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Third Birth

My story of my third pregnancy is an inspirational one. My first child was
born in November of 1993.She was a healthy full term 7lbs 3.6oz 20 1/2 inches.
She was born by C-section because of fetal distress after 35 1/2 hrs of labor.
The fact that I had to have a C-section really bothered me until I concluded
that bringing a healthy child into the world was the most important thing,
and not how she came into the world. My second pregnancy ended in a painful
miscarriage in February of 95. It devastated me because I wanted a sibling
for my daughter (probably because I am an only child). I thought that God was
punishing me for having an abortion when I was seventeen years old. I was
twenty two and married for three years by this time. After I recovered
physically and emotionally from the miscarriage, I was afraid to get pregnant
again thinking any future pregnancies would end in the same fate. It took me
a whole year to concieve, this is also after my doctor had begun to treat me
for infertility. The fact that it took me so long to get pregnant after
suffering a miscarriage made me believe the doctor's prognosis of infertility. 
The day I found out I was overjoyed I danced around my house thanking God for 
his gracious gift.

When I told my husband he seemed happy but was somewhat reserved. Knowing him
as well as I do I asked him what was wrong, and he confided in me that he had
some fears of his own about this pregnancy. He was afraid that if I were to
miscarry again what it would do to me emotionally. I reassured him that all
pregnancies are different ,what happens in one does not necessarily happen in
another.I also felt blessed to have such a caring mate because he told me
that if we never had another child together it would not make a difference to
him because he had his two girls(my daughter & me).
The fourth month into my pregnancy he started to get excited because he said
"This is really going to happen, right"! Well as I progressed my doctors
started to become worried with the fact that I was not gaining the
appropriate weight though I was eating well. It did not worry me because I
never lost all of the weight with my previous pregnancy, and I was more
active being the mother of a toddler and a part-time college student. In my
8th month my doctors really started to stress me out, telling me my baby was
small for date( the term they used was InterUterineGrowth Retardation), that
there may be something wrong with her metabolic system, and all kinds of
other problems(even though all the prenatal screening test were normal). I
was in inner anguish, something I could not share with my husband because I
did not want to worry him unnecessarily, and because I was carrying this
child so he could not possibly feel what I was feeling. My remedy was to do
alot of praying and hope for the best. Deep down I was still afraid of our
baby being born with Sickle-Cell disease(both my husband and I have the
trait).The one thing that kept my mind occupied was that I was doing so well
in school, I finished the semester with a 4.0 GPA. Starting in my 40th week I
had to take non-stress test twice a week. They were time consuming but our
baby was worth it. My doctors told me they wanted to induce me December 31,
1996 (by the way my due date was Dec.18). I went into the hospital that
morning and they started the induction process. Nothing happened after 8 hrs
of Pitocin, no dilation, 20-30% effaced. January 1st (my birthday) they
started again,1cm dilated, 60-70% effaced. Finally January 2nd they started
again and the contractions started to come fast and furious, so I thought
that I was really dilating. But every time they checked me I was only 2cm,
90% effaced. I was exhausted, and in teriible pain so I asked for a
C-section, but my doctor was no where to be found. When they finally found
her, she took of the pitocin which was killing me at this point and prepped
me for my Cesarean. My husband had a terrified look on his face because he
wanted me to have a planned C-section, but I wanted to try for a VBAC.
When they got me in the OR and started the section my doctor said that my
original C-section scar had begun to open up and that it was a good thing
that I asked for a section when I did because I could have ruptured and lost
my uterus,my life, and my baby's life. But I did not care about what she was
telling me because I heard my daughter's first cry. When they held her up and
showed her to me I felt a rush of warmth flow over me, and I felt the tears
of joy streaming down my cheeks. It was a wonderful moment. The nurses gave
her to my husband after he cut her cord. She was beautiful and very alert.
She was perfect and healthy! scoring 9 on both apgars. She was a little small
6lbs 5.1/4 oz 20inches, but that was just fine by me because she was just
fine. So a note for expectant mothers, listen to your doctors but if you
believe that your doctors are telling things that your gut feelings don't
agree with, follow your first feelings they don't usually lead you the wrong
way. (By the way I have found new doctors who are more open and caring).

Thank you for listening to my story, malkiyah