elijah's journey to us (part 3 of 3)

My pregnancy progressed normally through the months. The first trimester morning sickness was unbearable, throwing up almost every morning and feeling nauseous the rest of each day. The second trimester was wonderful! The third trimester is when the swelling reared its literal ugly head. Then towards the end, I was extremely uncomfortable, as most pregnant women are at that stage. No early dilation was happening, so my OB gave me some tips to speed things up, most of which I did.

On October 12th at 5:00pm, I felt what I thought could be a contraction. It was 5 days before my due date, so I wasn't positive it truly was a contraction. Lo and behold, 7:00pm rolled around and Chad and I began timing the contractions. At around 8:00pm we called the OB and made our way to the hospital. The contractions went from mild discomfort to more painful and cringe inducing. We got settled in our hospital room and I was examined. I was only 1 centimeter dilated and the nurses said I may be sent home. Chad and I looked at each other and with that one look, we communicated that we did NOT want to go home. So I walked around the maternity ward, my loving husband holding bucket for me to vomit in while I was squeezing his hand so hard it was turning blue. It was after 9:00pm and the nurse checked me again and actually said she dilated me more so that I was 3 centimeters. I am not sure how a nurse can do that, but we were happy that we could stay!

By this time, I was screaming for medication. I am not one of those people who tough it out (like my mom with no pain medication in each of her 4 births!). I wanted the good stuff. But it would take time, they said, for the anesthesiologist to come up and prepare for it. The pain was astounding. At around 10:30pm, I was checked again and I was 8 centimeters. They said I was progressing too quickly for an epidural and would have to give birth naturally. This news was not good news for me and I actually screamed "NO!!!!!!", like someone in a movie does when they get terrible, horrible news. I did not want to give birth with no medication. I was too weak and this baby was just going to have to go back inside me so I could reverse the dilation!! I was in so much pain that I fixated on the television that was on and watched Friends with no audio. I felt like it was an out of body experience; that my soul actually left my body so that it could avoid the pain. It was a very strange feeling. Then before 11:00pm, I was a full 10 centimeters and was told to start pushing. At that point I became what my husband calls, a beast. Not in a bad, mean, exorcist kind of way, but in a determined, strong He Man kind of way. I think adrenaline was pumping through my veins in place of actual blood because I was telling the doctor and nurses I wanted to push constantly! I was ready to have this baby boy!

I realized then that again, it was not up to me and not in my control. God knew I was stronger than I thought I was and He wanted to show me I could do it. He wanted to show me that I could plan to have an epidural, but it is really up to Him. So I pushed like a mad woman for about an hour and at 12:13 on Friday the 13th of October, we welcomed Elijah Cole DeBolt into the world at a whopping 7 pounds, 1 ounce. He was beautiful and perfect. Looking back, I am happy that things happened the way they did because for the third time, I realized I am not in control. That task is God's and God's only. I thank the Lord daily for the blessing of my little boy because that is what he is: a true blessing.

The below verse sums it all up well. When things seem out of control to us, God in His infinite wisdom has everything under control.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11