The Veil was Torn

It should not come as a suprise that

what began miraculously,
endured miraculously,
and was protected miraculously...

came to completion so miraculously, too.

We are so incredibly blessed to share with you the story of Micah's birth, albeit a bit late and probably lacking some details - so sorry about that! Even after months of concerning contractions and early cervical shortening/dilation following a car accident in July, our tiniest guy patiently waited to make his entrance (and we're so relieved he did) the day before his due date and 4 days after his older sister Abri's birthday. On November 16th at 9:34am, Micah Harrison Bollinger entered the world in one contraction, cushioned by his amniotic sac and ready to defy any odds against him. He weighed a whopping 9 pounds, 4 ounces and was 21.5 inches long (all my other babies were under 7.5 pounds), which made the whole thing even more miraculous!

It was Jake's Army duty weekend and I was nearing my due date. He has duty about an hour away (plus traffic) and it was a little unsettling to think about the chances of him not making it back in time, given how quickly some of my other labors had gone. In the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, I remember feeling a few of the annoying but painless contractions I had been having for months, but this time they seemed to happening with more frequency. I got excited, thinking this might be it, but they quickly puttered out and we awoke the next morning disappointed and honestly quite sick of all these braxton hicks. Give me nothing or true, intense labor (which usually lasts all of 10 minutes for me), but leave the prodomal stuff at the door...PUL-EASE. I was so beyond ready for him to be here that the thought of unmedicated labor actually excited me - most women hit that point in the last week or two of pregnancy for their first baby, maybe around 37 weeks for their second baby....needless to say I had been D-U-N dun since 34 weeks this time. (Little did I know that he was probably close to a healthy birth weight around then anyway - no wonder why I was so worn out running after 3 toddlers all that time!). We went to bed on Sunday night after a day of no action, convinced that it really was just braxton hicks and heartbroken, but trying our best to just let go and trust in God's timing.

Lo and behold, around 4am on Monday morning, I woke up with the weird "gut" feeling again. Contractions hadn't changed at all, and were no more regular than they were a month before, but I just felt differently for some reason. I let my poor husband sleep and figured I'd try walking around a bit to see if I could start the action myself. My mom had come in from Boston a couple weeks prior and was asleep in the guest room, but I didn't want to wake her until we knew it was the real thing. After a few consistent (painless) contractions a few minutes apart, I finally woke Jake up and we decided to head to the hospital just in case (considering I can go from 3cm to a baby in my arms in less than an hour), fully expecting them to send us home. We got in the car at about 5:15am, but very quickly my contractions completely stopped and I realized I forgot my hair spray anyway (SO essential, I know...haha.  But for reals, my hair is like an inch and a half long now - I'm doomed without it), so we turned around and came home. We got home and I figured I wasn't in actually in labor, because labor doesn't just stop like that, so we hung out for a bit.

I had a few more wimpy contractions, and then one noticeably different one that felt like transition in terms of of pressure, but not pain. Suddenly confused and a little nervous, I told Jake we should probably leave again for the hospital. We got there around 6:30am but again, the contractions had mostly stopped or become really wimpy again once we were in the car, and my midwife took one look at me and hinted about probably having to send me home. Still not contracting or even feeling like I was in labor at all, they monitored me for 20 minutes, and sure enough, not a single contraction. Not even a blip in the machine! I felt pretty embarrassed and was basically in the process of packing up my stuff to go home, when they finally checked my cervix.

My midwife smiled. "Well, it's hard to reach, but you're at least at 7cm."

Um what.

...doesn't that mean I should be nearing transition?? Like, as in, having you know, uterine contractions? As in, FEELING SOMETHING?! This was possibly the weirdest labor experience ever. Here I was at 7+cm, chillaxing in the intake room, kind of wanting to just go back to sleep.

