Selah's Birth Story

A story of Selah's journey into the world - six months ago.

Our dear friend Malia drove me to the hospital at 11:30 pm on Jan. 31st. Just like with Jeremiah, I was also going to be induced for labour. Daniel stayed home for the night with our boy. We didn't want him to have two nights away from us, and we knew the induction would take a while. We drove to the hospital and it was surreal. All seemed so familiar, but also so different. So much of our journey to the hospital and check in was just like with Jeremiah.

Having Malia there was the biggest blessing. She helped me with all the paperwork and all the heart work, too. We were in the same LDR (Labour and Delivery Room) as with Jeremiah. Within minutes after midnight I was in my hospital gown, on the bed that would turn into the delivery bed, monitors were on my belly, an IV was already going, and the sound of our baby girl's heartbeat filled the room and my heart. The LDR had an extra bed, so Malia stayed with me until Daniel arrived in the morning. We both slept or at least tried to sleep :). By 7:00 am some contractions were already starting and that was pretty exciting to me. Daniel arrived just after 8:00 am. And my doctor checked in with me around that time, too. She was pleased with the progression already. I was already dilated, and that was good news to my heart.

Regular contractions continued, though not very strong. By 10 am, my doctor tried to break my water to speed up the induction, but she couldn't at that point. She decided to wait a couple hours. She could feel my baby's head in the right place. By her next check at noon, our baby's head moved a little higher up, so she didn't want to break my water with the baby's higher position. I was told  to walk around and do some swaying exercises to encourage our baby to come further down again. She was in the right position, and just needed to get her head a little lower again. So I swayed and prayed. :)

Time was moving very slowly. Daniel and I talked a lot. We tried to rest. We even Skyped with family - Daniel's brother and wife, and that was a highlight of our labour time. We got to show them the LDR and they saw the monitors and heard our girl's heartbeat. A friend came for a surprise visit at just the right time as we needed a little distraction. We got texts and messages from family and friends. Our friend Naomi who was watching Jeremiah during the day gave us updates of their time together. I loved hearing updates of his trip to the zoo with her. "He really likes the pandas." "He's playing with the water pump."

The afternoon continued to go long and it seemed like we were pretty much on our own in the LDR. My blood pressure and temperature were checked each hour, and I had some nice chats with some of the nurses. I even had a little English corner with some of the student nurses. :) Contractions continued and were getting stronger.

At 5:00 pm my doctor did another check and this time she could no longer feel our baby's head. With that we knew that she wasn't dropping again as we had hoped. Then our doctor said we needed to do an ultrasound to see the baby's position. This is was tough for Daniel and I to hear, but we knew it was important to confirm. Within minutes the ultra sound machine was in the LDR. The picture on the screen confirmed that our baby had completely moved her position within my womb. With our girl's new transverse position, and the point in labour we were at, my doctor confirmed what we thought - we needed a C-section. My induction medication was stopped, and with that, so did labour.

The anesthesiologist was called and we had about an hour to prep. before the surgery. It was a time of tears, encouragement and prayer. Daniel was such a cheerleader that we could do this. We chose some scripture to hold on to and keep in our hearts for the next hour especially. The time went quickly and before I knew it, I was walking to the surgery room that would also be the delivery room for our sweet girl. I got the spinal tap, and was actually tied down to the bed. 

Classical music was playing, nurses were bustling about, the  anesthesiologist was checking on me every few minutes. Then Daniel could join me by my side, and there he was - my man through it all. My doctor checked to make sure that I was indeed numb, and then the surgery began. She let us know what she was doing. I remember her telling me that I was indeed beautiful on the inside, too. What a sweet doctor lady. :) 

Daniel and I talked, shared sweet memories, prayed, quoted verses and it felt like we were in our own little world as our daughter was being brought into the world. I could see Daniel's eyes shifting ever so slightly to glimpse at what was going on behind the little curtain by my head. I felt God blessed us with such a force field of peace through all that was going on. We could still hear the surgical team, but not much of it swayed us. Phrases like, "There is a knot in the cord", "She's not coming out!", "Vacuum!", "Blood, we are loosing a lot of blood!" that were pretty dramatic. At one point the music stopped (literally) and another doctor was called in. Through the furry of activity and uncertainty, we suddenly heard the most amazing sound in the world -our daughter. Her cries. With that all that was happening around us faded and the evidence of our daughter's life consumed us. Things around us settled again. Daniel was asked to go to our girl at that time and watch as she was being checked. It took me a while to be able to turn my head to the other side of the room, and so I just let her beautiful cries and sounds echo in my heart again and again. Then I could turn my head and I saw her. She was on the warming table with limbs moving and lungs working and she was amazing! I shouted aloud, "I love her! I love her! I love her" That's all I could keep saying as tears flowed down my face. It was absolute love at first sight.

After a few minutes Daniel was at my side again and our daughter was brought to us and placed upon my chest. She looked at me and then started nursing. It was the most beautiful moment. I marveled. We marveled. We thanked the Lord. We had some of the most special moments when sudden extreme nausea gripped over me and our baby girl was back in the nurse's hands. She was then passed to her daddy who held her beside me while I was throwing up rather violently the next few minutes. I'll never forget that picture of Daniel with his daughter for the first time.

 

Everything seemed to happen so quickly from that point on. My doctor confirmed that I was all stitched up explained a few more things that had happened during the surgery. Then Daniel joined the team as they took our girl to the nursery. I now needed to have 30 minutes of recovery time in the surgical room. Suddenly the room was quiet. I think someone still came to check on me, but I don't even fully remember. I do remember those  30 minutes of praising the Lord in thanks and taking it all in. It was definitely a time to pause and reflect on all God's goodness -Selah.

Our doctor explained to us that it was a real miracle that Selah shifted her position during labour to warrant a C-section. Our little girl had a knot in her umbilical cord. Had she been delivered naturally that knot could have tightened and complicated her birth. Selah must have made that knot in the womb some time before 20 weeks in utero with some pretty fancy gymnast moves. :) She showed us the knot in the chord, and we also took a picture of it. It was pretty big, but not big enough for an ultrasound to reveal. This was only the second knot in a umbilical cord that my doctor had ever seen. And so the name for our little girl was confirmed on our hearts again - Selah - to pause and reflect on God's goodness.

After my recovery time ended I was wheeled into our room and Selah was brought to me to nurse. She was all cleaned up at this point, and the most beautiful thing! I had to lie flat for the next 10 hours, so Selah was in the nursery for the night, but brought to our room to nurse. I was so thankful for the nursing staff and their help. I was so drugged and tired and slept and slept. I spent a week in the hospital after Selah's birth. I stayed a little longer then planned since Selah also had to stay under the jaundice lights, so I could nurse her and see her every three hours. Daniel and Jeremiah visited daily along with other dear friends. I cherished that time. 

God has blessed us with another beautiful daughter with her own unique story and journey into this world. We chose the pronunciation of Selah as See-La. Her middle name is Mei which is Mandarin, but pronounced the same as the month of May and the name Mae. It has several meanings - beautiful, rose, plum, and little sister. All of them speak to our hearts. We also like that the letters "M" and "I" are in Mei and honour our moms Martha and Irma. Selah has two incredible women as her grandmama and oma. 

And so Selah's story on this side of the world began, and in six months alone there has been joy beyond joy with our Mei Mei :)

Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Psalm 34:8