A Turn of Events

June 11th 2:00pm

I was scheduled to receive my last ultrasound of the pregnancy. I was sooo excited to get another chance to see my little baby even if I couldn’t make out anything on that black and white print out. As Soon as she applied the gel to my tummy, my ultrasound technician informed me that my baby was breech. I’m like BREECH. What u meannnn, baby girl what are you doing AND I also had a condition call polyhydramnios which basically means I had too much amniotic fluid around the baby. At that time I was like oh ok cool, it’s not like I knew what the heck polyhydramnios meant any way. I figured I would just google it when I go in the car. It wasn’t until the technician began asking me questions like; “Did you test positive for gestational diabetes?” “Did you have any genetic testing this pregnancy to determine if the baby had Down syndrome?” “Were all your other pregnancies normal?” “Did all of your other babies have significantly large head circumferences prior to delivery?” With every question I could feel anxiety just taking over me, fear settled in and now I’m sitting in that dark room scared out of my mind thinking to myself what is going on? Is something wrong with the baby? Is something wrong with me? Did I make the right decision by not getting her tested for disorders? She asked me to wait in the next room until I could speak with a specialist. A specialist? Why did I need one of those? I’ve never had a specialist with Marley or with Ethan. As the maternal fetal medicine doctor walked in, my eyes began watering. She nonchalantly said that I would have to repeat the ultrasound in a week and be monitored closely until delivery. Immediately following , I was asked to go across the hallway to consult with the nurse midwives about my new condition. She sat me down and said that my pregnancy was now considered high risk pregnancy and I could no longer deliver at the birthing center AND my planned water birth was no longer an option.

We discussed signs and symptoms of labor because now I was at risk for preterm labor, breech birth and/or a prolapsed cord which all could result in a c-section. I left that appointment feeling so defeated. I had planned and thought out everything. This time I just KNEW I was going to follow my birthing plan to the “T” and it was all crumbling to the ground right before my eyes.

As I sat in my car crying. I began calling on all my support systems (Sisters in Christ, Pastor, Husband and friends). The next day I gathered up all the faith I had and I began speaking a turnaround in my womb! I started declaring that I would STILL have a natural birth and that God would deliver me a healthy baby girl! Sometimes you have to be careful who you share things with because not all people operate on the same level of faith as you. I remember people telling me, "well if you have to have a c-section, it's ok." No it's not okay, let me tell you why. First of all I'm a BELIEVER, which means when I gave my life to God there were some benefits now attached to my name. I got kingdom rights baby. I can now call upon Heaven and decree and declare some things over my life. I can ask some things in the name of the Son and Heaven HAS to answer. Secondly because I'm a tither, God not only honors me but He honors my seed! The word says that every seed sown in good ground will reap a GREAT HARVEST (Matthew 13:8). 

June 19, 2019 9:30 pm

Whewwwww chile. I worked so hard this day a total of 14.5 hrs to be exact. As I was finishing up some notes, I started having contractions but I decided to go home anyway. Unsure if I should go to the hospital I called my midwife and she told me to come anyway just to see how things were going. Since my last delivery went so quickly, she didn't want to take any chances. When we arrived to the hospital, they placed me on a fetal monitor and I was indeed in active labor. My cervix was still thick, mucus plug intact and only dilated 3cm. She encouraged me to walk around and said she would be back in 2hrs to check my cervix again. I got up and walked the halls of the hospital until 2:30am. She checked me again and I was 4cm dilated and my cervix had thinned a lot in that time. She informed me that we would be admitted to labor and delivery since things were progressing well. I found the chapel in the hosital and took the time to pray and ask God for peace and a safe delivery. Finally went back to my room and continued doing some pelvic rocks, squats and strolls in the hallway. After 8hrs I was was no longer progressing past 4cm and was discharged home.

June 22, 2019 1pm

I had just come back from my lunch break and was starting to feel some mild contractions. They began getting stronger and stronger though as I sat there. With each one it would slightly take my breath away. My Co-workers began to CUT UP! They’re all like, "you need to go to the hospital, I’m calling the ambulance, NO! You’re not driving. Let me call your husband." Omg I was soooo overwhelmed. Eventually an hour later they convinced me to go to the hospital. My supervisor came from her house to pick me up and escort me to the hospital. During the ride she got so nervous. There was so much traffic and contractions were now about 3-4 minutes apart. We finally got to the hospital and the triage nurse says, "I'm sorry but the entire labor and delivery unit is full." What? Full! What you mean full? I know you lying ma'am. I immediately thought of baby Jesus and said, "This just like Jesus when they ain't have no room for Him in the inn."  We laughed. Meanwhile I got checked in and they placed me in triage while I waited for them to contact the midwives. My midwife arrived and checked me and sure enough I was 5 1/2 cm dilated. The baby was now in the correct position (head down) and I was in active labor! It was time! I called up my husband and told him I was being admitted to the hospital for real this time .

