Daniel's Birth

Sitting on the recliner, my little boy in arms, I stared out the frost, lined window panes at the fresh snow glistening off of the bare trees.  I was imagining a perfect photo shoot with my new little guy huddled on the windowsill.  My mind started to wander (as seems to be quite common these days) to the events surrounding Daniel's birth.  I cannot think about that night without Psalm 100:1 coming to mind - Praise ye the Lord.  O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.  Looking back I realize even more just how good He was. 

Things didn't go according to my plans (when will I learn not to plan??).  To start with, of course you know, he didn't come on his due date and I had LOTS of hard prelabor.  Even though I know it wasn't realistic, because of all of the prelabor, my little dreamy mind kept picturing the baby just coming...no pain, just whoop, there's the baby.  (Hey, I've heard it happening before.)  It ended up being a very long, painful labor.  The midwife came that morning and decided to visit friends nearby until that evening...unless we called her sooner.  I had been having contractions since the day before, and even though they were still irregular, they were gradually increasing in length and strength.  I was frustrated and felt like we were getting nowhere.  Later that evening as she was on her way back over, my water broke.  About 5 minutes after she arrived, Daniel was born.  I remember feeling guilty that I was too exhausted to hold my baby.  Meanwhile, the midwife had noticed that Daniel's umbilical cord was already broken.  She, Eric and her daughter quickly worked to clamp his cord and also the one hanging from the placenta.  Her daughter put something awful tasting in my mouth while her mom worked to get Daniel, who was turning whiter by the minute, warm and breathing regularly.  Afterwards, while examining the placenta, they said that they were surprised by how short the cord was and that the placenta had torn just a little.  We are guessing that the cord broke during delivery.  We are praising the Lord that the midwife was there and that even amidst all of the "complications", God allowed everything to go so smoothly.  It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. (Psalm 118:8)

 It is taking me a little longer than usual to get back to normal, but both Daniel and I are doing well.  The Lord is good and His timing truly is perfect!