As for Nathaniel's delivery, it was pretty textbook. I woke up quite early on the day of his birth; not from labor pains, I just couldn't sleep. Before getting out of bed, I said my morning prayers and specifically asked that if God willed it, could the baby please come that day. Within 2 hours, I started experiencing stomach pains. Since I could time their frequency, I knew that labor had begun. I went in to tell Jim and he just about lept out of bed. Since our last baby, Dan, was born just 20 mins after arriving at the hospital, Jim was especially concerned about getting to the hospital quickly. The hospital is about a 25 min drive and we arrived there around 9am. I was checked at 9:30am at 3 - 4 cm dilated. The labor pains were not too painful and were still about 5 mins apart, so I decided to walk the halls for a little while. After a few intense contractions, I had the nurse check me again. Now I was only 4 - 5 cm dilated at 11:30am. That really concerned me since I was sure I was further along and the contractions were getting really painful. I prayed and asked God to please let the baby come soon. After 1 hr I was fully dilated and ready to push. Nathaniel came out in 2 pushes. What a relief to have him finally with us and to gaze upon his face.
I only stayed in the hospital 1 night, which was the shortest hospital stay for me. That's ok. I was ready to be in my own bed and to be with my other children. We are all finding a new normal with one more person in the family. His siblings love him so much, of course, and are a tremendous help. Even Dan will let me know when the baby's crying.
We have been blessed with a month's worth of meals from the wonderful families at our church, homeschool group and my Titus 2 small group. The prayers, kindness and generosity of these families represent the body of Christ in action. We are blessed!
