March 1, 2012 - Beth Waskey

Read Psalm 127

The twenty-four hours that changed my life was August 29, 2008. It was the day my daughter Catherine was born and that definitely will change your life but it was more than that. I can’t remember not wanting to be a mom. My high school classmates thought I was most likely to drive a station wagon filled with kids. That as you all know had not come to pass, but my 41st birthday had. It had taken 3 rounds of invitro, hundreds of shots, countless failures, and many prayers, but I was finally going to be a mom. The doctors monitored my pregnancy closely because I was over 40. I had weekly sonograms. I’d seen my beautiful baby girl many times, but I was finally going to get to hold her.

I entered the hospital on the evening of the 28th to be induced because Catherine was a week late. We had such an uneventful pregnancy that the doctors hadn’t induced me prior to my due date as they had originally discussed. When morning came, I was anticipating holding my baby in my arms for the first time. Thoughts that this wouldn’t be a traditional birth never crossed my mind.

Then the doctors told us that Catherine was not descending. We had to make a decision. They could try forceps or we could go with a C-section. Neither sounded like a good option, but we prayed about it. A small voice kept telling me not the forceps. We decided to have a C-section. I was fairly calm going into the operating room. I knew my family was in the waiting room praying and that C-sections are almost routine these days. However, ours wasn’t.

I didn’t get to see Catherine after she was delivered. She wasn’t breathing. I could only glimpse little peeks at her as they put tubes down her throat. I panicked over the lack of crying. How could my feelings of joy and anticipation have changed to horror and fear so quickly? I told Bill to go with Catherine to the NICU. I didn’t want my baby to be alone. I expected the worst. After I was taken to recovery, it was just the nurse and I. I’m not sure why I didn’t ask for my family. I guess I just assumed that if they were allowed to come, they would have. A lot of prayers went up for my little girl. I know that mine weren’t the only ones.

Finally, a sense of calm came over me. On the way to my room, they wheeled my bed into the NICU, and I got to see my baby girl. She had a tube down her throat, but she looked so beautiful to me. My emotions had come full circle. Not only was I joyful, but relieved, and thankful when they told me she would be OK. Catherine came home with me from the hospital.

I know that I was blessed and that God was watching over us that day. Catherine still is a typical three year old with tantrums and whining, but when we have a really bad day, I try to remember the moment that I first saw her.

Prayer: Dear God, the wonder of childbirth can be a time of great joy, but also a time of great fear, concern, and pain. We ask that you watch over us and be with us as we participate in your creation. Amen.

Prayer Concern: Growing families.