09/13/2025
The moment that felt like a Brandon Lake yell...
I prayed for Emily daily. After walking through 4 miscarriages following Samuel’s birth, my only prayer was to hold my rainbow baby. Fear tried to grip me every day,telling me I might lose her too,but prayer and worship were my weapons. She was the promise God had spoken to me.At 32 weeks, that promise was tested. I was planning a homebirth, but then I developed cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). ICP disrupts the normal flow of bile, causing bile acids to build up in the blood and liver. It comes with severe itching, especially at night, but no rash. What’s worse, it can put the baby at serious risk,preterm birth, fetal distress, even stillbirth. My levels were dangerously high, my eyes had turned yellow, and at 35 weeks they induced me. Those three weeks waiting were some of the scariest and most fearful of my life, but I clung to the truth that Abba Father would keep His promise safe. I was devastated that my homebirth plans were gone, but my only focus became keeping my daughter safe. Labor started with pitocin, hours, no pain meds,just my combs in my hands and shifting positions through intense back labor. My husband never left my side, comforting me as best he could.
The pain was unbearable, so we requested an epidural. An hour later, after finally receiving it, I was only 6 cm, so I laid down, nly for 10 minutes,before suddenly sitting up in a panic, convinced I was burning up and dying 🤣. I started ripping everything off me, Michael rushed to get the nurses, and they thought something was terribly wrong. They even began preparing for a C-section.
But then my mother-in-law shouted, “CHECK HER FIRST!” Sure enough, I had gone from 6 cm to 10 cm in 10 minutes. Emily was coming.
Two pushes later, she was here. The cord was wrapped around her neck twice, but the Lord’s hand was on her the whole time. He kept my promise safe.
God is faithful. He walks with us in pregnancy, in labor, in motherhood, in the unknown.
