Moriah's Arrival

It's funny how movies tend to influence one's idea of how something should happen.  In this case, particularly Father of the Bride II.  Anyone who has seen this movie knows that right after giving birth to a child, there is that special moment of holding the baby in your arms, completely enthralled by the beautiful and precious miracle that has just occurred.  Additionally, only comedies have situations where the father takes sleeping pills just before the mother goes into labor...NOT SO!

As I said in the last post, my due date came and went and everything remained the same, just waiting.  So, I decided to prepare for my mom's arrival.  Because I was nine months pregnant, Heidi graciously offered to pick mom up from the airport and bring her to Fort Worth.  She arrived at my house about 7pm and the three of us girls headed to dinner at Mimi's Cafe.  We enjoyed catching up and after headed to my favorite frozen yogurt place in Fort Worth.  On the drive home (yes I was still able to fit behind the wheel), I began to feel like I had to go to the bathroom, but I had just gone at the yogurt shop.  Hmmm...all the books said only 15% of women have their water break, this must just be pee.  We headed inside and Chris was home from work.  While he, mom and Heidi caught up, I went into the other room, realizing my shorts were getting wetter by the minute.  As I went back to tell everyone I thought my water broke, I heard Chris tell mom he had just taken a sleeping pill because he had class at 7am the next morning and really wanted a good nights rest.  HAHA...guess what, "I think my water broke."  We headed to the hospital about at 9:30, and I was going to be very disappointed if this was not the real thing.  Although the drive to the hospital was not as eventful as Steve Martin's, we arrived and the process began.

I don't think all the childbirth classes in the world could have prepared me for what happened next, but I am thankful for a Savior who gives peace beyond our understanding that is able to calm hearts and minds.  When I arrived at the hospital, my temperature was up and I was not progressing at all.  The Dr. on call was my friend's doctor, which definitely gave me some peace.  She explained they would induce me and give me an antibiotic and see how I progressed.  Contractions came hard and quickly, and both mom and Chris stayed by my side.  After an epidural, Chris (Mr. Sleepy Head) and I both tried to get some rest.  My body progressed quickly after that, and by 8:30am I began to push (right after my doctor, Dr. Robbins came on shift)!  The next hour and a half were pretty intense, and to make a long story short, when Moriah came out rather than the special moment I envisioned, Moriah was quickly wisked away to the NICU.

The whole thing felt like a whirlwind of craziness and being a little anemic didn't help...truthfully I didn't understand what was happening, but unlike my normal reaction of panic, a sense of peace and trust filled my heart.  In fact, Chris was the one who seemed ready to jump someone to get our baby back. I remember nothing of the conversation when Moriah's doctor informed me of the situation, yet able to trust a complete stranger to provide the care my daughter needed that I could not give her.  The next thing I remember was waking up from a nap realizing my fever finally broke.

We were moved upstairs to another room, and again my expectation was to have Moriah in my arms, but that did not come.  Due to my fever, I was not allowed to visit Moriah until 24 hours later.  Heartbreak!!!  This was not the perfectly imagined delivery I had expected and so, the first time I saw my daughter's face was on the screen of our digital camera.  God, again, came to my rescue and filled my heart with joy knowing that she was here, alive, breathing, and the one of the healthiest babies in the NICU.  When Chris described his first visit to the NICU a few hours after delivery, I could not wait for my own.  At 10:30am the next morning, I hobbled down to the NICU and got to hold our baby girl for the first time.  Tears flooded my eyes as I quietly thanked the Lord for giving us such a precious and beautiful gift!

As the day progressed, we finally received more details on Moriah's condition, learning that after all the tests they had run to make sure she was ok, the main concern was the abnormal roller coaster of her blood sugar.  One of the funniest moments was walking into the NICU and seeing a flower on the top of her head.  "Oh, how cute," I thought, "they gave her a little bow."  Just kidding, the nurse actually decorated the IV line they had to place in her head.  Thankfully I saw it first with my mom and got to warn Chris before he headed down after us.  After only four days in the NICU, and amazing care from the hospital staff, Chris and I were able to take Moriah home!!!

A few things

God is good and answers prayer.  It meant so much to my mom to be there for the birth...and I went into labor only 2 1/2 hours after she arrived!
God meets needs.  I had the best OBGYN ever who understood my needs, and continually encouraged and cared about us throughout this pregnancy!
God's timing is perfect.  One of our nurses, Kathy, provided the perfect words to encourage us and help us trust the Lord at our moment of brokenness!

The Miller Three

Grandma T and the flower IV

So Little!!

Going Home from the Hospital

The journey has begun and we love being a family of three!  Moriah has brought so much joy to our lives and has taught us to depend on the Lord in the midst of chaos!  With all the complications in the delivery, God protected Moriah and she is our beautiful, healthy, lively baby girl.