The Journey Begins

As much as I was excited about being a mother, pregnancy was not on my list of desired activities.  To be perfectly honest, I was pretty scared of the whole process.  You would think, by now, I would remember that God's mercies are new every morning and He would give me strength to get through it, no matter how difficult it was!  And He did!  The first 20 weeks were just plain yucky!  I felt gross all day every day and popped my anti-nausea meds daily!  I'm not afraid to take medicine...that's for sure!  Once I got through those first 20 weeks, pregnancy was honestly a joyful event for me!!  I LOVED the sweet care that others gave (who doesn't love to be given special treatment?!).  Complete strangers would walk by me in the grocery store with a big smile and give words of encouragement!  That really doesn't happen any other time of your life...no one is smiling at me now telling me how good I look ;)  Of course there were the strangers who offered unsolicited advice and who tried to touch my belly.  But the normal interactions far outweighed the bizarre encounters! 

 

I was convinced that I would go into labor after my due date.  I just didn't feel any different at 38 weeks then I did at 20...except a lot bigger!  There were never any "scares" or "close calls".  I never even felt Braxton Hicks!  Life just went on normally. 

 

March 20th was the first day of Spring and happened to be a day when both Melissa Moad and I were off of teaching!  Melissa was 36 weeks pregnant at the time so she and I decided to have one more "girl's day" before the babies came.  We went to the Hershey Pantry for breakfast, got pedicures at Hershey Nails and then took advantage of the free Rita's Italian Ice that is given out on the first day of Spring each year!  I got home around 2:00 and decided to put my feet up for a few minutes before I ran some errands.  Being 38 weeks pregnant, it was no surprise that I had to use the bathroom as soon as I sat down.  I waddled my way into the bathroom, sat down and my water broke!  Being that my doctor is a good friend, I sent her a text message telling her what happened and said, "That wasn't my water breaking, right?  It was probably just something else, right?  I'm not in labor, right?"  She, of course, called me immediately and asked exactly what happened.  She then said, "You should probably call Clayton and head to the hospital."  "But, wait, I feel normal.", I said, "This can't be it.  Are you sure?  Now I don't think I'm ready!  I wasn't scared before, but now that it's happening, I'm not sure I want to do it!"  Dr. Brackney (Kerri) assured me that these were all normal feelings and she would make arrangements for her husband to watch their children so that she could be there with me (on her day off!).  I'm so grateful that God gives us friends to care for us...this one in particular in a very hands-on way!  Poor Kerri! 

 

Clayton, in the meantime, was in charge of a meeting of 25 people that afternoon.  We had decided on a signal a few weeks prior so that he would know when it was crucial that he answer the phone!  I tend to call him just to tell him what I had for lunch sometimes...so he needed to know if it was really important (umm...all of my calls are super important...he should totally take my calls all the time everywhere.).  I called once, and then immediately called again.  He excused himself from the meeting (in which he was currently talking!  Awkward!) and heard the news, "So...I think my water just broke."  "Okay...Okay...Okay.  I have to go.  I'll call you right back."  He walked back into the meeting and said, "I'm  going to have a baby now!" and left work.

 

I checked in to the Penn State Hershey Medical Center at 4:00pm on Thursday, March 20th 2014.  From the time my water broke, I labored a total of 16 1/2 hours, and 3 1/2 of those hours were active pushing!  Clayon, my two nurses and Kerri were all with me every step of the way and I couldn't be more grateful for them!  Modern medicine, hospitals and medical professionals are wonderful things!  The Lord was gracious to me.  It was not a fun way to spend 16 1/2 hours of my life...but I know it certainly could have been worse.  After pushing for hours, I knew that I had to get the baby out.  Dr. Brackney said that 3 1/2 hours is the limit and then they would need to use a vacuum...and if that didn't work, a C-Section was the next step.  I also knew that Dr. Brackney had to be in the office at 8:00 and if I didn't get this baby out quickly, she wouldn't be there for the birth!  Those two major motivating factors gave me the energy to give it my all in 3 more pushes! 

At 6:24am on Friday, March 21st 2014, our 6 pound 13 ounce, 19 1/2 inch
Elsie Lynn Lee was born!  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!