I'm NOT complaining, but it so incredibly strange to not even be contracting much, let alone feeling anything. We hung out for a bit, then mosied over to L&D. I was able to enjoy the tub, listen to music, and chat with the best L&D nurse I've ever met (Dalillah at Swedish Issaquah - track her DOWN if you end up there, people!!!). We had specifically asked for minimal staff in the room on our birth plan, so it was pretty much just a relaxing, quiet early morning with Jake, Dalillah and my midwife Kelly intermittently. I probably could have just slept if I wasn't so excited to meet this little guy! I was also pretty stinkin excited that I was having a baby without feeling like I was in labor, quite honestly. SUCH an amazing gift from God and a miracle in and of itself!

After an hour or two, my water still hadn't broken and I still wasn't feeling much at all. I started to get concerned that my labor was stalling like it did with Abri (she was basically stuck at 7-8cm for a while because of her positioning, and it felt very low-intensity as well). With Abri, we finally decided to break my water since I was sick with a cold and exhausted. This time I was doing fine, but figured if we could move labor along and have him out a little sooner without all the waiting, maybe we should consider it (it could be hours and hours more if it was anything like Abri). I mentioned the idea to my midwife, who kind of shrugged and said that we *could* do that if I really wanted to, or we could just wait for my water to break on its own, and,

"maybe you'll have a story to tell."

As she felt my stomach during one of the rare "contractions," she kind of laughed and told me that they were barely anything at all, and that by definition, I wasn't even in labor yet. She suggested we wait a little while longer and then do another cervical check and if I was still around 7, I could decide then. After a few more minutes in the spa chilling to my worship music (our nurse Dalillah loved it, too!), a cervical check confirmed that I was 9+cm! It was reassuring to know that even despite the lack of real contractions/labor pattern, I was progressing and he would (hopefully) be here soon! While in the restroom I felt some pressure with the next contraction but still no real pain. I decided to check myself to see if I "felt" complete (ok...I admittedly have no idea what that would even feel like, but I assumed I'd feel something). Much to my surprise, there was something coming out, but it wasn't hard like a baby's head (??). I asked Jake to look because my first concern was the possibility of a prolapsed cord. My brave, supportive husband who has caught 3/4 of our babies with a smile on his face (he doesn't flinch at ANY of this stuff) was a bit confused and freaked out by what he saw (which didn't look like a baby -haha), so we called the midwife in. She reassured me that it was the bag of water since it hadn't broken yet, and as exciting as it was to know I was so close, I was also a bit confused about how this was all going to go down! I didn't feel any crowning-like pain down there, and yet *something* was coming out of me....how much longer would it take for the head to follow? Could I still have hours left to go? What was happening to my body?? Am I supposed to push now or at least get into pushing position now, or something? WHY DOES IT NOT HURT? And yet, my over-analysis and painless experience was throwing my midwife into fits of giggles. She told me that she had never seen such a pain-free labor in all her practice!

After a few laughs while standing there in my wet bathing suit/bathrobe as the amniotic sac began to emerge, we went through a pretty hysterical process of trying to set up the video camera in an ideal spot to capture the delivery on film. Lots of overanalysis and discussion on my part, partly because I wasn't sure how *I* wanted to be positioned. With Eli I experienced some tailbone pain, so I figured I might want to avoid being on my back, but being on my hands and knees all exposed seemed so embarrassing and awkward to me, and I couldn't see anything that way! I feel like normally you're so outside of yourself during your labor experience that none of these things matter - even the most modest gal has NO problem showin' off ALL the goods to the world in that intense and life-altering moment of birthing a new life! But this time, I was barely in pain, and thus just as aware of my surroundings as I would be any other day or time. It definitely made things more awkward, but don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining!

I experienced a couple more contractions on my hands and knees on the bed - this time I definitely felt the intensity and the pressure, but still almost no pain at all.

