When Your Birth Plan Doesn’t Go Quite The Way You Expected…
Last month I wrote about my youngest daughter’s premature birth, this month for the Million Moms Challenge, I am going back in time 15 years ago to the overdue birth of my oldest daughter.
My second pregnancy was going perfectly as planned and I was thrilled when I discovered I was having a girl. I had made a birth plan, my mother was coming out two days before I was to be induced to help with the new baby and to help care for our almost two-year-old son. Plus my husband had asked for time off from work.
I went into my last doctor’s appointment confident that everything was turning out exactly as I had envisioned. My mom was scheduled to fly out the next day and I would have a baby within the week. Then things started to go off the grid. My doctor informed me that he didn’t think my dates were right and he wondered if the baby was ready to be born. I had a strep test and it came back positive for Strep B which meant I needed to have antibiotics before the baby came. And I also needed an amniocentesis to find out if my baby’s lungs were developed. What???
I was still confident that this baby was coming soon. My mom arrived and then I got the call with the results of the amniocentesis — the baby’s lungs weren’t ready. It might be a couple of weeks before I could have the baby. I was measuring right but they weren’t sure on my due date because of the amnio results.
So the waiting began. My mom played with my son. My son had his birthday and my due date came and went. Finally the day before my mom was going to fly back home, the doctor called and scheduled me to be induced. Hallelujah!!
The actual labor and delivery of my daughter went pretty quickly. She was a big baby, so delivering her was a challenge and there were some tense moments and a pretty big episiotomy because of her large head (she’s still strong-willed by the way LOL).
{my oldest and youngest daughters}
But when I finally looked into her sweet face, I knew that love that I had also felt with my son and my other two children as well. It’s as if a piece of your heart is outside of your body. Being a mother has changed my life for the better. I can’t imagine my life any other way.
Childbirth is such an incredible moment, and I’d love to know what went through your mind when you held your baby for the first time? By replying, you will be entered to win an exclusive Million Moms Challenge Gift Pack, which includes an iPad2, a custom-made Million Moms Challenge pendant and a $50 donation in your name to Global Giving.
Please join the Million Moms Challenge and sign up today!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Million Moms Challenge. The opinions and text are all mine. Contest runs October 17 to November 13, 2011. A random winner will be announced by November 15, 2011.