When my husband arrived around 7pm. He asked my midwife (Wendy) how far along I was. She checked me again and we were finally at 7cm. I walked the halls, laid in the bed from side to side, did squats and pelvic rocks... you name it, I was doing it because I needed this baby out of me! 10pm Wendy came in and saw how much in pain I was, asked me if I wanted to be checked again and told me I was 8cm. She did deliver some discouraging news and informed me that the baby STILL wasn’t engaged in the pelvis. So basically when she would feel my cervix, her head would float right back up. Baby Melody was still up in there doing backstrokes. I really started to get discouraged  We were already 7hrs in, which was already much longer than my last 2 deliveries. How much longer? I wondered. Finally Wendy and I decided that we would manually rupture the water bag to see if that would help baby to come down. Initially I was against it because I wanted my body to do all the work on its own but as the hour got later, I decided to give it a try. This technique was done my using a fine electrode to pierce a small hole in the bag so the water would gradually seep out instead of spontaneously rupturing due to prolapsed cord risk. When I tell you it was sooooooo much fluid coming out of me. I felt like I was peeing for days. But sure enough it was working. Contractions were coming stronger and closer so I got into my hand and knees birthing position and prayed for gravity to have its way! She checked me one last time and I was about 9cm. I could feel the baby’s head crowning but for whatever reason, my dumb self closed my legs and I literally felt the baby’s head get sucked back up like a vacuum. I looked at my husband and I said, "I can’t do this, I can’t do this." Do you know that boy didn’t say anything to me. He just kept rubbing my back. Wendy didn't say anything, even she remained silent as I complained and wanted to give up. Then I started speaking to myself, "c'mon Falicia  you can do this." God said in His word that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. At this point I was weak, physically and spiritually but I called upon the name of the Lord and I said Jesus and I kept saying Jesus, Jesus Jesus to myself. I started getting more frustrated because it’s like dude I'm this close and I can’t get it out!! Wendy sensed my discouragement and she and my nurse began saying stuff like, “you’re doing great, you got this, let’s try again, give me one big push” I pushed with everything I had in me!!!! I know I was screaming so loud the whole unit heard me. My midwife grabbed the baby’s head and asked me to push again and I heard that sweet little cry and I knew she was here. A sigh of relief! I sat there in all that yucky stuff and I held my baby as soon as they took her out. I didn’t care how sticky and dirty she was... she was MINE. She was beautiful. She was my miracle! As my husband held me and I held her everything in that moment was perfect. I laid there in that bed for about 20 more minutes until I delivered the placenta and as she examined me she said, "Oh and no tears." My girly areas were STILL all intact. I smiled on the inside because that was one of my prayers, that my baby would be 1.) full term, 2.)she would be delivered naturally without tearing 3.) she would be 6lbs and God kept His promises towards me. I delivered my baby medication free and although my plan for a quick delivery wasn't HIS plan for me, I pushed through it anyway. I learned to trust God on an entirely different level. He showed Himself big, not only during my delivery but through the entire pregnancy. From overcoming depression during my first 5 months, to turning my breech baby around, maintaining my body with my polyhydramnios, and helping me endure 12 hours of intense labor. Do you know some women with even less complications, don't even survive delivery. It was nothing short of a miracle that God brought me from beginning to end. He allowed me to see I was stronger than I ever was, I had more faith now than I ever had and I was called for an even greater work than Inwould ever know. Had I not gone through that, would I have been able to birth Dear Young Woman? Would I now be sharing in my book a testimony of how I overcame depression during my pregnancy? I don't care what season YOU are currently in, if you pray, have faith and do not doubt God is sure enough to bring you out. (Mark 11:23) You can trust me when I tell you, He will do it, because He did it for me

Special Thanks: My Heavenly Father, My Husband, family, friends, co-workers, Ochsner Baptist Nursing Staff, Alternative Birthing staff and Wendy (my midwife) .