Finally, I decided to switch positions (facing forward, but not flat on my back) so I could start pushing and hopefully be able to see and hold little Micah a little more easily. Wish such a great view of the emerging amniotic sac, even the nurses were enthralled. Sweet Dalillah was so excited to see an "en caul" birth that she asked if she could touch the sac while we sat there and chatted! I of course was all, "SURE! Go for it!" It felt warm and soft, and was such an amazing relief to feel versus the intense pressure of a head (my last deliveries were also very easy in their own ways, but the last few minutes of pressure/pushing was not my cup of tea). We took a couple pictures that we will NOT be sharing publicly, just so we can remember this amazing occurrence and exactly what it looked like - we are science nerds like that. A second nurse offered to hold the video camera behind us, and we waited for a contraction whilst laughing and having good conversation (about who knows what...I think I was joking about the midwife draping herself with a towel so the amniotic sac didn't burst all over her).

Seconds into the final contraction, Micah's head emerged completely covered in the amniotic sac. This is called being born "en caul," ("caul" is from the latin Caput galeatum, literally "helmeted head" and is a piece of membrane that covers the newborn's head and face). According to Wikipedia, 

birth with a caul is rare, occurring in fewer than 1 in 80,000 births. This statistic includes caul births (in which the entire body is born enclosed in the sac), which occur more frequently than authentic en-caul births; therefore authentic en-caul births are rarer than the statistic indicates. Most "en-caul" births are premature.

A baby born in this way is often referred to as a "caulbearer," or one "born behind the veil" due to the baby's face being covered. For us it was a very brief but special moment because although he was technically "born" by many medical standards, we caught a glimpse of his cloistered little world, hidden behind a shield of protection. Right before the membrane broke during the delivery of his neck/shoulders, we were able to actually witness Micah's final moments of being "veiled" from the world, though he was already "in it." With a gush of fluid, he left his tiny, solitary environment and joined ours. And my midwife was right - we ended up with such an amazing story to tell!

At this point it was very intense for me (a 9+ pound baby was coming out of me in one contraction!), but I could hear the midwife say that there was meconium (baby's first bowel movement which can sometimes happen in utero, and is dangerous if the baby inhales it during delivery), and to call the "mec unit"...I definitely started freaking out a little bit at that point and just praying that he'd be ok. We've never had any issues with meconium, so this was a first for me. As I'm hearing the calls for the "Mec unit! Mec unit!" suddenly the midwife announced the presence of a nuchal cord (umbilical cord wrapped around Micah's neck - never happened before with us). I pushed through the contraction to deliver his (giant, football-player) shoulders, and little did I know that Jake was instinctively reducing the cord (taking it off from around his neck) with the help of the midwife. There was no "Retreat! Retreat!! Something's wrong!" reaction from this loving, protective daddy! In an almost effortless motion, Jake helped reduce the cord, catch the rest of his chubby, perfect little body, and lift him up onto my chest. From the start of pushing to my first hold, it was only *one* eighty second-long contraction (we can verify this on video)! Talk about making an entrance! Knowing what I know now about his height, weight, and shape (can anyone say "shoulder distocia"?), this quick and easy delivery is something I still thank God for, along with the total of 3 relaxing, nearly painless hours at the hospital without even an IV line in.

Those first few seconds were a little more nerve-racking than my other births because I was of course concerned about any complications from the meconium exposure and nuchal cord. And yet, Micah pulled through like a champ! He immediately started screaming a good strong cry, which greatly reduced the concern about meconium in his lungs - the mec unit didn't end up even being necessary (it was likely that he had *just* relieved himself while in the birth canal since that part happened so quickly). He was a wonderful shade of pink and suffered no ill effects from the cord around his neck. His APGAR scores were 9 and 9!

All in all, when I think about the number of things that could have gone wrong from day one of little Micah's conception to our first embrace, I am literally, jaw-droppingly, on-my-knees, in AWE of how clearly and divinely protected he was. He is beginning this life with a beautiful testimony of God's provision and protection, and I'm all the more reminded of the reason we chose the name "Micah" - because truly, there is NONE like God. A God who creates life out of nothing, sustains us against all odds, protects us according to His plan and purpose, and redeems us into His presence through the death of his Son, who by paying for the consequences of our sin on the cross, **tore down the VEIL** in the temple that separated us from full communion with God (prior to that moment, only the most high priests were allowed to enter the holiest of holy places within the temple behind the curtain in order to commune with God).

