(As promised, I wanted to share my husband's account of our birth experience. The day after we got home from the birth center having just brought Everyn Saige into the world, Josh looked at me very seriously and said, "I want to write a post for your blog." He'd never even suggested such a thing before so of course I was intrigued, "Absolutely. What are you going to post about?" He wouldn't concede any of the details except to say it was about Everyn's birth, and I honestly couldn't have guessed that he would take it the direction he did in the end. I was moved to tears, humbled, so proud, so grateful. We sat together in our bedroom and wept, thanking God for the sweet, profound redemption we could never deserve, but for which we will forever be grateful. Having said that, here's Joshua...)
Have you ever heard of the concept of Supernatural Childbirth?
Well let me tell you a little bit about it… You see, there are countless testimonies of woman who have prayed and believed for a Supernatural Childbirth experience, many of them recounting entirely pain-free and super short deliveries. After doing our own research on the topic we were quick to join their ranks in praying for just such a testimony, however in our case it proved to be so much more! Yes – more actual time for sure (maybe about 15 and a half hours more!) but the story surrounding this entire conception, pregnancy and delivery is unquestionably Supernatural…so I feel as though we have a little bit of a “one-up” on all those other testimonies. (though of course, I’m biased)
I’m going to spare a lot of the details in my story because I know Terrica filled you in from her own account, but I will say this; I have never been more in awe of a woman than I was with her during those 16 hours!
From about midnight on the 13th of March till about 11am(ish) the following morning, Terrica took every contraction of early labor one at a time and absolutely killed it. (and yes – that is an item from the Birth Box in the photo on the left)
We even took a fairly long walk with her actually walking through each contraction. She totally owned them!
But then – that active to transition period of labor hit and I suddenly lost all track of time. When Terrica hit transition and her eyes closed as she went into “labor land,” my emotions got the best of me. Seeing my beautiful wife go through such intense pain and knowing I couldn’t do anything about it absolutely crushed me. Our midwife and doula began encouraging me through her contractions…probably because Terrica couldn’t have heard them anyway.
Finally around 2:30 pm, I finally heard the words I’d been waiting for from Terrica: “Can I push yet?” The next hour and a half, my wife turned into some kind of mythological Greek goddess as she pushed with everything she had during each contraction. After an hour, the midwife checked her cervix and said she was at a 9.5 and there was just a lip keeping the head from coming down…so during the next contraction she would manually move the cervix. When that next contraction came – Oh dear baby Jesus – my bride was in such intense pain that it absolutely killed me! However once that contraction passed, Terrica was immediately back up and ready to push. Within 20 minutes we finally saw the head crown, and after a few more pushes the midwife finally said, “Ok daddy, it’s time to catch your baby!” In what felt like a split second, I grabbed her head and shoulder and then all of a sudden I was holding my baby girl!
I had an entire paradigm shift at 3:59pm on March 14th, 2012. Up to this point, my whole life had been about being a provider, lover, and spiritual covering for my wife. Being a son, brother and friend to those closest to me, and being the best colleague to those I’m around everyday. All of which is of course important, but the moment I caught Everyn Saige – my world as I knew it instantaneously changed. As I held my beautiful baby girl for the first time, I knew that I had entered a whole new realm of understanding the real meaning of love and provision. You see, there is a much bigger picture here...
Remember when Terrica blogged about our Miracle last summer? Followed by this, and this, and this?
It might all make a bit more sense now, because speaking of deliveries – there was a moment at our pastors’ house on June 8th, 2011 when God delivered ME from serious bondage that threatened my marriage and very salvation. Three days later the Lord miraculously healed Terrica of the pain I had caused, and then literally within that very same week– we conceived Everyn. The most beautiful part of the entire story is that we had been trying to conceive for several months – but the Lord wouldn’t allow it. His timing is always perfect and there is no way He would have let this precious little girl be conceived into sin. But after I was delivered, set free, a truly new creation – I was ready for a new life, one the Lord could now trust me with. One that included not only my wife, but this little girl, this family. Things simply had to be in the proper order.
Having been believing with us to conceive, our pastor had noted that fateful day following prayer and counsel, “Thank God Terrica isn’t pregnant yet. That’s the difference in birthing an Ishmael and an Isaac: one is born into bondage, the other into freedom.”
So this isn’t just about one delivery – it’s about two.
Back to 3:59pm on March 14, 2012. The first moment I laid eyes on that beautiful baby girl, I couldn’t help but think of her as our miracle from the Lord, His metaphorical rainbow to us. (after I completely lost it for a few minutes, of course)
I laid in the bed with my two girls and kept kissing them both. My respect and love for Terrica and the female body went to a whole new plane! The way she handled natural childbirth like a pro made me fall more in love with her.
My emotions certainly got the best of me, as I was keenly aware of God’s grace and the miracle He had first birthed in my marriage about ten months earlier. Now I was holding the fruit of that miracle.
So, back to Supernatural Childbirth…
Did we have Supernatural Childbirth experience? Absolutely!
Our Everyn Saige was born at 3:59pm - 8lbs., 2.5 oz. and 21” long with absolutely no complications, and most importantly into a home of freedom – not bondage. We went home that night at 8pm and started our new life together, as a family.
I would definitely describe that as supernatural.
