Sunday, February 13, 2011

My Third (And Final) Unassisted Homebirth


Announcing the birth
of
Rizia Ezekiel Moses
8# 10 oz. 22 in.
May 4, 2003 6:34am



Never in my wildest imaginations would I have thought that I would pray to go past my EDD. However, with a couple weeks of being up most of the night with sick children, my prayer was that this baby would not be born until the contagious part had passed. As I was approaching going past 2 weeks being overdue I had to repeatedly remind myself to trust in the LORD and to not worry about what anyone's statistics say. Even before the due date arrived, I had decided it was best to pull back from people and focus on what the Holy Spirit was saying to me, without any chance of confusion from input from those who care about me but weren't walking in my shoes.

I seriously did think about going to a hospital this time. It was my cousin who talked sense into me; although I think she was really trying to reaffirm that it was ok to go to the hospital. She reminded me to listen to what the Holy Spirit was saying, and if He was saying go to the hospital, then I should. I then had to admit that it was only fear telling me to go. I wasn't promised that it would be easy, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would give birth to a healthy baby.

My first two homebirths were wonderful, but there were parts I didn't really share. I didn't talk much about the fear. With Susanna I kept hearing this voice telling me I was going to die, and so would the baby. I kept crying out to Jesus and came through just fine. With Josiah, I encountered anger. Gary was doing all he could for me but he was driving me nuts. The afterbirth getting hung up both times was also nerve-wracking. This time, I had no fear, but I was concerned over how Gary and I would relate to each other during my labor. In the middle of a strong contraction it is next to impossible to explain what I want or need, leaving Gary feeling helpless. So my prayer was that I could go through the first part of labor with no one knowing. I also prayed that the baby would be born either right after the little ones went down to bed or first thing in the morning.

The night before Rizia's birth, I put Susanna and Josiah down to sleep. Sarah, Jacob, and Rachel were skating and Gary was still working. I had been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions throughout the day, but not really any worse than before. Part of me wondered if this might be the night though. I got out my Bible and had a time of private devotions, reading and praying. When Gary came in, I decided not to tell him that I thought this might be the night our baby would be born. We talked for a while and then I went to bed. As soon as I lay down, the baby started to move. There was more activity going on in there than there had been in the entire 9 months preceding that night. (I later realized he was moving out of the posterior position he had been in for weeks.) I quickly went to sleep.

I was awakened several times by Susanna and Josiah, who were having coughing fits. Each time I got up with Josiah and lifted him, I knew I was having contractions. Too tired to time them, I would just crawl back into bed as soon as I got Josiah settled down. At 3:45am, there was no going back to bed. I paced the kitchen floor for about an hour. I then decided a warm bath would feel nice. I was able to soak for half an hour before both Susanna and Josiah started coughing. Gary got up with them but they both wanted Mommy. I got out of the tub and told Gary what was going on. After we got the children quiet, but unfortunately too wound up to go back to sleep, he got the older children up. He told Sarah to take care of the little ones and Jacob and Rachel that he was going to need them to run the store. I paced the house a little bit and decided to email a couple friends to ask them to be praying for me. After 20 minutes of trying to get online, with contractions coming every two minutes, I gave up. I went back to our bedroom where Gary fixed a pallet on the floor.

He made the pallet in front of the bed and put the pillow down. I was too uncomfortable to tell him the pillow was on the wrong side and lay down anyway. After one contraction, I knew I really needed to be lying on my other side. At this point, there was no resting between the contractions and my water soon broke, leaving it too wet to move. I did manage to holler to Gary to take my underwear off because the baby was coming. (Words I am sure he would like to hear in a different context! ;) ) He helped me to a better position, squatting and holding on to the bed. Being as short as I am, the bed was really too high for me, but we made do. Gary saw the scripture cards and picked them up to start reading them to me. We also had the same praise music going that we had when Susanna and Josiah were born. I could tell he was feeling a bunch of emotions as he read. I just felt this overwhelming sense of peace coupled with power. I am not sure how many of the scripture cards Gary got through before I told him to put the cards down, the baby was coming.
Gary got behind me and I started pushing. The baby's head came out and Gary told me the cord was wrapped around his neck. I quit pushing and told him to put his finger between the cord and the neck. I no longer had the urge to push, but I knew the baby had to come out, so I gave it all I had. Within moments, Rizia had made his entrance into the world. The cord had a false knot that came loose, so it hadn't been the problem it might have been. However, Rizia was quiet and Gary was concerned that he wasn't breathing, so he gave the little guy his first spanking. The other children soon came in to meet their little brother.

Gary and Sarah cut the cord together. It was a difficult moment for me. My little guy, who had relied on me, was taking his first step of independence. When it was time for the placenta to come out I prayed, as I had been doing throughout the entire pregnancy, that it would completely release this time. It was a few minutes before I was able to get into a position to check, but this time, we had victory.

The meaning behind his name:
Gary and I really hadn't discussed names except for one time, months before, when we had considered naming him after my grandfather, whose name has died out. For some reason, it just didnt seem to fit. Gary liked a name that I didn't want, and I really wanted to go with something that started with an R, to complete our pattern. I had never told Gary what I wanted to name him and when I asked him if it was ok if I gave the baby his name, he said yes. I think he was expecting Andrew John and when I came out with this long name, he looked pretty surprised. But, I put a lot of thought into this name.

Rizia - delight
Ezekiel - God strengthens
Moses - drawn out

With coming into a houseful of children, I want my little guy to know that he is a delight even though many have come before him. I know that not only will he need God to strengthen him in his childhood, but also in his adulthood. Like all my children, I want him to be drawn out and separate from the world, to be in it but not of it. Moses was also chosen because Susanna began praying for a Baby Moses the day that Rizia was conceived.

Rizia pronounced Riz-eye-uh

The question I hate but I know many will ask - Will we have more?
When the decision was made to have my reversal, we also decided we were leaving the matter of having children up to the LORD. I know the signs of my body and can follow them, but ultimately, the Author of Life can over-rule that. If He wants to bless us with more children, we would never say no. Nor are we actively seeking to get pregnant. Instead, we are leaving it entirely in His hands.

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