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. -Matthew 27:50-51

In the same way that our precious son broke through into the full experience of our presence, the torn veil of the temple symbolized a breaking of the boundaries so that no matter who we are, what we have done, or where we are in life, we are *welcomed* into God's love and presence through relationship with His son Jesus. We are so blessed by Micah and his magnificent arrival, and can't wait to see how his testimony continues!

Below is a video we put together of his birth. But it's more than just a birth video; it's his story. It's the amazing way God brought him to us, and showed us His own glory in the process. (Please be forewarned - it is tasteful, but it *is* a birth - Watch at your own discretion)

11-12-13

As I type this, our newest bundle is sitting happily on my lap watching my fingers and hiccupping while her older siblings nap. I am reminded every day how incredibly blessed I am to live this life and to have been chosen as the mommy to these three amazing children. God has been so faithful in His plan for each one of them, and it's about time we shared the story of sweet Abri Joan's arrival into this world!

Like all my pregnancies, I started experiencing uncomfortable contractions between 17 and 20 weeks. But after one night in the ER at 28 weeks, we learned that I was already dilated to 2cm! I tried to stay as inactive as possible (chasing two toddlers around all day....), but I was almost positive that Abri would come early and remember feeling SO much relief as each week passed and we finally made it to full-term. And then...the weeks started to drag on and my hopes of her coming early started to dwindle. I had been extremely prepared the whole time (given how quickly the other two came). We had back-up plans, back-up plans for our back-up plans, and even packed the car each night just in case we had to make a mad dash to the hospital. Every night, the contractions would be less than 5 minutes apart for hours at a time (much like the other pregnancies), but they wouldn't increase in intensity. A head/chest cold was being passed around our house, and I was quickly losing energy for what I expected to be a fast and intense labor and delivery any day. I tried to stay motivated, but it was getting hard to drag the kids to school and therapy appointments while being so physically and emotionally drained, always on the edge of having to drop everything and speed to the hospital. For the sake of convenience and for my own sanity, in those last couple weeks we tried everything - walking, "labor-stimulating" foods, dancing, hanky-panky (wink), acupressure/foot massage, a cervical stretch to 3+cm/90% effacement by my midwife...the list goes on. I was terribly sick with a cold that I couldn't kick, and I had a feeling that my body was going to be too drained to fight it until my immune system wasn't compromised by the pregnancy anymore. Heck, just the amount of coughing alone should have put me into labor. But day after day....nothing. Meanwhile I was getting sicker and sicker, and just prayed that I'd be able to breath well enough when the time came.
Oxygen is pretty important.
Ya know.

After a restless evening of obsessive nesting and cleaning (you'd think this was a sign, but I had been doing this every night for like 3 weeks - Jake had just about had it with me), around midnight on my due date (11-12-13) I noticed some mild, but decently consistent contractions. Still nothing out of the ordinary for me. A little while later, I woke Jake up to tell him that I thought this might be it, only because I was hoping so much that it was, and they didn't seem to be going away, even though they still were not incredibly consistent or painful. We didn't exactly want to call and wake up Jake's parents to drive all the way over if it wasn't absolutely the real thing, but we also didn't want to wait too long, because last time we finally figured out it was the "real thing," Eden was born just one hour later. Both Jake's parents' house and the hospital were about 15 minutes away (in opposite directions), so we spent the next hour debating what to do and trying to figure out if it was real. We finally decided that even if it wasn't active labor yet, it was probably at least a precursor to the real thing, and given how fast things can go, we decided to chance it and call Jake's parents. When they came over, we told them to just go to bed, and we did the same. I honestly don't remember exactly what time we finally left for the hospital. Probably around 3:30am. I still wasn't even positive I was in labor, but I didn't want to have the baby in the car, so we went.

