Joel's Birth Story-Part 1, We're Having Another BABY!
Spring 2017
Nick and I decided we both wanted to have another baby. We had gone back and forth for several months before that. Either I wanted to try and he wasn't sure because of the financial aspect of adding another family member, or he wanted to try and I just wasn't sure I wanted to go through another pregnancy and everything that goes with it at 37 years old. We tried for 3 or 4 months and I decided that I, in fact, was content with having three children so we stopped trying. We reinstated birth control, and shortly after, I was presented with the opportunity to teach PE at First Baptist.
November 17, 2017
Nick and I decided we both wanted to have another baby. We had gone back and forth for several months before that. Either I wanted to try and he wasn't sure because of the financial aspect of adding another family member, or he wanted to try and I just wasn't sure I wanted to go through another pregnancy and everything that goes with it at 37 years old. We tried for 3 or 4 months and I decided that I, in fact, was content with having three children so we stopped trying. We reinstated birth control, and shortly after, I was presented with the opportunity to teach PE at First Baptist.
November 17, 2017
I picked up a pregnancy test while out buying groceries because I was a week late and I nonchalantly peed on the stick that night before bed. I couldn't possibly be pregnant though! Well, there was that one time when we went out of town for my birthday, but we used birth control. What were the odds? Lo and behold there were two lines! Happy Birthday to me!! I laughed my way across the travel trailer we were living in and managed to just point to the bathroom and tell Nick to go look. He was like, "You are such a bad liar" and I was like, "Whatever, just go look!" Then we were both laughing. We weren't even trying! God had a plan (and a sense of humor).
Thanksgiving Day
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| I wore this to Thanksgiving to announce the big news to family. It took them a little bit, but they finally caught on! |
December 2017
Having canceled our insurance just two weeks before I got pregnant due to Nick changing jobs (YIKES!), I now had the freedom to choose where and how I was going to have the baby. This crazy thought popped in my head to use a midwife and have my first all natural birth. I ended up going with Jubilee Birth Center in Bryan (which I highly recommend by the way). I scheduled my first appointment and trusted God to provide. My word for 2017 had been "faithful" and God proved He is just that. Someone at church with no knowledge of our need actually gave us the exact amount needed for that first appointment. Before the end of the month we also found a house to rent so we were able to move out of the travel trailer. Our baby showers were over the top. First Baptist School threw me a shower on the last day of school where I received so many wonderful things for the baby. I had only known most of those ladies for less than a year and they were so, so generous. I felt so loved.
Then one of my sister in laws and a sweet friend from church threw me a second shower. It was honestly the most beautiful shower I'd ever been to. I walked in the room and was instantly in tears. Wow. I certainly didn't deserve all that, but I was deeply thankful and felt so blessed. Between my showers and friends giving me their baby stuff and/or maternity clothes we had more for this baby than we did for any of our others. We had everything we could need or want for him and then some. God. is. faithful.
My "geriatric" pregnancy
At 37 I was considered to be at "advanced maternal age" but that didn't phase my midwife in the slightest. Overall I had a healthy pregnancy with the exception of my platelet count. With low platelet counts the risk of postpartum hemorrhage increases. If I couldn't get those numbers up there was the possibility that I wouldn't be able to deliver at the birth center, so I researched ways to increase my platelets naturally. I drank chlorophyll every day, and I ate a lot of foods rich in vitamin A, folate, and vitamin K, like pumpkin, sweet potatoes, gouda cheese, and leafy greens. That worked and kept me within the safe range for the whole pregnancy. I was able to finish the school year and only missed one day of work toward the end of the year due to swelling and utter exhaustion.
Natural birth research
When I told Nick I wanted to go for a natural birth I think his first reaction was, "Why would you do that??" I honestly don't know what first sparked the idea. I think I thought it was cheaper, which it is not. (Lucky for us, we get to pay for the birth center, the hospital, and an ER visit; more on that later.) I had also had three, technically four, epidurals if you count the one they redid when I had Toby. I don't know if my back pain could be attributed to that or not, but it seems like a good explanation to me, so I was not looking forward to having another one of those. My hospital experiences weren't bad. I think I was just curious to see if I really could have a natural birth with no pain medicine and minimal interventions. I knew that it was really good for the baby and my recovery would likely be quicker so that was enough reasons for me to at least look into it.
I found a lot of resources online. The first thing I happened upon was something called hypnobirthing. Yep, that's right, this teaches you basically how to birth your baby in a state of self-induced hypnosis. I listened to a few relaxation tracks on YouTube and read various things about it. It seemed encouraging but a little weird. The main thing that I liked about it though was the idea that birth didn't have to be painful. (Sign me up for that!) They talked about something called the fear/tension/pain cycle that causes that intense pain that you see in the movies and hear most women who have endured a natural birth talk about. The idea was that if you can simply relax through contractions, birth can actually be enjoyable. That sounded easier said than done, but I was feeling more and more like this was something God actually wanted me to do.
You know how in the world of YouTube you can watch one video that leads to another video that leads to another and before you know it 3 hours have passed by? That is how I eventually happened upon A Heavenly Welcome with Kierra Blaser. Thank you, Jesus! What I learned through those videos, her podcast "Birth in God's Presence," and her Kingdom Childbirth Class was nothing short of a revelation. She teaches how the consequence for Eve's choice to sin in the garden according to Genesis 3:16 was that women would then have an increase in "esteb" in childbearing and that with "esteb" they would give birth to children. The meaning of the word esteb according to Strong's Concordance is "pain (usually mental pain like anxiety and worrisomeness), hurt, toil, sorrow, labor, and hardship." It is mentioned 7 other times in the Bible but is only translated as pain when talking about childbirth in that verse. It is translated as hurt, toil, sorrow, labor, and hardship in the other places. (Ex. Psalm 127:2, Proverbs 14:23) The Kingdom Childbirth Class goes into great depth to explain how and why great pain became associated and translated as that in Genesis 3. In reality God's heart for childbirth is that it is a gift from Him who is a loving and good God. Children are a gift. Childbirth is hard work and sometimes there is pain in the process, but that is not the focus and intent of God's heart. I watched and read countless birth stories and was (and still am) convinced that childbirth without pain is possible.
