Welcome to our family, Paul!

Paul Avant born June 3rd, 22 in, 9 lbs 15 oz





I have to tell you about our labor and delivery of Paul. It is truly an event laid out for us by God. I had been extremely nervous and worried about delivering a baby in this area. There are no midwives, neither in the hospitals nor for home births. I had no choice but to use an OB/GYN. The doctors have little to no experience with natural births. The c-section, induction, epidural rates, etc, are extremely high. I talked to everyone that I could, and finally and wisely, gave it to prayer.
That night I woke to contractions at 11 o'clock. I had braxton hicks for 2-3 weeks that had been increasing in frequency and intensity daily so I decided to wait a while before waking Kem. At 3 o'clock I could no longer cope myself and went to get Kem. He had already started down the hall after me! What great timing. At 5 o'clock, we headed for the hospital but waited in the parking lot for a bit. I was reluctant to go in, but Kem said it was time. When we got to L&D, the greeting nurse was horrible. Asking if I wanted an epidural, said I needed an IV, did not want me to have water, etc., and put me in a standard, small room. The other nurse then examined me to determine how far along I was. She jumped up and ran from the room to get the doc. Apparently I was already fully dilated. Yeah, Kem had great timing again! And so they moved me to a L&D room and during this time there was a shift change and I a different nurse. On the downside though I had a cervical lip and would labor for another three hours before Paul was delivered. Through God's intervention though, I had the most incredible nurse after the shift change. She had never worked with an unmedicated delivery but was so patient with my many changes in position, requests, and would leave Kem and I in peace when we needed that. Also, the doc on duty when I delivered was the one I most wanted. During labor, he stayed out of the room the entire three hours, never once coming in and pressuring me into anything to speed labor.
Since the labor was long, God blessed me with a quick delivery. Just a couple of pushes and he was out. Again our doc and nurse were amazing. They just stood there and waited until they were needed. Kem and I had the most beautiful time with Paul after the delivery.
God's presence has truly surrounded us. Beginning with the conception of Paul, through my illness, and with his delivery. Kem and I are truly thankful for all He has done. I am thankful for the husband He has provided for me.