We had been given orders to call my midwife directly on her cellphone as soon as we thought I was in labor, as well as the ER and the labor and delivery department, given my history of precipitous births. When we showed up, everyone was in rush-mode except me (I was praying that I was actually in labor and hadn't just red-alerted the entire birthing center for nothing). It turns out I was about 4cm (they checked me around 4:30ish am), and I was actually quite proud that I made it there with plenty of time, but still avoided a false alarm. Woohoo! We hung out, did the mandatory 20 minutes of fetal monitoring (something new for me - usually I'm pushing by the time they want to do that), chatted, and my awesome midwife even honored my request to not have an IV line put in (I've never even had IV fluids, but it's sort of hospital policy to put a line in just in case). We discussed the risks and what would happen if I suddenly needed it, which I was fine with, but decided against making me walk around with an annoying intravenous device in my arm. I was pretty exhausted after waking up the previous day at 7am, and not getting any sleep, but seriously. Who can sleep when they're in active labor (without drugs)? Oh, right.

Husbands, that's who.

It was way too exciting for me, and we all expected that the next time she checked me, I'd be almost complete. Less than an hour later (5:00am), I was 6cm, so that part went pretty fast, and was barely noticeable, thankfully. I finally got to enjoy hanging out in the tub (FINALLY!!! I've waited 3 times to be able to labor in a tub!), and it was so relaxing and peaceful. I also texted with my sister and sister-in-law for a while (Cassie's daughter was diagnosed with posterior tongue tie like Eden, so we had lots to talk about regarding latching behavior and getting her clipped, etc. According to a text message I sent her, Jake was passed out on the chair around that time.) Meanwhile, my texts with my sister went like this:

Yeah. With my history, the fact that it took a looong 40 minutes for me to get from 6 to 7cm basically left us in shock. And bored. We decided to have her break my water, even though I'm generally against intervention, only because all the other times, that was the catalyst for rapid progression, and I was exhausted and very sick (breathing was not fun)...and I figured the longer things took, the less oxygen she'd have access to. Confused about the slow progression even after my water broke, my midwife finally determined that little Abrielle was in a right occiput posterior (ROP) position. Apparently this can lead to 20+ hour, extremely painful labors (but of course I didn't focus on that at the time - I just kept praying that things would pick up and that we wouldn't need intervention).

I kept waiting to feel the "transition" feelings, knowing that I was at least 7cm, but I still felt like I was in early labor. Not only that, but my contractions still weren't even consistent, and if I stayed in one position for too long (or walked, believe it or not), they would dwindle and get less intense/frequent! So, because I happen to have a hypersensitive uterus (weird, right?) I was trying to "give myself" contractions by standing up, sitting down, laying on my right side, standing up, cat-cows, using the ball...etc etc....yeah. Some women are scared of contractions. I was doing everything I could to make them more intense and frequent, all the while chatting with my midwife. It turns out that she has one biological and one adopted child. We chatted about adoption, since that's something Jake and I have always been interested in, and are considering for our fourth. Yep, we chatted about a fourth child while I was in labor with my third. This went on for some time until Jake woke up, and I finally utilized his mad birth partner skillz when my back started to get sore (he learned them in our doula's childbirth prep class back in 2010 and we haven't really needed them yet since things tend to move so fast). For the record, he is a PRO double-hip squeezer, and definitely got his workout in for the night. He earned his keep. This picture was probably taken around 7-8am, and I'm guessing that I was probably about 8cm dilated around then.

