It has been a couple weeks now, since Josiah Malachi arrived. We have been blessed to have a week each with Laura's parents and Forest's parents here to help at the house and now we are on our own with our four children.
Laura's parents arrived in time for dinner on Saturday the 22nd, and our wonderful neighbor, Rosemary, had made a delicious dinner of chicken parmesan for us to eat. Nathanael, Hannah, and Talitha were so excited to have Grandma and Grandpa Holton come visit. Early on Sunday, the 23rd, Laura woke at 5am to use the bathroom--nothing new since Josiah was situated right on top of her bladder. When she got up, she found that Josiah's amniotic sac had broken! Now the doctors for the last two pregnancies had been saying if her water breaks at home to hurry to the hospital because the baby could come very rapidly. However, Laura's contractions were not close together or very regular yet. Still to make sure this was not to be a home-delivery Laura's parents were woken and Forest and Laura went to the hospital.
This by-far proved to be the most unpredictable labor and delivery of the four Aalderink children. The other three were just as the book said they should be. The contractions got regular, and closer together and more intense as labor progressed. This labor was not predictable at all. When Laura checked in, she was having contractions about every 5-8 minutes and they were not painful at all. Some of them would cause her to take a deep breath, but did not require any breathing methods to manage the pain. She was only dilated about 4cm. The nurse and midwife, and Forest and Laura too, fully expected to have the baby delivered in time for lunch. That was not the case.
Throughout the morning Forest relaxed, Laura watched tv and used the computer and timed contractions off and on. Every half-hour Holly (a wonderful labor and delivery nurse) would come in to check the baby's heart-beat through a couple contractions. He was tolerating labor just fine. Around lunchtime, the midwife wanted to check on how labor was progressing, and said that Laura was dilated to about 5cm and the baby seemed to be facing a little to the side, rather than facing down in position to be delivered. Laura told Forest he could go downstairs and get lunch since it would not be for a while before the baby would be born. He told her when he came back that he actually rode down to the cafeteria with Holly and Beth (the midwife) but they took their lunches back upstairs to eat and he ate downstairs.
Laura tried all sorts of things to help labor move along. Holly had brought in the big birthing ball to sit on. Walking around the room didn't seem to help much either. She lied on her side for nearly an hour hoping Josiah would face himself down. Forest even filled the huge tub hoping that the warm water would allow Laura's body to relax and expedite the labor. However, Laura's not a huge fan of baths, so it didn't last long. By the time she was done with the tub, though, she was feeling the tell-tale "pressure" and the contractions were stronger. Holly brought in the "squatting bar" to attach to the foot of the hospital bed. Laura stood and leaned forward on it to go through the contractions, using gravity to help Josiah along. The contractions still were not wholly regular. Sometimes they would be rather mild and short. Sometimes they were very strong and very close together.
Finally while using the bar to support her upper-body, the contractions and pressure got strong enough to where Laura started to feel like she couldn't do it anymore. That usually is a sure sign that the time is very near to meet the baby. Beth came in and Laura still hadn't dilated fully, but was very close and in the next couple contractions was ready to begin pushing. The room soon became very busy, and focused on the arrival of Josiah. Peggy, the neonatal nurse, came in the room and readied the warming table for his assessments in the room. Unlike with the girls, Laura had to push to deliver Josiah. As she was pushing, Josiah kept turning around, and actually came out face-up and spun around to finish delivering face-up! Even Holly and Beth were amazed at his persistence in not being born according to the book. When he finally arrived and they placed him on Laura's chest, Forest and Laura were amazed to meet their blond baby boy!! Nathanael, Hannah, and Talitha had all been born with long dark hair, and Josiah arrived with short blond hair! He was beautiful and healthy!
As Forest and Laura admired Josiah, Beth was examining the placenta and amniotic sac. This may sound gross, but it can be necessary to ensure that everything is delivered fully for the mother's health and safety. As she examined it, she discovered that Josiah had actually been very close to not being born healthy. Where the amniotic sac tore open was very near some arteries that fed Josiah's umbilical cord. Normally the arteries are very near the placenta, and join the umbilical cord there. His, however, were threaded along the amniotic sac for about three inches, and if the sac had torn open across those arteries, Josiah would have bled to death before being born. Our Lord truly was merciful in delivering Josiah to Laura and Forest--to spare his life in labor by protecting those critical arteries, to sustain Laura during a long labor without eating or sleeping much, to give Laura the ability to endure the contractions without medication or much assistance in focusing on breathing through a them, and enabling her to push and deliver him facing up-rather than the easier face-down position.
After Forest cut Josiah's umbilical cord, they were surprised again by how big Josiah was. He weighed 8 lbs 10 oz and was 21 in tall!! The biggest Aalderink baby by nearly a whole pound as his big brother had weighed 7 lbs 14 oz. We have been so excited to welcome Josiah to our family and can hardly wait to see what the Lord has planned for his life.
