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contest entry - having your baby
Life is full of surprises, and when my Husband (Peter) and I found out we were to have a baby, it truly was a miracle, a gift from God.
My pregnancy was fairly rough; I had severe morning sickness all day and night for the whole pregnancy and lost about 15 kilos instead of gaining weight. But through all of that, we kept praising God for this beautiful child we would soon be able to hold. Its amazing how quickly the time can go and how extremely slow it can go both at the same time! But that's what it felt like as we waited.
We had a name for our baby picked out right from the very beginning and we knew in our hearts that we were going to have a baby girl, Jarrah Joy. We never found out during the examinations, but we believe God told us.
I was only 19 when I fell pregnant and I had only been married three months. This scared me a lot. I was so worried that I would not be able to bring my child up with wisdom and teach her about Gods love and His glory. I talked to my pastor about this and he said it was a normal fear, but I need to remember that it is God who teaches through us! How amazing is that.
Anyway the due date came... and went, and so did the next day, and the day after that. I was worried that the baby was never going to come!
My husband and most of his family were big babies and I was fearful that if my baby waited any longer I wouldn't be able to get her out! Everyone around us was suggesting ideas to induce the labor but nothing worked for us.
Finally my waters broke at about 10:00am on, can you believe, our first wedding anniversary! I was excited and scared and a few other nameless emotions. I was going to have my baby! A few hours later and I still wasn't in labor so the doctor decided to induce the labor. I never realized how quick and strong the drug works! Within an hour, I was having contractions a minute long and a minute apart. I headed toward the spa, hoping to relax my muscles a bit with Peter rubbing my back, but as soon as I got in, I reached the second stage of labor. I called the nurse in and she couldn't believe I was ready to push. 'It has only been a few hours'' she said. I don't care,' I replied, 'I'm ready!'. She checked me and told me it was time to push!
I was so scared, this was the bit i had been dreading the most. I asked for some gas but the doctor said it was too late, she could already see the head! I couldn't believe it. A few pushes later and I had a beautiful, screaming baby girl in my arms at exactly 7:05 pm.
All up, it took four and a half hours of labor, and only twenty minutes of that was pushing! The nurse said she couldn't believe it and I told her that it was God who helped me, giving my husband and it the most perfect anniversary present we could ever have imagined.
That night, i was so happy that the feeding every hour or so didn't bother me, although i was finding breastfeeding hard to get used to.
My husband and I were blessed with a very happy, alert baby who didn't cry much and fed every four hours right after we got home. She was a natural at breastfeeding and we had no problems with that.
Being a mother is very different to what i had expected, but I'm the happiest woman in the world. God has blessed me so much and he helps me get through every day. Some days are harder than others. Sometimes i just want to sleep and watch TV all day, but other days i enjoy cleaning and looking after Jarrah, praising God for his awesome power in creating such a beautiful person.
My husband is the best support. He was with me throughout my being sick in pregnancy, all through the labor and the sleepless nights and tears in those first few days and he is always helping me out around the house, making me feel special and loved.
Praise God for his abounding love!!!
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