Around 8am I started really fatiguing. It was hard to cough (though I always needed to), hard to breath, and I barely had a voice. I also hadn't slept in 24+ hours, so in combination of being so physically sick, I was kind of sleepy and delirous. That's also when it started feeling pretty uncomfortable (still didn't feel like transition, but at least I could feel some intensity), and like I wasn't getting enough oxygen. All you ladies out there - try your darndest to NOT go through natural labor when you can't breath. Little tip. Finally a little after 9am, I felt kind of like pushing and asked my midwife to check me. I was 9.5cm, so she told me to "push to 10," which was the weirdest thing ever, because I didn't "have" to push yet. So far I've only been told *not* to push, so the idea of pushing before I had the urge was just strange. But it worked, and 3 contractions (10 minutes) later at 9:29am, she was here! And she was absolutely PERFECT and GORGEOUS! We were immediately in love!

Abrielle Joan just seconds into the world!
7lbs, 6oz and 21.25 inches

When all was said and done, Abri was born about 9 hours after the first incling of labor, about 5 hours after getting to the hospital (still doubting I was in labor), and about 1.5 hours after things started feeling intense/uncomfortable. Overall, even though I was not feeling well, we needed zero intervention, and the fact that I was able to stay calm and confident in God's control over the situation really helped reduce my discomfort. Looking back and knowing that she was "stuck" in the ROP presentation, which can take a really long time, be extremely painful, and often end in medical intervention or a C-section, I have so much to be thankful for! AND I didn't have my baby in a car!! My first two labors may have been "easy" and "quick," but this time God showed me that He can take us through the "less-than-ideal," and He is still SO faithful to renew our strength and bless us with beautiful outcomes that we couldn't have planned more perfectly!

He gives power to the weak

and strength to the powerless.

Even youths will become weak and tired,

and young men will fall in exhaustion.

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.

They will soar high on wings like eagles.

They will run and not grow weary.

They will walk and not faint.

~Isaiah 40:29-31~

Eden's Story

There is so much to talk about with Eden's story. Sarah has covered much of the prelude with her last blog, but so much has also happened in the past month! To say that God provides would be an understatement. We found a new home, a new hospital, a new doctor for Sarah, and a new pediatrician...all within the first week of starting my new job. And then, with the help of our wonderful family and friends, we were able to move into that home just nine days before Eden was born (talk about timely provision!). I could go on about the three weeks between starting my new job and Eden's birth, but I think that would take a whole blog post all on its own. And this blog is about how Eden arrived.

At about 1:30am on Tuesday, April 24th, Sarah woke me up to let me know that she thought she *might* be in labor. After the weeks months on pins and needles waiting for Eli to arrive, I told myself I wasn't going to get excited for every single false labor pattern this time around. Unfortunately for me, Eden had other plans, and mama knew best (thank goodness). I must admit that I was a tad bit cranky as I started to get everything prepared and loaded into the car, after all we were still more than a week away and had just finished moving. Still Sarah insisted that we should at least be ready to go in case this was it. After a crazy hour of getting the car loaded up and timing irregular and non-painful contractions, Sarah informed me that she didn't want to rush out (just in case this wasn't really it), and suggested that we go back to sleep for a bit to see if anything changes.

About two hours later, Sarah woke me again to inform me that she was pretty sure this was it. I, however, still wasn't convinced, and was particularly dreading how the rest of that day would be at work. You see, although Sarah could tell based on the feel, I questioned the lack of consistency and intensity; she actually seemed more calm and at-ease than normal. We spent the next half hour deciding what we should do...going to the hospital meant waking up Eli and my parents, and of course ensured that I would have no additional sleep before work that day (a price I wasn't easily convinced to pay). On the other hand, after Eli's speedy delivery, we wanted to make sure that we arrived at the hospital with plenty of time. In the end, Sarah's instinct beat out my hesitation, so off we went.

When we arrived at my parents' house at 5:00am, they were wide awake and eager to rush us off to the hospital, however I think they were also a little bit shocked to see Sarah leisurely walk in and go on explain the necessities for the care and feeding of Eli (almost as if we were just dropping him off while we went on a date). I think that it was safe to say that my parents shared my doubts of it being the real thing at this point, and were probably also wondering if they were up early unnecessarily for a false alarm. Once Eli was settled, we were off again.

