happy birthday Sommer!

On the final day of summer, we finally welcomed our precious baby girl, Sommer Christiana Negard!

At 5:14am on September 22, after a rapid 1 hour and 15 minute labor, we heard our 8.0 pound, 20.5 inch long, bundle cry for the first time.  What a relief and surprise all at the same time!!  Relief, because Annike was born blue and it seemed like a really long time before we heard her.  Surprise, because we never expected an 8 pound baby after having our tiny 5lb 12oz Annike.  And we certainly never expected her to have all of this dark hair!

I am a sucker for labor stories.  If you talk to 100 different women about their labor experiences, you get 100 different stories.  And if a woman has 5 different children, she has 5 different stories.  They all make me cry.  No matter how they come, delivering a baby into the world is a true miracle.  If you are interested, and like labor stories too, then keep reading.  If not, then I will spare you the details.  Go ahead and stop right now!

After carrying this child around in my womb for way too long, we scheduled an induction for September 22nd, 12 days past my due date.  In my heart, however, I really wanted to go into labor naturally and experience delivery without all of the induction headache.

The night before my induction, I sent out an email to some friends and family members inviting them to pray for us.  I truly feel this was a key part of why the rest of the evening progressed as it did.  God showed up (doesn't He always??), and His fingerprints are clearly evident in all of the tiny details.

Around 4 am, I woke up with mild labor pains.  At 4:15, Christian and I decided we had better head to the hospital.  Because of the scheduled induction, my parents were staying the night at our house, so we did not have to worry about what to do with Annike in the middle of the night.  And, we were already packed.  Praise God for seeing to these details!!  We grabbed our bags and got in the car.

The drive to the hospital would normally take us 20-25 minutes, but somehow Christian made it in about 13.  It was probably because my contractions were already 3 minutes apart, and I had begun to vomit (we are talking about intense pain!)  Christian decided that a speeding ticket might be worth the gamble.  I was checked into Labor and Delivery at 4:45am when they told me I was dilated to 4cm, which I found hard to believe considering the rapid intensity of my contractions.  Twenty minutes later, during one of the 30second breaks I was getting, I suggested they check me again.  Sure enough, I was completely dilated and the baby was on her way.  My doctor was unfortunately not able to make it in time, but another doctor happened to be on the floor.  After, under 10 minutes of pushing, little Sommer made her entrance into the world at 5:14am.  I was scheduled to be induced 2 hours later, which of course, never happened.

Don't be fooled into thinking that my labor was easy because it was fast.  No way!!  I have never experienced so much pain in my life.  It is the most intense thing physically or emotionally I will ever do in my life.  But I am humbled and amazed to see God's protection in it all, despite my own doubts and fears through the process.  He gives women amazing strength to do this this task of bringing children into the world.  I don't know why He chose to make it so painful, but He always shows up, even when we don't have the faith in Him that He desires.