Abraham Timothy's Birth Story

Waiting for our little one to be born this time around was challenging.

Jake's family came in on Christmas day and were planning on staying till January 3rd.

It was so important to me that I have the baby before they left, and ideally I wanted them to have as much time with our little one as possible.

It was tempting during this waiting period to feel anxious and a bit angry at God for not allowing our baby to come at the time that seemed to be the most practical or ideal. 

I'm learning (and relearning) that God's not always so interested in making our lives convenient and easy.

He was coaxing me to trust Him, even when it didn't seem to make sense.

I still don't understand why He chose this moment, but on Tuesday (the 30th) at 10:30 pm, as Jake's sister, her husband, and their nephew pulled up to our house from New York, my water broke.

Everyone was excited, to say the least, and I was ready to get things started.

Jake packed up all our last minute things we needed while I showered, and then we tried to go to bed. 

Contractions got regular and strong pretty quickly. 

By midnight we called the birth center to let them know how things were going and they suggested we start heading in since we had such a long drive ahead of us.

When we arrived at the birth center all the doors were locked and after a few minutes of knocking, we were a bit concerned that no one was going to come. 

After making some phone calls, and slightly frantically banging on the doors, the midwife came to the door, saying that they heard us knock, but were literally delivering a baby right when we got there. 

It was a busy night for them!

We got settled in our birthing room, and after getting checked discovered, to my delight, I was already 6 cms! 

I felt so encouraged and ready to get to work. 

I asked for the tub to be filled, but sadly contractions slowed down quite a bit after only a few minutes in the tub. 

I got out and began pacing back and forth in the room. 

With Misty Edwards singing in the background we spent the next hour or so worshipping, walking, chatting, and getting things to move faster. 

I felt so 'in control' during this time as I relaxed through each contraction and things began to intensify.

After throwing up a few times, and noticing that my contractions were getting harder to handle, I got back in the tub.

I went through about 45 minutes to an hour of 'transition' and was starting to feel a lot less confident and not at all in control. 

I kept pleading with the midwife to let me push, but she assured me I wasn't ready yet and that I would know when the time was right. 

I changed my position in the tub and something definitely clicked. 

Suddenly, a contraction rolled over me and my body began pushing.

The midwife was busy calling the nurses into the room and didn't tell me what to do, so I just kept pushing...

...and pushing...

until all in the course of one contraction, our little baby boy entered the world.

I was so relieved to be done and elated to be holding our son in my arms. 

The moments that followed were far from peaceful due to fear that I was hemorrhaging and all the things that needed to be done to stop the bleeding. 

When I finally did get to relax with my baby in my arms, it was a sweet moment indeed.

After 5 and a half hours of labor, Abraham Timothy was born, on December 31st at 4:09 a.m.

He was 8 pounds 4 ounces and 20 and a quarter inches long.

He looks just like his daddy and we love him so much. 

 brothers meeting for the first time

one proud papa