Piper Emma Has Arrived!
On September 2nd, 2022, Piper was born at 11:33 pm at 7 lbs 5 oz, 21 inches long.
After all that time waiting, and at 41 weeks, 5 days, every plan Sam and I made about how we wanted our daughter to be born went out the window. We wanted a home birth with the midwife we'd been meeting with over the course of my pregnancy. We wanted a smooth, relaxing, natural experience and had prepared for months to make sure our comfort measures and everything was in place for all that. We expected to have an hour of skin-to-skin contact and a delayed cord-cutting. I knew I wanted to avoid a Pitocin induction or c-section at all costs.
God had other plans.
The day before, my water broke and there was meconium in the fluid. Still set on a home birth, we decided with our midwife to try castor oil to get labor going, knowing full well that we were up against a clock to deliver her. Ultimately, we ended up having to transfer over to hospital care as the 24-hour mark approached. Once in hospital, I entered active labor and that continued for another few hours. Nearing our deadline where a natural birth was going to be possible, the doctors administered Pitocin to try and get me to the stage where I could start pushing. To me, this was upsetting. It was something I never wanted to experience, knowing that most women have negative experiences with it.
The pain was unreal, worse than anything I've ever experienced, but I was extremely blessed to have my husband with me through each contraction encouraging me, coaching me, breathing with me, and praying over me. Finally, after just 20 minutes of pushing, our daughter was born, and it's a good thing God was watching over us and we were in the hospital. It turns out the meconium and amniotic fluid was making it difficult for Piper to breathe on her own. Thankfully, we were already at the hospital, and our birth team was able to clear it from her lungs.
And that's but one of the reasons that I can see clearly: We can plan and plan and plan all we want, but the only plan that has foresight is God's. I wanted a home birth that may have left us without the resources that we ended up needing in order to take home a happy and healthy baby girl. But God knew and made a way for us to be in the exact place we needed to be, even though we were dead set against going to the hospital to have her. As Sam would say, that's Providence.
I say all this to say, the best lesson I have in all this is to trust God, no matter what you've planned. In the end, your plan can't hold a candle to what He knows and has for you. It may not seem that way in the moment your plans go out the window. Believe me, Sam and I were not happy to have paid for and planned a home birth only to turn around and have to go to a hospital. But in the end, it's what we needed and we didn't even know it.
And because we can trust God, we are able to have moments like this: We are currently sitting together as a family of three. Safe. Happy. Healthy. Healing. Together. And personally, that's something to praise God for every moment of every day for the rest of my life.
Announcement! Because I would like to take some time to take in this moment with my family, I am going to be taking a break for the next 2 weeks. I know I've been inconsistent over the past month in preparing to give birth, but I'd really like to take some time to adjust, fall into a groove, and ultimately cherish this truly special season.
I look forward to returning September 27th, with prayerful and new perspective, passion, and devotion. Until then, thank you for reading and celebrating Piper's arrival with me!
