God is my teacher

Crazy to think it's already been a week since Moriah Anita Lillian joined our family in the outside world! That's right, our baby girl is here. :) She was born Friday, June 3 at 12:10 p.m. 21 inches and 8 pounds 2 ounces of cute cuddly sweetness.

Way back in January when we found out we were having a girl, I read a devotion about Abraham and Isaac and God's provision on Mt. Moriah. It mentioned that Moriah means "the Lord will provide". A perfect name for where we were at in our lives. We had just started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and were learning to trust God in more areas of our life. A few months later I looked up "Moriah" in the baby name book and internet search engines and not a one mentioned the same meaning. The most common one was "God is my teacher" or "God teaches". Not the meaning I wanted so that first name option got crossed off the list. As time went on, there weren't any other names that stood out to Jeff or I. I found I still liked the name Moriah and Jeff got to where he did too. :)

Well turns out just because your second child comes after a 2 1/2 hour labor does not mean your third will. Since Toby had unintentionally been delivered at home, we had strict instructions to come to the hospital when I started having a minimum of 3 regular contractions. Sounded like a great idea to me. I didn't even think to ask if they were supposed to be painful ones or not. So almost 3 weeks before our due date, I had 3 contractions about 10 minutes apart and we made our trial run to the hospital. They didn't progress and we went home a few hours later, but it was nice to know we could make it to the hospital in time and were able to find someone on our list to watch Toby and Liv with fairly short notice. At my next appointment, details on coming in were clarified. :) Over the next couple of weeks, I'd get stronger contractions but they didn't become regular, didn't progress, and would usually stop with rest. There were so many times I almost called my sister or my neighbor to come watch the kids. I'm sure they would have understood the first couple of times, but since I did want them to come when I really needed them, I figured I could practice some self-control till I was absolutely sure it was the real deal.

Thursday morning (June 2nd), the kids and I did a Michaels/Shopko/Costco run and it didn't put me into labor. When I woke up from my nap that afternoon, however, I could tell something had changed. By 8 pm, contractions weren't painful yet but getting stronger and more on the regular side. They kept increasing in intensity and 9:30ish, I called my folks to double check if Melody might be a babysitting option for that night or part of the next day. I was confident we'd be having our baby by midnight or shortly thereafter and Jeff would be back home a couple hours later to sleep on a real bed before dealing with the fully energized big brother and sister after a long night.

Our neighbor saved what was left of the day and came over to watch the kids and we made it to the hospital a little after 11 p.m. After a nice soak in the jacuzzi tub, I was able to rest for awhile because.....the contractions had stopped. Yes stopped. At 3 a.m., I was up walking laps trying to get things started and at 4 a.m. I was in tears. I was SO frustrated. I knew I had been in real labor. We should have had our baby hours ago. After praying about it, we had peace in both of us staying at the hospital till the midwife made rounds a few hours later.

Turns out I was having pro-dromal labor which starts and stops without transitioning into the contractions needed to give birth. That definitely explained things. My 3 cm dilation at admission had turned into 4 1/2 so I wasn't going to be sent home and I was told I wasn't crazy for coming to the hospital. That helped a little. :) It was then recommended that labor be induced with Pitocin. RN brains tend to immediately think of the worst case scenario so in my mind, being on Pit equaled getting a C-section and a long drawn-out labor at a minimum. The midwife reminded me that my contractions would be closely monitored and if baby girl didn't get enough recovery time in between, it would be turned down or off and certainly once I was in the final stages of labor it would be shut off. I was definitely learning first hand I wasn't in control, but that I could trust God even if it meant a C-section or some other outcome not in my plan. And after all, the kiddo's name meant "God is my teacher" so why not?

I was on Pit just shy of 2 hours. 12 minutes after it was shut off, Moriah was born. So there ya go, a Pit story with a happy ending. :) It was definitely what my body needed to help it do what it needed to do. God totally answered our prayers with the nurses and midwives that took care of us, the friends that were able to help watch the kids, MAKING IT TO THE HOSPITAL, and a healthy baby girl! He is worthy to be praised, trusted, and adored!

In case any of you are still reading and wondering about Moriah's middle names, here's the scoop. Anita is my mom's middle name and also the first name of a dear adopted grandmother. Lillian is the name of my paternal grandmother--no longer here on earth but a reminder to me of God's unfailing love and that He will NEVER leave us or forsake us.

We're all adjusting to having a new little one in our family. We're thankful Toby had already started his "terribleness" before Moriah was born so we know that his behavior is partly with how he's dealing with life in general and partly with being ousted as the baby of the family. Liv fell in love with Moriah on day 2. Not so much on day 1. :) Jeff was able to take a whole week off and has continued to be the wonderful man and daddy he is on fewer hours of sleep. He tells me that's what coffee is for. The kids are definitely going to be missing the bike rides, trips to the pet store and other adventures when he goes back to his other job on Monday. I'm doing well, mindful of how my body is so incredibly designed yet needs the extra rest right now. And as I rest, I'm humbled and ever grateful for His many blessings.