That dreaded moment.....

The teeny, tiny, precious little clothes are laundered.

The hospital bag is packed.

(can I just mention, there are things in this picture that I do NOT put in my hospital bag...just sayin')

All the baby blankets and sheets are ready to go in the swinging crib.

(But WHICH colour will I be needing?.....hmmmmm......)

The swinging crib is...well, the parts are all sitting in the kitchen, and I am sure it won't take my beloved many moments to put it together!

This is my seventh baby, as most of you may know, so I haven't got a birth plan written.

No, siree.

No detailed notes of the why's and wherefores of my "refined-to-the-last-detail" plan.

Why not?  Because I have learnt that birth just isn't like that! ROBERT is my birth plan.  I go in, tell them the basics upon arrival, and he makes sure that any of my other wishes are followed as necessary.  Never underestimate the value of a well-advised husband, who is able to give instructions with authority!

I need to write my list of people who I need to contact when I have given birth ( 2 lists - 1 of people who are happy to be contacted ANY time, and others who value their sleep more than news of a baby...THAT can wait until the morning, I am told....).

Everything I can do, is done.

I am ready for that blissful moment, when I get to hold my newborn in my arms for the first time....

Until....

Usually about now, I have a dreaded moment.

The kind that makes my stomach drop right out the bottom of me, and dread fill my heart.

It's the moment when I realise that in order to welcome the precious new baby into our family,

I...NEED...TO...GIVE...BIRTH!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Suddenly, all those suppressed memories come flooding back.

I am completely convinced that God has given us an amazing ability to blot out the ACTUAL feeling of childbirth, in order that we still want to have more children!

But, that little flutter of dread still happens....usually....

Not this time, though.  It hasn't happened....and I am wondering whether this time, it won't?!

You see, my first 5 births were really not great.  3 assisted deliveries (2 venteuse and 1 forceps), 1 c-section and only 1 "normal", my second birth.  Even at that, it was just ok.  Over 2 hours of pushing is still not my idea of amazing!

Until last time.  It was a VBAC, and I was totally determined to have it.  I simply did NOT want to have another c-section.  Don't get me wrong, the one I had was totally necessary, and a complete work of the Lord that needed to happen in order to preserve Abigail's life. But the recovery is HORRENDOUS compared to a normal delivery.

So, I researched, read, and listened to advice from others.  I learnt how to relax and focus on child birth, and block out everything else around me.  I learnt about how birth SHOULD be, and what I could do to make it happen in the most natural way possible.

And, do you know what?  It happened!!

For the first time ever, I felt the urge to push...and Elijah was born after only about 5 or 6 good pushes, so about 1/2 an hour, instead of 2 hours!

I had prayed, and prayed that I would be given a wonderful birth experience, and God answered my prayer.

So, maybe that's why that dreaded moment has NOT happened!?  Maybe it won't happen at all, because I KNOW I can do it again, through God's strength and enabling!


Yes, I KNOW it hurts.


Yes, I KNOW it's hard work.


But, I know above all else, that God is able.  God is able to bless me with the same wonderful experience as last time, and I HAVE nothing to dread.  There is not a thing that can happen to me, that God is not completely in control of.  That He will not give me the strength for.  That He will not give me the peace in.

So, instead of having a dreaded moment, I plan on having a delightful moment instead.

So, will you pray with me? Will you pray that I have another wonderful birth...that I would have peace, and strength to have a great labour?

Thank-you!