Stay Tuned for Labor Post :)

 

After my experiences this past year, I have begun to understand how EVERYTHING is connected.  I have a deep appreciation for the medical field because first of all, I was a neuroscience/physiology major in college and in high school I was part of the medical magnet ROP (Regional Occupations Program), now typically transitioned to CTE (Career and Technical Education).  This was back when I thought the best route for me was to become a medical doctor because it would make my family really happy, and as part of the program, I was fortunate enough to be able to attain a medical assistant certification, including training for a phlebotomy certification, where we learned to draw blood and provide subcutaneous TB shots and intradermal flu shots. So I typically get excited when I go to the doctor or have had surgery because I get to ask the nurses and doctors a million questions to satisfy my scientific application cravings.  I just remembered how I used to subscribe to Scientific American in high school, a true aspiring brainiac...LOL  I even had posters of the endrocine system, nervous system, and a nutritional chart on the walls of my room....haha...Who does that?

I digress.  As we walked toward the emergency room, my wife chose to walk in versus having me push her in a wheelchair and there was no one in sight except for lines of caution tape with walkways divided, tents set-up in a row, and a security officer at the end of the lines who greeted us and directed us to the ER.

He wanted to have a full on conversation about how this is the first time he had seen it desolate like this because the rest of the day it had been jam packed with patients.  I like to honor people when they want to be heard, and I am pretty sure my wife was wondering why I didn't make an exception for when she was in labor.  So I wished him blessings and we walked into the ER where we were immediately asked to stop in our tracks as the clerk rushed over to us with a thermometer to check whether or not we could proceed.  It makes me wonder, what if my wife had had a high temperature?  How would they have proceeded?

Then, we had to stop at a security station where they had to input our names into their system and then to the next security guard who was taking care of the security stickers we were to wear at all times.  Then a male nurse pulled up a wheelchair for my wife and escorted us to the third floor.  Other than the hospital personnel, we ran into no one and no other patients were in sight.  God was clearing our path.

I am grateful for the the gift of Peace that the Lord has instilled in me.  As Sarah Young describes it in her Jesus Calling devotional, "a gift of such immense proportions that you cannot fathom its depth or breadth."  For as long as I could remember, I did not live in peace, instead I internally lived in fear, shame, anger, sadness, anguish, resentment, etc.  It wasn't until I made the choice to live for Christ that I truly understood what it meant to exist in a peaceful state of being.  So when I heard the hospital nurse on speaker phone advise my wife to wait another 2 hours before we drove to the hospital (and we had to call and get permission first) to ensure that the contractions were constant and that her pain was immense, it didn't give me anxiety.  My peaceful self thought, "Yeah right, we are not waiting that long with her contractions being 2-3 minutes apart!" So as I heard my wife's breathing begin to increase and her pain grow stronger, I decided to continue timing the contractions for another 30 minutes to have some concrete data, and then we would start our 45 minute drive to the hospital, in the pouring rain.

One of the aspects I love about my wife is how she surprises me with her growth and wisdom.  I always perceived myself as the more organized one, the more experienced one, the more resourceful one, and it is very humbling when I see these strengths growing in action within her.  A few days before going into labor, my wife had pulled me aside to have me watch the "Slow Dance" video on the Baby Center App, you can view it at minute 2:21 here:
https://www.babycenter.com/2_pregnancy-massage-for-labor-pain_10413818.bc

Honestly, I laughed at the thought of doing this, but we tried it and it was amusing, but I never imagined actually applying it during labor.  So when I saw how hard she was breathing and verbally expressing pain as she paced back and forth in the living room, I asked, "Why don't you come sit down on the couch with me and rest?"  She replied, "I will, I am just trying to walk around to ease the pain."  It was then that I remembered our funny moment of trying it out this technique and I quickly said, "Come here, let's try this." So we swayed, left right, left right, left, right, as I heard her breathe in and out in pain.  When she would breathe out the contraction I would put pressure in her lower back with my fingers as the video suggested.  I am not sure I provided much relief, she will be able to tell you when she starts writing, but I sure remember it as a very tender moment and in my head I was thanking God that he was guiding us through this process.

Family is a non-negotiable for me and my sisters and I had been talking for months now about how they were so excited to be in the waiting room in anticipation of the first look of J.J.  They shared stories about how when I was born almost 40 years ago, they were so excited to be able to see me through the nursery room window where all the babies were taken, now an uncommon practice.  As his due date approached, they would mention more and more about how they couldn't wait to see him.  So when we started seeing the pandemic evolve, the news was sharing segments about hospitals in the U.S. starting to restrict guests for labor visits and in some places, they were starting to consider even prohibiting a partner to join in the delivery room!  When we reported the labor to the hospital, they reminded us that no additional visitors would be allowed.  My heart sunk a little bit because I already had envisioned bringing my Dad into the postpartum room and introducing him to his first boy grandchild that he has been longing for ever since he raised 4 strong-willed women. :)  Not to mention my sisters, my best friend, my niece, J.J.'s Padrino, and all the close friends who were excited to welcome J.J. at the hospital and in our home.  On the drive to the hospital, I had to force myself to re-imagine that initial vision and consider how we could use technology to include everyone in the process.  You would think that the hospital welcome would be the only aspect we would have to be flexible about, and then we learned that we would have to self-quarantine with the baby in our home for at least a few weeks.  So what did that mean?  J.J. would not be able to meet the family and friends in person to receive that physical love they have been bursting with to release for an indefinite amount of time.