Simon's Birth Story Part 2....To God Be the Glory

Sorry that "tomorrow" turned out to be days and days later. I'll blame it on the newborn :)

I realize that Part 1 of our story was long. I just really think that it's important, even the fake out days. Oh, and sorry this is really long too. But hey, most of you know how long-winded I can be :)

So, at the hospital at 4 cm. This was a little scary of a number because that's where I got stuck with Isaac. The whole getting checked in and plugged in process took about an hour. Still having steady contractions. The doc came in about maybe two hours after arriving at the hospital and checked me. Even though I had heard it before, Dr. Mong gave me the whole commercial about the risks with the VBAC. He was however very optimistic and answered every single question I had. More importantly, he made it very clear that he was just going to let me labor and see what happens. Music to my ears. I was determined to not be bed bound but unfortunately , because of the VBAC they wanted me and the baby on the monitor as much as possible. So he said I could walk around the room and bounce on the ball and all that stuff, he really didn't want me walking around the halls.

At this point, doc made the decision to break my water to help the contractions along. Honestly, I laughed the whole time. It's the funniest (and grossest) feeling to feel like your peeing buckets and you can't control it. I couldn't stop giggling. But then, the contractions picked up almost immediately. I mean hard and every 2-3 minutes. ugh.....

Enter my nurse, Crystal. She was so amazing. She helped me breathe through my contractions and showed me how to position my body during them. Mind you, this part of pregnancy #2 felt like #1 because I never labored like this with Isaac. She also talked with Luke about how he could rub or hold during my contractions. She was so great.

This went on forever! Or at least it felt like forever to me. I don't know the actual time. I was determined to make it to 6cm before I got the epidural. The worst part of all was that little Simon was right on my bladder. So every single contraction was paired with terrible burning, stabbing pain in my bladder. Like I've got to go so bad but nothing's coming out, I'm gonna die kind of pain. This resulted in a lot of trips to the bathroom just for relief.

At this point, I'm seriously the cliche movie mom screaming at the nurse for my epidural and screaming with pain and squeezing the heck out of Luke's hands. Luke was so great! Poor guy had nail marks on his arms for the next day or so but he willingly allowed me to inflict pain on him as I was being inflicted with pain.

Eventually, it got to where I had no relief. Big contraction, little contractions, big contraction, and so on and so on. But I didn't want to give up yet, so I asked for some stadol. The effect was almost immediate. The nurse told me later that it was in effect for about 1 1/2 hrs, which of course for me was gone in a blink. I did get to rest during this time in between contractions, but still, the bladder pain was so so bad.

The Stadol wore off and it was back to work. Seriously, the worst pain of all was in my bladder. I know that if it weren't for this pain, I could have gone a little longer. Again, enter my nurse, who saw the big picture and helped me get through each contraction. However, there was one point where I got frustrated and just begged for it, and she said okay. At this point, I got checked. I can't remember if it was the doc or the nurse, but whoever it was, I was at 6.5cm!! Yay! I reached my goal and new for sure that I wanted the epidural.

After the epidural, everything obviously got easier and I finally got some rest. However, I got the shivers super bad. For hours, literally, I couldn't stop shaking, and this prevented me from getting more rest. But, I would take that over contractions any day! So Luke put in Hairspray (my favorite movie) and chilled the rest of the way.

When the doc came in some time later, we were sad to hear that I hadn't dialated any more. I was immediately guilty and thought I had copped out too early again, but I still trusted. Dr. Mong said that I and the baby were fine and so there was no need to jump to the c-section. Plus, we still had one more option, a little bit of pitocin to get the contractions going again. So all was not lost. We ended up not having to need the pitocin after all but it was good to know that we still had that option if I got really stuck.

Luke's feeding me ice chips this whole time, and amazingly, it's actually tricking my stomach that I'm eating. I was so hungry!

Then the shift changed. New nurse, new doc, and new fears that I would be pushed towards the c-section. The nurse was great and really nice and helpful. Dr. Martin, however was a different story. She came in all "doomsday" telling us that baby was big and I was short (literally not tall) and that my chances are slim to none of delivering vaginally. She asked us on the spot what we wanted to do. Baby was fine and I was fine so we said we're gonna keep trucking along.

