomiting, carpal tunnel, and itchiness. It was hard to function some days let alone chase after a busy toddler. The last few weeks of pregnancy I feel like are always the hardest. My baby and I were healthy though, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that.
Everything was “going to plan” until I went overdue. I had been having start and stop contractions for over 2 weeks. I hadn’t slept more than an hour or two each night because of them and other pregnancy symptoms.
At 41 weeks, I asked my midwife to check on me and Rosie and see if she could do anything to help get labor going again (hoping it would keep going). When she checked Rosie’s heart tones though, they were low. She also wasn’t able to help “induce” me due to where my body was at. Rosie wanted out just as bad
as I wanted her out. Our midwife recommended we go to the hospital and get checked out and possibly induced. I was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t having her at home, but I knew this was best for me and my baby.
So Luke, my mom (who was also my doula) and I headed to the hospital. Once we arrived, they ran a couple tests and found out I had low fluid/growth restriction. I was diagnosed with oligohydramnios and IUGR (for my nerdy friends who like to google stuff).
I found it interesting because a couple weeks prior, I had felt like something wasn’t right but couldn’t put my finger on it. All vitals on me and baby were fine, but I just KNEW something wasn’t normal. I felt a little bad that I didn’t trust my instincts, but I believed that this was the way Yah wanted her to be born.
They started the induction that day around 5pm with slow Pitocin and bumped it up every hour until I was contracting every 3-4 minutes. Since I was trying for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) they were very cautious with how they went about inducing me.
Being induced was hard for me because all the inductions I had heard of/witnessed ended in a c section, so I was praying and preparing myself to be okay with that. No matter what happened, I knew my God was sovereign. He had been showing me in the weeks leading up to Rosie’s birth that His favor was on my family and I found comfort in that.
Luke’s mom brought us some food later that evening and stayed for the rest of the delivery. She was emotional support for us and I’m so thankful for my husband’s sake that she was there.
How sweet is it to have your two grandmother’s welcoming you into the world?
A few hours in, I got my first check and found out that I was making great progress. The induction was going well and baby was tolerating it well, too. I was actually a little disappointed at this time because I had expected to be further along in labor than I was, but my doctor was positive I’d be having the baby in a few hours.
Shortly after my first check, I started having the intense and abnormal hip pain that I experienced in my previous labor. I had prepared myself mentally specifically for this moment. This is when things got hard. I requested an epidural and worked through the contractions as best I could with Luke while I waited for it.
Praise be to Yehovah, my epidural worked!!! (with my first birth, it did not work).
I had originally wanted to go unmedicated before I had to be induced, but I was so thankful for that relief and couldn’t have gotten it at a more perfect time. I fell asleep almost immediately after it was placed and slept for about a half an hour. I was woken up shortly by my nurse. She helped me flip quickly onto my side because she wasn’t getting a good reading of Rosie’s heart tones. But she was still worried about Rosie and more nurses came in and helped me onto my hands and knees. The nurses then gave me oxygen and told me to take deep breaths for my baby. Rosie had descended into my pelvis quickly and her heart tones dropped drastically and they weren’t getting good readings of her heart tones. I thought at this moment that I was without a doubt going to have a c section.
I was worried but at the same point had this peace that I knew had to be from Yah. It was such an unexplainable feeling of peace. I felt this urge in my heart to fear, but I couldn’t.
The nurses called my doctor in and when he came in everything happened so quickly. They helped me back onto my back and my nurse coached me on how to push. I didn’t feel like I had time to process what was going on and couldn’t believe what was happening. I had started to panic because I realized that I still had to push my baby out! My mom was holding my leg on one side and my nurse on the other. Luke stood near my head and encouraged me while I was pushing.
My nurse did “purple pushing” with me. The pressure was extremely intense and the pushing was exhausting! My Mom was probably the most helpful person there during this time. (Sorry, Luke LOL) She helped keep me calm and focused when I started to panic.
At one point, my doctor looked at me and said, “Lydia, we are pass the point of a c section” and that was a huge encouragement to me. Not even 15 minutes of pushing, she was born around 5am. They placed her on my chest immediately and I started crying. She had a strong cry and great color. Luke and I rubbed her back, marveled at her long fingers and talked about how much she looked like her daddy.
I couldn’t believe that by the strength and grace of Yah I had a baby! She was finally here!
I was in pure shock that I just had a VBAC and those around me said I was just euphoric. I honestly was just relieved to not be pregnant anymore. My mom cut the cord and then the nurse did her measurements. The nurse mentioned that she was very strong and wiggly. This was not news to me because that was exactly how she was in the womb. Luke joked that he didn’t need to pray for her to be strong, because she was proving to us that she already was!
Rosie weighed 7lb and 13oz and was 20 inches long. She was born on a special day, the day of her Gigi’s birthday.
Induction was around 12 hours from start to finish. It was extremely hard work, but so rewarding too, because it brought such a beautiful blessing. I prayed for a successful VBAC no matter how it happened and it meant a lot to me that Yah answered that prayer. There were many little things during the labor that I had hoped for that Yah also blessed me with.
The next couple hours were just bliss with our sweet, new little one. We took naps after we got settled into our room. It felt funny to have a baby so early in the morning. During that day I thought it was the next day and forgot that I literally just had a baby a few hours ago. Hally came and met her new baby sister a few hours after she was born. It was funny to see how big she seemed in comparison to Rosie, even though she was still a baby herself.
Recovery from a c section and vaginal birth have been night and day different. It was so much easier physically and emotionally recovering this time around. This experience brought a lot of healing to my husband and I in may ways.
Our sweet girl was named after one of our dearest friends that passed away this past year.
We hope and pray that she takes after her strength, endurance, positivity, courage, sweetness, and love for Yehovah. She was one of the brightest and beautiful women I knew and I believe it was because of her love for Yehovah.
I hope that Rosie’s birth story reminds you that our life is in the hands of our Creator and that He cares even about the “little things” in your life. My prayers and desires seem small to me, but Yah never ceases to amaze me by how much He blesses me, even when things don’t go “my way”. I have been learning that Yah does love to bless His children and that He is waiting for me to ask Him to bless me!
This birth did not go at all how I expected it to, but I guess you could say my babies love making big entrances and memorable stories!
Blessings & Shalom,
A little about Me
