When Michael and I got married and talked about how many children we dreamt of having Michael would always answer 3 or 4 and I would say 4 or 5. We found out the Lord had 5 children in mind for us right after Easter and were nervously excited right away. Everything went quite smoothly for the first few months and we loved getting to share our happy news with family and friends when we reached the end of the first trimester. Our children were all looking forward to the new baby and were very observant of my growing tummy from the beginning (making comments like “I can already tell your lap is getting smaller!” or “Your tummy is getting so big but the baby is so small!”). We had never found out the gender of any of our babies before birth but decided to this time. When we saw the ultrasound picture and post-it note stating that our fifth baby was a girl we felt excited but a bit overwhelmed. We were unsure of how Harrison would take the news since he had really been hoping for a brother. We ended up waiting to tell the children or anyone else until a month had passed because we had also found out there were some possible concerns regarding our baby’s heart and we wanted to find out more about that first. After one follow-up ultrasound for a better picture and one higher level ultrasound that included an echocardiogram we found that the issue we thought might have been present wasn’t there at all and was just due to a poor angle at the prior ultrasounds. We were and are immensely thankful for God’s generosity in this and praise him for our baby’s healthy physical heart while also knowing that her spiritual heart needs Jesus. I will also say I was thankful to have those extra ultrasounds to confirm that our baby was a girl. When we finally shared with our children that they were going to have a baby sister they were all very excited and Harrison handled it very sweetly – he is such a good big brother to his sisters.
Our pregnancy continued to progress smoothly (though with much more discomfort than in the past) but little by little we got closer to our due date. At our 36 week appointment we found out our baby was breech. This was the third time we have had a breech baby at this point in pregnancy and it felt a little discouraging but we rested in the Lord’s providence. I did some suggested poses that I had tried with our previous breech babies but wasn’t expecting success as they hadn’t worked for us before, but we prayed the Lord would turn our baby girl around. At our 37 week appointment, days before we would have a doctor try to turn our baby, we found out the Lord had answered our prayers and turned her around! We were so happy and we continued to pray that she would remain head down.
November came to a close and December began and with it came more braxton hicks contractions. On December 4 I had contractions off and on throughout the day. Any time a pattern would seem to be developing (10-12 minutes apart) the contractions would taper off for an hour or so. I didn’t mind this as I knew our baby would come when she was supposed to. December 4 had also marked the latest any of our babies had come so as the night drew to a close I was officially more pregnant than I’d ever been before. Before going to bed that night Michael and I decided to finish packing the last minute items and have everything in order just in case things picked up overnight. We also told my sister to have her phone volume on. I ended up sleeping really well that night waking once around 3 or 4 with some contractions but then falling asleep again until 6:30 Sunday morning. I was still having contractions and I talked with Michael about how I didn’t think we should go to church in person that morning (call me crazy, but after having Rosie in our bathtub at home I didn’t want to risk it happening at church!). I was glad we made the decision to have a morning at home and livestream the service because shortly after 8:00 my water broke. I texted Shelby and she gathered what she needed and started making the drive up. It had snowed quite a bit the night before so it took a little longer for her to get there. While we waited we got everything into the car, ate some breakfast with the kids, and started the livestream service. They were so excited when we told them we were going to go to the hospital to have our baby!
We got to the Mother Baby Center right before 10:00 and Michael waited in the lobby while I went back with the nurse (my first experience with a male nurse – he did great!). We confirmed that my water had in fact broken and found that I was measuring at a 5 and was 50% effaced with baby at a -1 station (I had been at a 1 and 90% effaced at my previous appointment – always exciting to know there was progress!). They checked us into our room and we turned the Vikings game on at noon while contractions continued to progress without being terribly uncomfortable. Shortly after 1:00 Michael realized he had forgotten his snacks at home. We went back and forth and decided he should just go get them. My contractions were coming every 3 minutes or so but still weren’t all that bad. We knew from previous experience that this can change quickly but decided to risk it and he headed out with the instruction of “Keep me posted,” to which I replied, “If I’m keeping you posted it’s probably too late!” He got the snacks from home and then called me on the way back to the hospital to check in and see how I was doing. When he heard there was no change he decided to swing by Chipotle on the way back. Thankfully he made it back shortly after 2:00 with plenty of time to spare. We finished the Vikings game (which was a major disappointment) and around 3:00 they checked me again and found I was almost at a 7 and 90% effaced. The nurse then left us with strict instructions to let them know right away if I ended up feeling the need to push because things can change so quickly at that point. I was still feeling pretty good so I kept standing/walking around the room but as the hour progressed the contractions definitely got worse. By 4:00 contractions were really strong, lasting longer, and coming faster (one maxed out the chart and I decided to take a picture of it for proof – boy was that one a doozy!). Somewhere in the next 15 minutesI started feeling some pressure and we decided I should get into the bed and we should call the nurse to come in (I say “we” because I have found that when I get to this transition point Michael is almost more aware of the fact that we are nearing the end than I am which I think is partly due to me not wanting to get ahead of myself). We called the nurse and they said they would come but after they didn’t show up in the next few contractions Michael called them again. After that second call the nurses and doctor came in. They confirmed I was at a 10 and got everything set up for delivery and told me to push when I was ready. It was so strange to just be sitting there waiting for a contraction to come – this had not been my hospital experience before when I had been on pitocin. The next contraction that came wasn’t very strong or very long and I didn’t feel like I needed to push so we waited some more. When the next contraction came it was stronger and I decided to go for it and by God’s grace our baby girl was born during that one long contraction (though if I’m honest I didn’t think it was going to get done in that one contraction – Michael told me later he didn’t think so either). Our little babe cried quickly but had the cord wrapped around her three times! Thankfully the cord was long so it wasn’t tight, but it was still unsettling to know that she had been so tangled up. I was able to hold her and we named her Marietta Drew (Mari as in starry). Drew is short for Andrew which is Michael’s middle name. She was born at 4:30 and weighed 6 lbs 10 oz and measured 20 inches long – tied with Ruby for our biggest baby!
We facetimed the kids that night to introduce them to baby Mari and they giggled at her name and were so pleased to see her. We were able to bring her home the next night and they were quick to gather around the carseat and eager to each have turns holding her – even Aubrey insisted on long turns holding baby Mari! Our transition to life as a family of seven has gone beautifully and we praise God for that and for our newest little lovey, Mari!
One final note of sweetness I would like to share is related to her birth date of December 5. December 5 was the day my dear Grandpa Butch passed away 14 years ago. I’ve always gone through that anniversary remembering what it felt like to wait for the phone call that would share that my grandpa had died – a day waiting for death to come. It was so sweet this year to have the anticipation of life coming into the world with our baby girl! I still miss my grandpa immensely and wish he could meet my husband and our sweet children and I just feel so thankful the Lord ordained that Mari’s birth share the same date and add such sweetness to a day that has held a sting. The Lord is kind.
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