CLICK HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES »

Nov 19, 2009

Ethan's Arrival


I've had a week to recover and gather my thoughts, and last night my husband chastised me for being home all day and not finding time to blog :) ... so here are some of my thoughts and details from the story of Ethan's arrival.

Very early in the pregnancy, the doctor let me know that he was planning on inducing labor at 38 weeks. Even earlier than that I started praying that Ethan would arrive in God's perfect time, of his own free will, and with an easy, uncomplicated delivery. In my finite mind, the only way for that prayer to be answered was for the baby to come before week 38 and I fully expected to have an October baby.

Week 38 came and went. The doctors seemed willing to work with me when I asked not to be induced - this shocked me! In the past (with a different doc) there was no negotiating with anything and I was induced right at 38 weeks. Week 39 came and went. The baby was looking great and they continued to leave me alone. Week 40 came and went. I could not believe that it was November and I was still pregnant. I am so grateful for doctors that listen and carefully consider all the facts before making decisions!

With week 41 approaching, the doctor put the decision into my hands. Although the baby was looking great, there was a small chance that something could go wrong and they could miss it. Inducing should not be bad at this point but it could be "a two day affair." He wouldn't advise for or against anything, just laid out all the facts for me. I went home thinking about it, and after a day and a half decided that it would be better to go ahead and face the "two day affair" than it would be to leave the baby alone and have something be wrong.

We arrived at the hospital on the morning of November 11 to be induced. The doctor had forgotten to call and notify the hospital that I was coming. Every full term pregnant woman in Syracuse was having her baby that morning. Labor and delivery was crazy.

They broke my water and started petosin at 9:00 am . Todd and I settled in for a long boring day (my last induced labor was about 15 hours). At 10:00 we were playing cards and Todd said "You're going to have the baby at 11:26 am." Yeah, right. I wasn't even in active labor...we were playing rummy. I was only 4 cm.

At 11:27 I was looking at my baby. I was surprised that the baby was a boy. I was surprised that labor was over already. I didn't think that there was any way I would have a baby before dinner. We didn't even get a chance to play Boggle. And if I hadn't had to wait for the doctor to run in from her C-section, Ethan probably would have come at 11:26.

My baby had arrived quickly and safely. I was confident that it was God's perfect time, I read a Spurgeon quote the day before that gave me peace as I wrestled with whether or not to induce: "There are no mistakes, no accidents, and everything is still on schedule." But I could not figure out why we had to wait until the 11th of November for this baby. It wasn't until the next night when I was home nursing Ethan...

The hospital photographer was a young mom struggling with a son who is labeled ADHD. She kind of joked about her frustration, but my heart immediatly went out to her. I knew exactly where she was at, trying to fight for this kid but not knowing how. Knowing what doesn't work, but not knowing what else to try. Seeing the potential in her son and being frustrated that he may never meet that potential.

As she was leaving, I brought the conversation back to her son and suggested that (if she was interested) she should read the Out of Sync Child and consider sensory integration disorder. We shared about our struggle with Jacob and how the right diagnosis and therapy have made a huge difference with him. She was VERY receptive and very grateful for the suggestion. She asked a lot of questions and shared more about her son. Todd promised to pray for her, and told her to look us up on Facebook.

We kept wondering if we could have done more to reach out to her. But as I was sitting at home I felt confident that God had placed there on that day (she was talking about the different photographers that work on different days) to minister to that girl. No mistake, no accident, she needed an interaction with a mom who understood on that day. And the God I serve is big enough to bring other people into her life and to call her to himself. Getting people saved is not my goal. It's not my job. I can't save anyone anyways. All I can do is strive to be like Christ and share his love in tangible ways the people who are around me. Not that I'm always good at that, but I'm growing in it, and I'm pretty sure that's why Ethan was born on November 11!

1 comments:

Sheri said...

I love him Kelly! What a great story- He is so beautiful!!!

I need to get an update on Jacob ( not that you have any time now:)) and I should probably check out the out of Sync book again.....I just finished filling out a sensory profile for Sammy's OT/teacher.....anyways,things have been difficult for Sammy in areas and I am pretty sure that there are "diagnosable" sensory issues....Anyways, we have always had so much to work on and sometimes its hard to know whether thigns will just come(sense he has an overall delay) or what......Some of the deffensiveness is WAY better- still an issue, but way better,( he gets OT 2 times a week) but sensory seeking behaviors are WORSE and issues with noise and new enviornments...etc.....Anyways....I'll have to chat with you sometime....

Beautiful baby boy!!!!!!