My wife was scheduled to be induced on Wednesday, May 7th. We had to go to South Miami the night before to register and get settled in. On Tuesday night, the nurse came in and inserted a tablet called "cervidil" so that my wife could dilate. Throughout the whole night my wife was feeling contractions very similiar to menstrual cramps. To add to that, she had to use the restroom frequently which made the night very long. As all this is going on I am thinking to myself how I am supposed to be rested because tomorrow is going to be a long day. Yet, the Lord would show me again and again what it means to serve.
Morning came and both of us had slept no more than 3 hours. At around 8a.m. the nurse in charge told us that the doctor wanted to remove the tablet because it had not dilated my wife to what they had hoped. The next step was to start my wife on "pitocin" which is given intravenously to induce my wife. Now prior to all this, we had given the nurse Nana's birth plan. The birth plan is a detailed list of what Nana wants and does not want during labor. One of the points that was stressed was that my wife did not want an epidural. An epidural is basically a form of regional anesthesia that is given to pregnant women upon request. It relieves the women of the pain of the unnatural contractions due to the pitocin. When the nurse read this she mentioned the benefits of the pitocin and that she would even request the anesthesiologist to speak to us. After some pushing by the staff, Nana made it clear that this is her offering to the Lord.
A few weeks before induction, the Lord gave Nana a verse in John:
"Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world." John 16:21
It was this verse that the Lord used to speak to my wife and teach her what it means to sacrifice. As the labor would progress this verse would minister to the both of us.
The nurse started the pitocin at 10:15 a.m. After a few hours the contraction monitor was not registering the contractions accurately and so an internal monitor had to be inserted. Once that monitor was set in place we began to see the contractions at 80% strength and about 2 minutes apart. Around 1:15 p.m. the nurse came in to check how much Nana had dilated and it was 4cm. After an hour, my wife mentions that she feels like pushing. At this point I called the nurse and she checks her again and Nana was now 6cm dilated. The nurse said that she would come back in an hour to see how much she has progressed. 15 minutes later my wife says she feels like pushing but the nurse said she would be back in an hour. We still had 45 minutes to go. I went on to call the nurse and this time when she checks her Nana had dilated to 8cm. It seems like the labor is progressing pretty quickly, which means the contractions are now a minute and half apart and 95-100% strong. At 2:45 p.m. Nana's contractions were becoming unbearable. As her coach, I simply started speaking scripture as the Holy Spirit would lead. I can't count the times that Nana felt like giving up. The Lord reminded me of what a dear brother Bill Newman once told me, "give in to the One who never gives up". It was those words and John 15:5 "...apart from Me, you can do Nothing!" that helped my wife endure the labor. Still 2:45 p.m. and now my wife has finally dilated the 10 cm needed to begin pushing. While all this is happening, the doctor was still on his way from the office. Nana had prayed for a break in the contractions and we later found out that the nurse had stopped the pitocin which gave my wife a window of about 5 minutes without contractions. By that time the doctor had arrived and Nana began pushing. After 3 or 4 pushes Noelani Isabelle was born. 
As I reflect on this experience, I can't help but remember looking into my wife's face and seeing the face of Jesus. To know that Isaiah 53 says, "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth." Amazing! To know that He endured all that for us and yet kept silent. She has become my hero and I have a new found respect and admiration for her. My desire is to allow my Lord Jesus to serve her through me as we have now began this new stage in our marriage called parenthood. Please keep us in your prayers, because we sure need it.
Soli Deo Gloria
2 comments:
Post a Comment