Some other resources that really encouraged me were the book "Supernatural Childbirth" by Jackie Mize, and the scriptures and declarations on a CD called "Childbirth in the Glory" by Angela Mills. (I found all the tracks on YouTube because the CD is hard to find.) I also had four main scriptures that I meditated on and read daily in the days and weeks leading up to Joel's birth. I made cards and laminated them so I could hang them in the room where I labored at the birth center.
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| The theme was "Brandy had a little lamb." |
My "geriatric" pregnancy
At 37 I was considered to be at "advanced maternal age" but that didn't phase my midwife in the slightest. Overall I had a healthy pregnancy with the exception of my platelet count. With low platelet counts the risk of postpartum hemorrhage increases. If I couldn't get those numbers up there was the possibility that I wouldn't be able to deliver at the birth center, so I researched ways to increase my platelets naturally. I drank chlorophyll every day, and I ate a lot of foods rich in vitamin A, folate, and vitamin K, like pumpkin, sweet potatoes, gouda cheese, and leafy greens. That worked and kept me within the safe range for the whole pregnancy. I was able to finish the school year and only missed one day of work toward the end of the year due to swelling and utter exhaustion.
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| Yummy chlorophyll! |
When I told Nick I wanted to go for a natural birth I think his first reaction was, "Why would you do that??" I honestly don't know what first sparked the idea. I think I thought it was cheaper, which it is not. (Lucky for us, we get to pay for the birth center, the hospital, and an ER visit; more on that later.) I had also had three, technically four, epidurals if you count the one they redid when I had Toby. I don't know if my back pain could be attributed to that or not, but it seems like a good explanation to me, so I was not looking forward to having another one of those. My hospital experiences weren't bad. I think I was just curious to see if I really could have a natural birth with no pain medicine and minimal interventions. I knew that it was really good for the baby and my recovery would likely be quicker so that was enough reasons for me to at least look into it.
I found a lot of resources online. The first thing I happened upon was something called hypnobirthing. Yep, that's right, this teaches you basically how to birth your baby in a state of self-induced hypnosis. I listened to a few relaxation tracks on YouTube and read various things about it. It seemed encouraging but a little weird. The main thing that I liked about it though was the idea that birth didn't have to be painful. (Sign me up for that!) They talked about something called the fear/tension/pain cycle that causes that intense pain that you see in the movies and hear most women who have endured a natural birth talk about. The idea was that if you can simply relax through contractions, birth can actually be enjoyable. That sounded easier said than done, but I was feeling more and more like this was something God actually wanted me to do.
You know how in the world of YouTube you can watch one video that leads to another video that leads to another and before you know it 3 hours have passed by? That is how I eventually happened upon A Heavenly Welcome with Kierra Blaser. Thank you, Jesus! What I learned through those videos, her podcast "Birth in God's Presence," and her Kingdom Childbirth Class was nothing short of a revelation. She teaches how the consequence for Eve's choice to sin in the garden according to Genesis 3:16 was that women would then have an increase in "esteb" in childbearing and that with "esteb" they would give birth to children. The meaning of the word esteb according to Strong's Concordance is "pain (usually mental pain like anxiety and worrisomeness), hurt, toil, sorrow, labor, and hardship." It is mentioned 7 other times in the Bible but is only translated as pain when talking about childbirth in that verse. It is translated as hurt, toil, sorrow, labor, and hardship in the other places. (Ex. Psalm 127:2, Proverbs 14:23) The Kingdom Childbirth Class goes into great depth to explain how and why great pain became associated and translated as that in Genesis 3. In reality God's heart for childbirth is that it is a gift from Him who is a loving and good God. Children are a gift. Childbirth is hard work and sometimes there is pain in the process, but that is not the focus and intent of God's heart. I watched and read countless birth stories and was (and still am) convinced that childbirth without pain is possible.
Some other resources that really encouraged me were the book "Supernatural Childbirth" by Jackie Mize, and the scriptures and declarations on a CD called "Childbirth in the Glory" by Angela Mills. (I found all the tracks on YouTube because the CD is hard to find.) I also had four main scriptures that I meditated on and read daily in the days and weeks leading up to Joel's birth. I made cards and laminated them so I could hang them in the room where I labored at the birth center.
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1 Timothy 2:15
Some translations say women will be 'saved in childbearing'
and that word saved is 'sozo' which means kept safe and sound-
rescued from danger, injury, peril, and disease-
made well and restored to health.
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| Hebrews 13:5 |
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| Philippians 4:13 |
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| Isaiah 41:13 |
At one point in my pregnancy I was asking God to show me where He would be during my labor and this verse stood out to me. There was actually one point in my labor where the Holy Spirit actually brought this to my remembrance. My water had broken and things were getting more intense. I was leaned over the birth ball sideways on the bed and Nick was standing in front of me...holding my right hand. God gave me the help and support I needed through my husband and my labor was a beautiful encounter with the presence of God that we will always cherish.
Also, I had asked one of the midwives at the center to take pictures with my phone so we could look back on them later. That moment is the only picture she took. Coincidence? I think not.
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