I’ve known for years that I would be living overseas one day
and assumed that this would mean I would probably have a baby overseas one day.
The idea of it was intimidating. What would differing cultures, differing
languages and sub-par medical care mean for me as I gave labor- one of the hardest
things a woman ever does?
But, even with all this in clear sight, we sought to have a
child here trusting the Lord to work all things out for his glory and our good.
Our pregnancy was going great. Everything had been so
positive until my 39 week pregnancy appointment. My body had so many aches and
pains, I was sure that it was prepping for labor soon but was quite discouraged
to learn that I had not progressed at all since my 37 week appointment and was still only
1 cm dilated. I was hoping for 3-4 cm. After having an emergency c-section with
Ezra at 37 weeks because of pre-ecclampsia and an unprogressing induction, I
had been praying for months, along with many wonderful friends around the
world, that God would bless me with a VBAC. I knew how intense the recovery of
a c-section was and how hard it would be to look into Ezra’s face for weeks and
deny holding him while I held his new sister all day long. But, with no
progress after 2 weeks and only 6 days left until my due date.. which was my induction date, which could lead to another c-section, I was definitely having
to trust the Lord’s timing and his ways over my own.
We had been trying to go out and enjoy our favorite
activities over the last few weeks and had visited almost all of them. It was
Saturday night and we decided to walk around Connaught Place, a British built
shopping area with good restaurants. As we were walking through an underground
market in the center I began to have contractions but I had had contractions
almost anytime I walked long distances. They were always Braxton Hicks and I
assumed this was no different, though I hoped for more. We looked for a restaurant
and stumbled across a Tex-Mex place called “Rodeo” that was so cute. The
waiters were dressed like cowboys and the atmosphere was very much like the old
hole-in-the-wall Tex Mex places we used to love in Fort Worth. I made sure to
eat extra jalapeños on my nachos because spicy food is said to start labor,
though I personally doubt that.
We got home late that evening and I was still contracting.
They were about 3-5 minutes apart like my Braxton Hicks normally were but I did
notice that these had some back pressure to them. That raised my concerns that this
could be labor but they weren’t getting more intense and I could easily go to
sleep. A trip to the hospital would mean calling our friends to come to our
house so one would stay with Ezra and one would drive us to the hospital. After
talking about it with Luke, he decided that when I was grabbing my knees
because of the contractions then we would know that I was in labor.. I was only 1 cm dilated hours earlier so I agreed and went to bed. I was messaging with a friend during this time and told her
that I just wanted to wake up at 3 am with contractions and have this baby and
she said she would pray for that.
Prayer moves mountains.
Because.. at 3:10 am I woke up with contractions and
felt a little wet. I went to the bathroom and quite a bit of liquid fell on the
ground. For a second I wasn’t sure if my water broke or if I was just so
pregnant that I couldn’t hold my bladder anymore. But, the contractions were
coming every two minutes and they were definitely “knee-grabbers.” My moans
woke Luke up and he quickly called our friends. By the time they arrived I
couldn’t stand or talk through the contractions. On the way to the hospital I
sent messages and phone calls to all the people that should know we were in
labor. The contractions were becoming very painful and very close together..
that’s when I knew.. I wasn’t getting an epidural. I wouldn’t let myself at
this point because there’s no way I could hold still long enough. I started to
panic.
I’ve never ever considered having a natural labor because
I’m simply a wimp when it comes to pain. I didn’t think I was strong enough.
When we arrived at the hospital we went up to the birthing floor. They began to
monitor my contractions and sent Luke back down stairs to submit the official
admission forms and hand over 40,000 rupees to be treated before they would
really help me. Yeah… there are some logistical improvements that could take
place on this side of the world. Let’s leave it at that.
Meanwhile, I was.. not a silent sufferer. I was totally that
screaming pregnant woman in labor. When Luke got back up to the labor area the
doctor informed him that he would need to calm his wife down. I was panicking a
little. I had never experienced that kind of agonizing pain in my life. When we
arrived at 4 am I was 4 cm dilated. An hour later I was at an 8 and they were
rolling me to the delivery room. My doctor came to the hospital in that time
and was there for the delivery.
In the delivery room I barely opened my eyes. I know Luke
was on one side and some poor soul was on the other because with each contraction
I squeezed their hands very hard. We had Gateway praise music blaring at my
head from Luke’s phone and he was yelling at me to pppuuuussssshhhhh like a
high school football coach. We were quite a sight for Indian culture.. but it
was exactly what I needed to build up the adrenaline to push with all my might.
Then they started talking about Madelyn’s heartbeat slowing and prepping the OR
for a c-section. They had me signing papers in the middle of active labor to allow for a c-section if needed. That gave me even more strength to
push with more than my might, with the might of Christ at work in me I pushed.
Finally, with the assistance of an episiotomy and vacuum, with one last push at
5:45 am on April 26th, our sweet Madelyn Jyoti was born.
Since being home we have had so many sweet friends, both nationals and American colleagues, visit us. It has been precious to share this extremely exciting blessing with them. Luke is super helpful, Ezra has transitioned great, and Madelyn has taken to a schedule well. I really feel like we are experiencing Psalm 23.. we walked through a valley and yet the whole time God has been a shepherd providing all we needed at each step. I just can't express what a truly remarkable God we serve.. because he serves us..!?! He works all things our for good and I can trust him in all times. That is incredible truth and the more years I live, the more experiences he walks me through, I am gaining a deeper and deeper appreciation for how uniquely wonderful he really is.
Meeting Madelyn for the first time
Our first day with our daughter, and our first picture with her together
When we got home, Ezra was so excited and totally understood that this baby was Madelyn who we had been talking about. He took my phone and wanted to take pictures of her.. haha
This is my dear friend (and language teacher) who came at 3 am and took care of Ezra while I was in the hospital. She has been such an immense blessing to me this past year.
This is part of my language teacher's family, which has become like our family here.
They came over the next day to meet Madelyn.
Ezra loves to hold Madelyn and kiss her head.
Often when he leaves the house he will come give me a kiss and Madelyn a kiss goodbye.
Our sweet Madelyn Jyoti, such a beautiful joy and blessing!
P.S.- Her middle name is pronounced J-yO-Tee. (very similar to Joe-T) It is a beautiful word in the Hindi Bible that means "light", which is used when Jesus proclaims himself to be the light of the world and all the various descriptions of light overcoming darkness in John 1. We wanted a name that was a quote from Jesus referring to himself as salvation that we could easily use to share the Gospel with anyone who asked her name. It has been such a great conversation starter already!
