Dealing with Changes in a Pregnancy....

I asked a dear friend of mine to write about the twists and turns that took place right before her delivery of her first baby overseas...enjoy!

After living in the Middle East and studying Arabic for a couple of years, my husband and I began trying to have a baby. We were blessed and welcomed our daughter, Raylee Anna, into this world on Mar 4, 2009. Getting pregnant, fostering the pregnancy and having a baby overseas can be somewhat of an adventure. Here's how it happened for us:

After being dissatisfied with the maternity hospital to which I had been going initially, early in the pregnancy, we decided to switch to a private doctor. The care was good, and our philosophies were the same until the 40th week came around. The baby's head was down, but she remained quite happy inside. However, the doctor was not happy and began making plans to go in an retrieve her. Our OB had pretty much decided that at week 38 the baby was too big, and her head wouldn't come out naturally. Little did he know, we had been asking God to allow us to have a natural delivery from early on in the pregnancy. It was the desire of our heart, and we had a peace that it was going to happen. I simply did what any good, very pregnant wife would do: ask my husband to call the doctor and tell him, “thanks but no thanks. We are going back to the original maternity hospital.” Everything worked out, and they accepted us back. At my first appointment back the midwife did not judge my belly to be too big, and even the ultrasound did not show my floating bundle of joy to be oversized. I was given 7 more days to process and a follow-up appointment. It seems like, gone are the days of non-invasive delivery. My mom was 12 days over due and 36 hours in labor with me, and that was judged to be normal. My attitude is that good things come to those who wait.

The next day after the follow-up exam, I really began to dilate. The ball had been set into motion. They admitted me into the hospital. The one thing we did not like about this hospital is that all guests, even husbands must leave at night, unless you are in the active delivery room. When 10pm came, my husband went to the car to wait. By 12am, I was calling him to come. We had made it to baby birth land. After he got there he started massaging while I walked, sat on the birthing ball and did what I could to move things along. Then at about 4am the doc came in and broke my water and brought on the pain. We had started with an Indian midwife, and it wasn't really the best fit. They told me it might be several hours more after my water broke, and I hadn't had any meds, so I agreed to a pain shot. It put me out. The shot did allow me to rest somewhat, but it made my husband really nervous. He knew my strong desire to deliver naturally and drug-free as possible, and time seemed to be working against us. Finally, a western-trained midwife who was more proactive came to my rescue. The shot began to wear off, and the pushing began. After about 2 hours, out popped a very healthy baby girl. She weighed 11 lbs and was 20.5 in. My husband cut the cord. She immediately began nursing with a very strong latch-on. Many were amazed at her size. She had completely flown under the radar, and we got the full desires of our hearts: natural birth and healthy baby.

Overall, it was a really good experience. We had some twists and turns along the way, but God remained faithful. We had to keep reminding ourselves to stay flexible and possess the ability to reason and problem solve while weighing all options. I'm happy with the way things turned out, and looking back, ultimately the birth story is now just a fun story to tell. Each new day, we write a new page of life with my daughter. Her beginning was important, but the real joy comes from everyday we get to spend with her on the outside of my tummy.