H's story: Part 3

Here's where the story gets really good. We called the doctor at approximately 8:30pm to tell him what was going on. At 9:28pm, H was delivered. That's a mere 58 minutes from the first signs of blood to the baby being out and tended to.


My doctor was already at the hospital and waiting for us when the ambulance pulled up. If I hadn't called him first, we probably would have had to wait for him, losing precious time. The doctor on call that night was not the doctor I usually saw in the office. He was, however, someone I knew. His oldest child goes to the same school my oldest child goes to and they are the same age. I had gotten to know his wife while dropping off and picking up our respective children.

As I was being prepped for surgery, another OB, whom we know through school, happened to be there and scrubbed in. Because they had started IVs on me in the ambulance, that was one less thing that had to be done in the OR. All the people who needed to be there, nurses, doctors, anesthesiologists, NICU personnel, were there right when they needed to be. We were told after the dust settled that if we had waited just 10 more minutes, we would have lost me, H, or both of us. That's how dire the situation was.

The one thing that I haven't been able to explain is the sense of peace I felt throughout the entire ordeal. This can only be explained as the "peace that passes all understanding." This peace came over me as I was sitting in the bathroom waiting on the paramedics. I started singing "How Great Thou Art" while I was there by myself. It's not a hymn I normally think of but that's what came to mind. The entire evening was marked by the graciousness of God, His strength to carry all of us through a most unbelievable evening. We had people praying for us throughout the night and I felt every single one of those prayers.

H spent 8 days in the NICU. The hardest thing I've ever had to do was leave the hospital without my baby. He was so tiny and needed his mother. But I had two little girls at home who also needed their mother. We spent the next few days going back and forth to the hospital, trying to keep a normal schedule for the girls. They spent a lot of time at friend's houses though it was only for a short time.

H came home on May 10, 2007 to two very proud sisters and one very happy Mama. Daddy was thrilled, too. There are certainly some things I missed out on by having him so dramatically but to see him today, knowing that God's hand was on him the whole time, I'm just thankful that he's here and healthy.

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:13-14, ESV