I can hardly believe that it was a year ago that that picture was taken!  Little baby Banana has officially graduated to “big boy” status.

And to celebrate his big day, I figured I should share with you his supernatural birth story.  I realized I never did that before, and I want to give praise and glory where it is due.

So, without further adieu, here is how baby Ben came to be.

*****

April 8th came and went.  I was so done being pregnant and was felling just a little bit of pressure to get this baby out.  My mother-in-law and doula was set to travel that coming weekend, so we went into the dr office on Monday the 9th ready to make a plan.

I had the dr strip my cervix in hopes that would get things going.  I received my orders to go do some walking and resting and see if little baby would decide to come.  If I had any kind of regular contractions, come in and we will break my water.  If not, we will induce on Wednesday or Thursday.

I didn’t want to be induced…

Nothing really picked up that night.  I walked.  I went to bed and nothing.  A tiny bit of bleeding but that was from my hard check.  I was only a 1-2 so we had awhile it appeared.

I had a steady round of contractions the next morning but in deciding if we should go or not, it stopped.  And I cried.

I was done with being pregnant, and I was determined to get the baby out.  But he/she needed to cooperate.

That evening at our family dinner, Daddy Head cancelled worship practice.  It was almost as if we knew we were gonna have this baby.  But I just needed to start having some contractions…

At about 8:30, I started to have some contractions, but they weren’t that big of a deal.  I mean, I have felt labor contractions before and these were just babies.  But we decided to time them.

They were anywhere from 5-10 minutes apart.  Not really consistent but we made our decision… We were going in.

We got to the hospital and they ushered me in.  I was examined, told I was at a 4 and hooked up to the monitors.  Baby was having a hard time with the contractions so the flipping began.

And this is where things go supernatural.

Let me explain.  I am afraid of being on my left side while in labor.  With both of my first births, when I was told to lay on my left side, the contractions became so strong I could barely breath.  I was set against using pain meds, so this was ultimately the battle that I knew I would have to fight.

I wanted my baby to be okay.  We had been through 2 traumatic births already, so when the heart rate kept dropping, I had to fight to keep from freaking out.  So, from side to side I went.

When that didn’t fix things, my dr said give me oxygen.  With birth number 2, this made me very nauseous so I didn’t want to.  But once again, I wanted my baby to come out okay so I did what I was told.

At this point, I have been at the hospital for about an hour or 2.  My contractions were not taking on a regular pattern like we had hoped so I was checked again.  I was at a 7.

Really?  I can do this!

But baby’s heart rate keeps dropping with every inconsistent contraction.  I know that everyone was thinking the dreaded c word.  But I was determined to get baby here without that.

Now they suggested fluids.  I said hook me up if you think it will help.  And help it did!

My little mover finally was able to handle the contractions.  I must have been a little dehydrated.

My dr came in and checked me again.  I was an 8.  Not much longer.  I asked them to go ahead and break my water.  It was a hope that it might make my contractions consistent and pick things up.

I knew it was a long shot since my water breaking in my first 2 labors did nothing for me.  Same story here.

I kept flipping and breathing my oxygen.  When the nausea hit, I knew we were close.  My dr stayed with me and checked again.  I was at a 8-9 with just a little lip around the head.  He told me to go ahead and push.

I pushed a few times to just see if that would help.  The lip decreased and he said lets get ready.

Give it a big push.

STOP!!!

The head is out!

Wait…I never felt that!

Less than 5 minutes later, at 3:43 am, my 9 pound 1.7 ounce baby was here.  He was 22 1/2 inches long and every bit my son.

The awesome thing about Ben’s birth was how God brought my through.  My mother-in-law always jokes about how I didn’t have enough contractions to have a baby.  They never really got regular.

Add to that the fact I could tolerate being on my side and the nausea from the oxygen didn’t get to me, and I have to chalk that up as a pretty supernatural birth!

*****

Baby Ben, I am so glad you are here and a part of our family!  Every day you change and grow and teach us more about raising a child.  You are such a joy and we thank God for you!

Here’s to the next year of your life!  More talking and soon walking and before we know it, you will be really grown!