Valiant's Birth Story

Valiant was born March 2014. His birth story is very different from his brother, Nehemiah's. He was born on a Saturday morning. All night Thursday I was awake with contractions that didn't stop until 5am and they were pretty consistent most of that night. Isaiah was working on 3rd shift at the time so I was texting him during the night and I was pretty certain that baby was on the way, but we were waiting it out. Around 5am the contractions stopped, and I fell asleep for a few hours before I had to get up to care for Nehemiah and get ready for a doctor check-up that was required for our insurance. We got up and went to the doctor assuming that all of those contractions were just false alarms. It was at the Family Doctor that I realized they really weren't. At the time when I was called back as I went to stand up, I felt this weird feeling like I had wet myself but I wasn't soaked or anything but my backside was definitely wet. The nurses saw that I was taking a bit to get to the them and asked if I was okay. I said "Yeah, I think my water just broke though, but I don't feel any contractions so let's keep going."

When we got out of the doctor's office, Isaiah called Dr. Abbott and I called my friend Angie who was going to be with me for my first At-Home birth. She came probably about an hour later. Dr. Abbott pretty much said to wait it out for a few hours and call him back if contractions haven't begun yet. I was super uncomfortable that day and really tired from no sleep but I couldn't take a nap either. Angie showed up and she played with Nehemiah while Isaiah and I went for a walk at the cemetery like we did with Nehemiah to kind of help the contractions along. I think we waited about 8 or 10 hours and then called Dr. Abbott again and by this time we realized that we weren't going to be able to do the At-Home birth like we had wanted because Valiant needed to be out in 24 hours time. So we thanked Angie for her help and sent her home and we dropped Nehemiah off at Gramma's to spend the night and then headed to the hospital which was 40 mins away.

Contraction wise, the drive was fine but emotionally and mentally I wasn't doing well. I was soooo scared about another hospital birth because of my horrible experience at Harrisburg Hospital. I didn't want a repeat at all. I prayed and cried most of the way down.

We got to the Hospital in Lititz, PA, filled out some papers and was put in to a room very quickly and it was a super comfy, quiet room that was sooo nice and cozy. It was like a hotel visit in some senses because the bathroom was nice and Isaiah had a nice chair-bed to sleep on and my bed was very nice with a lot of adjustments and things went sooo much smoother with Dr. Abbott overseeing everything and being the boss and making sure I was comfortable and left alone and left to walk around if I wanted to. It was so much better. The labor was slow. He gave me little bits of Pitocin just to "help" me a long but I did most of the work myself. Labor was several hours. I am trying to remember how long. I labored with Valiant about 10 hours. He was born at 6:20am Saturday Morning. We were treated to really nice meals and a very decked out dinner. We left the hospital that evening and were home as a family around 8pm. It was a much better birth experience than with Nehemiah and one I wouldn't have any problem with doing again. Having the right doctor really makes the difference.

Here is a Facebook post that I posted around the time of Valiant's birth.

"Happy to be home sitting in my own comfy couch. I am so thankful to God for watching over me in the hospital and that the experience was so much better than my first. I am so thankful for my Christian Doctor who was there the whole time and checked on me and even prayed with us. The nurse that the Lord gave me through the process was such a blessing as well and we had a good amount of laughs together. She was super supportive and helped me more than she will ever know. I very much enjoyed my day stay in the hospital, but was glad that we could leave whenever we wanted and that my doctor was in charge. The food was super yummie too and they even gave us a celebration supper right before we left last night at 7:30.

The 40 minute drive wasn't too fun and I was praying for safety the whole time. We were the third person in a row to pull over due to hitting a tire that was in the middle of the road. That gave me a bit of a scare, but Lord willing, our car is okay; we couldn't see very well in the dark.

The night was beautiful last night. The moon was shining full and bright and the sky was breathtaking.

So yeah, thanks for all of your prayers, God was with us the entire time and really blessed. We are very much enjoying our little Valiant and Nehemiah gave me a big smile when I showed him his present that we brought home for him. <3 "