"Every Day Is A Gift" (Ann)

My husband and I bought a house and moved while I was 7 months pregnant. This was a big leap of faith for us as we still hadn’t sold my husband’s house and were anxious about having two mortgages and a baby on the way. Yet we knew that we would need the space for our new baby and after much prayer and deliberation, decided to make the move before our baby was born to allow us time to settle in.

As we were getting settled, we noticed that there were several decals of inspirational quotes left on the walls from the previous owner. We decided that we would leave the decals up while we were getting settled and eventually replace them or add our own personal touches when we had the chance.

Shortly after the New Year, I was scheduled to have a growth ultrasound since my other medical conditions put me at risk for IUGR. My husband and I went to the appointment prepared to hear that our baby was on the small side but growing well. Instead, the doctor said that she had fallen off of the growth curve and some of her movements on the biophysical profile indicated that she was better off outside of me than inside of me at that point. They immediately sent me to my obstetrician’s office in the next building where they placed a Foley bulb and sent me home, instructing me to come back at 8 AM the next morning to start the induction.

Since it was my first baby and an emergency induction at 36 weeks, I assumed that it was going to be a slow process and proceeded to very calmly get things in order at home before we needed to leave to go to the hospital the next morning. By 9:30 PM, everything was more or less in order and my husband asked me how I was feeling. When I said I didn’t feel any contractions or cramping yet, he urged me to get some sleep since we didn’t know how things would progress and I would need my strength. I finally fell asleep (after much tossing and turning with excitement about getting to meet our baby so soon) only to wake up at 3:45 AM with contractions. I decided to labor in the bathroom next to our bedroom and let my husband sleep since we were scheduled to be at the hospital in a few hours anyway. As I labored and prayed, I fixed my gaze on the decal on the wall of the bathroom that had been left by the previous owner. It read, “Every day is a gift.”

Only 15 minutes later, my water broke and we were off to the hospital. By the time I arrived, I was already at 3-4 cm and within a half hour, I was at 5-6 cm. The labor was progressing too fast and both my vitals and our baby’s vitals were dropping. An epidural was administered to slow things down and give everyone a break. However, our baby’s heartrate kept dropping and there were concerns about her making it through labor and delivery. When I spiked a fever during the delivery, the doctors became very concerned about a possible uterine infection and informed us that our baby would need to be taken to the special care nursery for two days so that she could be administered IV antibiotics as a precaution immediately following delivery. The doctors and nurses were nervous to tell me this fearing that I might be upset that I would only get to hold my daughter for a few moments following delivery. However, I calmly replied to do whatever they felt needed to be done to keep my daughter safe and healthy. As fast and as scary as the delivery was, I felt a sense of calm and trusted that God would be with our family as well as the doctors and nurses as we went through this. When our daughter was born (only 8 hours after arriving at the hospital), my husband and I cried as I held that beautiful 4 lb 13 oz bundle in my arms for those few precious moments. Our first minutes as a family were indeed a “holy moment” for everyone. I told her how much I loved her and how perfect she was before the nurses rushed her off to be monitored and administered the first round of antibiotics. I sent my husband to the special care nursery to be with her while the doctors and nurses cared for her. The fact that he was able to have that special one-on-one time with her shortly after she was born and be there to comfort her as she went through the monitoring procedures was a “holy moment” for both of us.

Since I had had an epidural, I had to wait until it wore off before I was allowed to make the short trek across the hallway to the special care nursery to hold my daughter. The nurse that had cared for me all day was nearing the end of her shift and I think she wanted to see us reunited just as much as I wanted to hold my precious daughter again. The epidural wasn’t completely worn off yet and I could barely stand, but she held me up and helped me over to the special care nursery anyway. That shuffling walk that we took across that 3 yard stretch was one of the most profound “holy moments” that I had ever experienced. As we got to the door of the special care nursery, I looked up and immediately started to cry. The door was covered in decals and decorations but right in the middle of the pane of glass on the door was the exact decal that we had on our bathroom wall at home that reads “Every day is a gift”—the same one that I had gazed at as I was laboring.

What a beautiful “holy moment” that was for me as I realized that God was walking this journey with me and was sending me this message of love to remind me of His presence. He has given me the gift of my precious daughter, my loving husband, and every special day together as a family. He has walked with us in our trials and our joys and He will continue to be with us every step of the way. He has designed us to be a family and He will provide for us—all we need to do is to live our lives reflecting the message that every day is a gift from Him.