Then, at about 9ish, I started feeling a lot of pressure "down there". The doc came in and checked me and 10 cm!! Praise the Lord! So I naively asked "what's next"? Pushing! YAY!!!

I pushed for about an hour. The nurse was great and Luke was great. My heart was so full of joy!! I couldn't believe that the Lord was allowing all our prayers to come true. In between each push, I was just smiling and SO EXCITED!!! I was also asking and making sure that the baby was okay. And praise the Lord, he was. I can't express how excited Luke and I were. My nurse was amazed that I was so energetic and excited. It got to the point that I was telling them when I was ready to push. AHHH!!! So excited! And all the while, Luke is still feeding me ice chips. I love those hospital ice chips!!!

So push, push, push and boom! BABY!!! I didn't think I was going to cry because I thought I'd be so excited and full of joy. But that's exactly why I did start just sobbing! As soon as he came out, Dr. Martin suctioned him all up, and as soon as he started screaming, she handed him right to me. Oh, I'm crying even now. It was absolutely amazing. GLORY TO GOD! As soon as I saw him, I said he looked just like Isaac!

Words cannot express the joy that was flowing out of me. I could not wrap my mind around how over-abundantly God had answered all our prayers. All we could do was praise...PRAISE! I started proclaiming Psalm 103, out loud.

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

And that's the end of my story. Everything was so completely different. And though there was still pain and recovery afterward, I took it gladly, thanking God that I was in this type of recovery rather than from a c-section.

So here's my testimony, though I was faithless, He remained faithful (2 Timothy 2: 13). I look back and see how my heart was so easily deceived and prone to wander, and I'm so humbled at what He did in spite of my faithlessness. God's love for us is so great!

So please, even now, give God all the glory. Not just for the birth he gave us, but for the glory He brought to Himself because of it. Here is the rest of Psalm 103:

The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:

The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-

with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.

Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.

Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Simon's Birth Story Part 1....To God Be the Glory

I've never been big on birth's stories. Maybe it was because Isaac's story was so hard to go through and I didn't like telling it over and over again. Simon's birth story is so totally opposite. I want to share his story so that God gets all the glory. Luke and I know with all our hearts that it was God alone who made all this happen. So here we go:

It started on Labor Day. At 10 that night, I started feeling some contractions. They were somewhat painful and started coming in a pattern. By about 3am, they were more painful and about 6-7 minutes apart. We called the doctor and she said to stay home until I couldn't walk or talk through them. Luke got in the shower and we started gathering up the last few things we needed. At about 4am, we called Luke's mom to come and be with Isaac. She arrived at about 5am. Then the contractions started diminishing. I started pacing around the house to get them going and Luke and I went walking up and down the street. Then at 7, the contractions completely stopped. I was very discouraged and confused. We called the doctor again and she told us to come. I hadn't really made any progress, only 2.5 cm. So we went home very discourage. Luke stayed home from work becuase we didn't know what could happen. Unfortunately, nothing did happen.

On Wednesday, the same thing started happening again, and almost at the exact same time. The contractions were stronger than they were before and were at a good pattern. We called the doc again and she told us to go ahead on to the hospital. So at about 6am, we woke Isaac and headed to Luke's mom's house then went to the hospital. But first we snapped a quick photo. At this point, my tummy was rock hard and super pointy. Of course, as soon as we got there, the contractions died down again and eventually disappeared again. So we left the hospital. On one hand, we were glad they let us leave the hospital and didn't corner us into a c-section, but on the other hand, we were sad to leave without our baby. We went to pick Isaac up and headed home. Feeling fairly certain that the same thing would happen, that is, nothing, Luke went on to work. At this point, I'm not only emotionally drained, but physically drained from all the stress on my body and lack of sleep.

That night, nothing happened, but I was still up all night long. I was so discouraged and afraid that we would have to go ahead with the c-section. I was battling with the Lord. Asking why it had to be this way? Why couldn't the contractions stick? Why won't my body work? Why can't God just answer this prayer for me? Then feeling guilty that these thoughts were entering in my mind. Then Satan comes in and accuses saying that now God definitely won't answer my prayer because of my lack of faith. What a battle that was waging inside of me. I finally threw my hands up in the air and remembered what God said to Gideon:

The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, 'Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.' " So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

I prayed to the Lord that He wouldn't do this for me or Luke, but for His own glory. That everyone around will fall on their knees and praise God, knowing that it was all Him. It was like a turning point for me. I had to make myself remember truth even when it was so easy to focus on my emotions and let them guide my views of God. Luke was also a great source of truth for me. He reminded me that God doesn't change. The day of Simon's birth was already decided and no matter how faithful or faithless, God doesn't change. Elementary I know, but when I was clouded with emotions, this truth made a profound difference.

