Amelia June Lund came one day before her due date, and was born just before 1:00 am on Monday, February 24. Her birth story and the time leading up to it was such a testament to God's faithfulness and love, and was full of answered prayers. I had many fears leading up to her birth, and they were all put to rest with such ease.
Ben came 5 days early, and labor was just 3 hours. He as born on the exact day, and time of day, that I had prayed he would be. That short labor was incredible, and fast, and smooth, but it was also, by far and without a doubt, the most painful labor I experienced. I shook from head to toe, and I was barely able to get an epidural (that came at 8cm). It also left me with a fear that it would make my next one even faster, that much more painful. To help with those worries, we switched OB/GYN's to one that delivered at the closest hospital to us, which cut our drive from 45 minutes, to just 15 minutes. Other than that adjustment, the other details would be out of our control, but we had people praying on our behalf.
I woke up on Sunday, February 23 and felt a contraction around 7:00. It was mild and I assumed a braxton hicks. I was exhausted from the end of pregnancy, and so David and I asked my parents and Meghan to take the kids to church, so I could rest if this ended up being the real deal. If not, I knew I would appreciate the rest regardless! I had contractions about every hour or so, and decided to start tracking them just before lunch, the first one I recorded was at 11:03. They were slow and steady from that point on, but still so irregular and mild that I wasn't convinced in the least that it was labor. I had never had false labor, nor had I ever had braxton hicks, but I thought I may have been experiencing them for the first time then. They eventually were about 45 minutes apart. Eventually, they began to get irregular again, anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour apart. I thought they could be slowing down soon because of how irregular they were, and after having them and tracking them all day long, we decided to continue with our evening. We had "Family Gathering" that evening, a church potluck and just hearing news and updates! We got to church at 5:30. I continued to write down the contractions in my phone. Between 5:30, and 7. At around 6:30, I noticed that the last couple were just 10 minutes apart. I shared this with David, and he lit up. He asked if we should leave, and I said no, not yet. It was a mix of "is this really happening NOW?" (it was my longest labor from first contraction to birth, so since it was so different from my other ones, I wasn't convinced it was the real deal!) and partly because I was so enjoying the worship time we were having at the end of the service. I began to tear up the closer to 7:00 we got. I thought to myself how beautiful it was to not only end this pregnancy, but end this chapter of our lives of having children, with worship. It was the perfect, most beautiful, overwhelming way to enter into (active) labor. We sang some of my favorite songs as I was going through my contractions, and it was a moment I'll always remember. It was also such an answered prayer, a long, smooth, and mild labor. I still can't believe how mild the contractions were compared to my three previous ones. God is good.
As the service wrapped up, I told David I was ready to head home to grab our bags, and head to the hospital. He very quickly agreed! David and my dad offered to drive the kids home in our car, and my mom said she'd drive me home in her car. It was a quiet drive to my house, where we finished packing our bags. We shared with Penny and Wes where we were headed, and they were excited and looking forward to coming to meet their sister the next day. They understood that just mommy and daddy could go to the hospital and were okay with that. We gave Penny Wes and Ben such big hugs, and were on our way. It was such a quick drive to the hospital, in the evening, no traffic or rush hour, we were so thankful for that. God is good.
We realized on the way there, we couldn't remember where we were supposed to go! We laughed, since the same thing happened with Ben. We went to a wrong, locked door, then found an open door, and went to the labor and delivery floor, where they told us we needed to go to the Emergency Room entrance first, so we went down there and checked in, then a labor and delivery nurse came to get us and walked us back up to the labor and delivery floor, and they got us settled into our room! Phew! Our nurses were just so wonderful. They saw I had a history of shorter labors, so they drew my blood right away and sent word for the anesthesiologist (this was another fear I had, that I wouldn't be able to get an epidural in time! Another fear that was put to rest).
By the time the anesthesiologist came, I was 5 or 6 centimeters dilated, and my contractions were still fairly mild, they were lightyears away from the pain I felt from Ben's labor, and for that I was so grateful. They gave the epidural, which worked quickly and I was able to rest while we waited. It wasn't long before it was time though. My doctor was off (since it was a Sunday) and the doctor on call was one I hadn't met yet, but to be honest, 4th baby in, I didn't really mind who was there, just as long as they knew what they were doing, haha. I remember the nurses and doctors asking me how long I pushed for my previous deliveries. All of them were less than 5 or so times. This one ended up being no different. I think 4 or 5 pushes, and sweet Amelia was born. Her cord was exceptionally short (which was new to me) and she barely made it onto my belly while they waited to cut the cord. Eventually David was able to cut it, and I could finally pull her up to me and hold her. She was so quiet, David shared later with me that he was worried with how quiet she was. She was just so sweet and gentle in that moment. She was also big, so big! 1 ounce shy of 9 pounds. Phew! She was rolly and had the thickest head of dark brown hair yet! She was born a few minutes before 1 am, the day before her due date. We hugged, and cuddled, and stared at her, and I couldn't believe it had all happened, that she was finally there. I remember most all of our families were asleep by the time things were winding down on our end and David was able to send out the news, but it was a sweet time of quiet for us, for us to enjoy it and soak this in without even the added excitement of friends and family.
We were able to remain in the same room for triage, labor, and recovery. It was so wonderful to not have to move! It was peaceful and calm and we felt so relaxed the rest of our time at the hospital. because she was born just after midnight, so we technically had 2 more nights there, which felt too long to us, so we asked for an early discharge, which we were thankfully given.
The way home from the hospital was so bittersweet. We talked about how we knew that was our last time. We felt so confident that our family was completed. Every other experience, we knew we'd experience it again, and that we were still in the midst of growing our family. While we felt blessed beyond measure with our 4 kids, it was surreal to think that chapter of our lives was closing...the one where you dream about future kids, how many to have, when to try for one (or another one), the anticipation and then excitement of finding out about a pregnancy, and all that entails. We've been blessed to experience the joy of pregnancy 5 times, we've mourned the loss of one sweet baby that we look forward to meeting one day, and been blessed to be given the task of raising 4 sweet babies.
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