Thursday was pretty uneventful as far as labor. But I had a fun day with Leah and took advantage of my time with just Isaac. Then I did some last minute cleaning before my mom came in. She arrived at about 6pm and we went to dinner.

At about 3am, the contractions came back again. These were very painful from the get-go. I didn't want to wake Luke up becuase I was so sure I was gonna get faked out again. But he woke up anyway because of my heavy breathing. They started about 10 minutes apart and over the next few hours got to about 4-5 minutes apart. Baby was right on my bladder so with every contractions, I felt the painful urge to run to the bathroom even though my bladder was completely empty. And sure enough, at around 7am, the contractions were back to 10 minutes apart. We decided to to just stay at home, again, feeling fairly confident that the same thing that happened that last few days would happen again. But they didn't. Over about the next hour, they were back to 5-6 minutes. Instead of running to the hospital right away, we decided to go to the doctor's office first and see what they say. Progress!!! I was 4 cm and the doctor said to go ahead on to the hospital. YAY! But there was still a long way to go to have a successful VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean).

Okay, this post is way too long already so I'll stop now and post the hospital part of the story tomorrow. Stay tuned.....

Just got his first bath. And all that hair went poof!

IAM SAM

These are my sons initials. And no, we didn't plan it that way. But we love it.

Isaac meeting Simon for the first time was very special. We asked that my mom and sister stay in the lobby so we could have a few minutes with just us four as we introduced Simon to Isaac. We both got very emotional. Especially when I saw Isaac walking up to me with a little bouquet of flowers.


Words cannot express how thankful and humbled we are at God's goodness to us and our family.

Here are some pictures of our family time. Isaac immediately loved on Simon and was so interested in "hi baby". That's what he calls Simon. But we're working hard on getting him to call him by name.

Simon Andrew

He's here!!!

Simon Andrew born Sept. 10 at 10:48.

Praise the Lord. God gave us a natural delivery. Thank you all for praying.

Almost

We are still in labor. Rockie is doing great. She got her epidural after making it to 6.5 cm. Now she's at 7 and still progressing. The doc says baby is sideways and may not turn through the birth canal as easily, but they are letting us labor as long as everyone looks healthy and things are still moving. We are so thankful that we have made it this far! Thanks for all the prayers and support. I have a feeling this will be a long night for all three of us. We'll try to post something as soon as we can.

Take 3

Been at it again since 3am. Went to the doc and measured at 4cm. Progress!! So they sent us on to the hospital! Hopefully soon. Please pray!

And please pray that I'll make it past 4 cm because that's where I got stuck with Isaac.

We're thankful for all of you!

Still Nothing...

Took it really easy today. I've had contractions all day but no pattern has formed. My body is really tired and sore from all the stress though.

I'm thankful for friends and family that have called and encouraged me today.

Please pray for a huge leap tonight and for rest.

I wonder what will happen tonight.....

Oh Well....

Wish I had pics of sweet Simon to show you.

My labor stopped again and we're back home again. Pretty discouraged and disappointed. Thanks for all your words and prayers.

Please keep praying, especially for my heart.

We're on our way to

We're on our way to the hospital!! Please pray for good progress, calm nerves, and a healthy baby!!

Latest Update (No hosiptal or baby yet)

Last night at about 10, I started having some contractions. They were more painful than usual and started a pattern. They were about 4-6 minutes apart for about 1 and 1/2 hours. We called the doc and he said to wait until I had to breathe hard through each one.

At about 4 am, they were more painful but not unbearable. I could still walk and talk through them but we began the prep. I jumped in the shower, we called Luke's mom and cleaned up some last little things at home.

Then at about 6, everything started slowing down until 7 when everything stopped. We went walking and walking but they didn't pick back up. I was really frustrated.

We called the doc and they had us come in to the office. Everything looked fine and I was told I just had false labor, which I still refuse to believe.

At about 130 pm, the contractions started again. They were more painful than before but 10 minutes apart and I could still walk and talk through them. So I called my massage therapist and she got me in. We went to see her at 330. It was good and relaxing but she also worked my points to keep things going.

So we're back at the in-laws now, just waiting. They live right across the street from the hospital which is why we're tempted to just stay here, though we really wanna go to the comfort of our house. I think we'll go grab some dinner and see how things progress.

Please keep praying for us!

The Final Due Date

I had completely intended on blogging about my due dates on the actual day but got really lazy.

Due Date #3 was the 4th. Isaac had an overnight with his Mutee so we had the privilege of sleeping in. 8:30!!! woohoo! We lazed in and took it easy. Then I got a little cabin fever. Days like this it's so hard to decide what to do. Luke wants to just go back to sleep and I'm itching to get out and finding an in between is really hard.

We eventually decided to head down to State's campus. We ate lunch at Jimmy John's then got some ice cream afterwards!! YAY ICE CREAM! Here's a little phone pic.Luke actually got some donuts. But I was oh so happy with my mint chocolate chip ice cream. As we ate, we walked around campus and reminisced about our days at ECU. I love that Luke and I have so many memories together.

After the walked we ran some other random errands together that would be a lot harder with the boy. Then we came home and relaxed and just waited for Isaac to come home. We actual really did miss him a lot. Here's a picture of what Isaac was up to: On his first boat ride ever with Ruby. We're sad we missed this grand moment but heard that he had a really great time.

We ended the day with a family date night at Outback with a giftcard. It was a fun day and though I had a lot of contractions, they didn't stick and baby didn't come.

We're still waiting.

Due Date #2

Yesterday, the 3rd, was my second due date.

It wasn't as busy and active a day as the 1st but I didn't just sit around.

First I went for another pregnancy massage with Cheryl at the Great Blue Heron Massage. I love Cheryl. She has been so kind and so generous with her massages. I've seen her about 5 times already, twice this week alone. She cares so much about mom and baby and really wants to see me go into labor naturally. If you're in the Raleigh/Cary area, this is the lady to see, especially if you're pregnant.

And also a shout out to Sharon, my amazing mother-in-law who watches Isaac everytime I have a massage. Thanks Sharon!!

Back to the day.

After the massage, I headed home to feed Isaac. Alinna and Ruby came over and we headed over to Triangle Town Center. They have a little splash area for kids. I hate that I didn't know it was there. I feel like I've unknowingly neglected Isaac of this amazing time. Here's a little video of Isaac and Ruby playing. Isaac loved it until it splashed him in the face.


Then we took a little lap around the mall and ended with a little trip to Dairy Queen. Then it was home and naps for both of. The day ended with the normal contractions that I've been having but no more. Oh and sorry I forgot to take a belly pic.

Check back soon to see what we did today.

I Can't Stop Watching This

Due Date #1

Many of you know that I was given three different due dates. The 1st, 3rd, or the 4th.

Well, due date #1 has come and gone. Well not gone yet, I still have 3.5 hours. This due date went very differently than with Isaac. Here's a look back.

As you read, I crafted, napped, ate, watched TV then off to bed. What a life!

Today went very differently.

Woke up very tired. Isaac was whining and cranky as soon as he woke up. Made the bed. made breakfast. Isaac tantrums. Missy a mess. Isaac tantrums. Off to Wal-Mart. Walk walk walk. Isaac tantrums. Come home. Make lunch. Isaac tantrums. Isaac nap (YAY!!) and finally, I nap. Cook dinner. Mow front yard. Water backyard grass. Sit down while Luke bathes Isaac (woohoo!). Isaac in bed. I pump (don't ask) and about to do some pelvic exercises. I'm WIPED!!! But being more active will hopefully mean I'll go into labor. Though I know this all sounds complainy, it's not. Well maybe except all the times Isaac threw a little temper tantrum. Just wanted to show how different being preggy is with a toddler running around as opposed to just sitting around crafting!

Here's me at 40 weeks.I'll take more pictures on my other two due dates.

Just for fun, here's me on my due date with Isaac. Weird. I'm wearing almost the exact same outfit.

As an aside, Luke felt terrible watching me mow the lawn but I begged him to let me do it. Anything to get this labor started!!!! But he did entertain Isaac and mowed the back yard which is a much bigger task.

Keep checking back! And we love your comments!