At around 5:40am we arrived at Swedish Medical Center in Issaquah. This time around we had called ahead, and had stressed to the staff that Sarah has a history of precipitous labor, so they were expecting us at the Emergency Room. The ER staff was also a bit surprised to have a lovely little chat with a very calm mom to be. I got the impression that they thought she was just another overexcited mom with a long labor in store, but despite their doubts we were brought to the triage room much, much faster than we had been with Eli (when Sarah was actually nearing the end of transition in the ER waiting room).

After arriving at triage (close to 6am), the L&D nurse was sure to call our midwife and let her know that Sarah had been admitted before starting the routine monitoring on Sarah. Once again, she was very interested to hear about Sarah's quick delivery with Eli, but probably expected something a little less exciting this time from the calm mom-to-be sitting in front of her. I think she was pretty surprised to discover that Sarah was already 5-6cm dilated. I, on the other hand was honestly quite relieved. First, this confirmed that Sarah was actually in labor, second that we had arrived with plenty of time for Sarah to labor at the hospital, and third that I wouldn't be taking Sarah home and then leaving straight for work. I gritted my teeth and set myself to the task of proving that I could support Sarah through a long and arduous labor process (and thought maybe I should get the doula on the phone). Sarah was giddy with excitement that she was finally going to have an opportunity to use all the labor techniques she had learned, including having a relaxing soak in the giant tubs they have at Swedish. However, Sarah and I hardly had a chance to finish our thoughts after the cervical exam when suddenly Sarah informed the nurse that her water had broken, and things started to get REALLY exciting.

Initially things were a little bit scary. Immediately after Sarah's water broke, Eden's heart rate began to decelerate, and Sarah's contractions became much more intense. In the next few minutes, Sarah showed incredible strength and dedication. At this point she was clearly going through transition, but despite the discomfort and anxiety, she was working with the nurse to adjust her body position to provide as much relief to Eden as possible. Still, Sarah continued to reassure me that she was feeling fine herself, and her only concerns were for little Eden. After a few tense minutes, Eden stabilized, and Sarah was left to continue labor in a very uncomfortable position while the nurse went to do everything in her power to get the midwife there as soon as humanly possible.

As we moved to the delivery room, Sarah was once again calm and comfortable. At about 6:15am, only 15 minutes after Sarah's first cervical check, the nurse decided to check her progress again. Her checks were followed by a strange smile at Sarah and an expression that said, "You can't be serious." "What...?" Sarah asked, "Am I ten?" The disbelief on the nurse's face answered that question (affirmatively).  Now the nurse had a new preoccupation: asking Sarah if she had the urge to push and frantically try to find the midwife. Luckily for the nurse, Sarah was extremely calm - to the extent that you couldn't tell she was in labor at all. In fact, she was so calm and happy that she decided to call her mother and inform her that she was currently 10cm dilated and ready to have a baby. After a brief conversation with a very excited, flabbergasted, and confused grandmother-to-be, Sarah got back to the business of having a baby. On the next contraction, Sarah informed the nurse that she was feeling the urge to push, and in response the nurse encouraged her to try to breath and not push (mainly because she was not thrilled at the prospect of delivering the baby herself). The bad news for the nurse was that Eden was now running the show, and Sarah didn't have much of a say in whether or not she would be pushing (any moms who have been in this situation are probably having a good chuckle right now). But the good news was that Sarah's midwife arrived shortly thereafter. I should mention that between pushes, much to the surprise and awe of the nurses in the room, Sarah was having a wonderful conversation with them and laughing about the whole experience. Among these conversations was the fact that she even wore a cute bathing suit top for laboring in the tub (so much for that!), and asking the midwife if she would allow me to catch Eden. After only a couple pushes, the midwife informed me that it was now or never. On the next push I had a beautiful screaming baby in my hands. Much to the disbelief of everyone in the room (myself and Sarah included), Eden Elizabeth Bollinger was born 7lbs 7oz and 20.5in long at 6:33am on Tuesday, April 24th  (If you want to get the magnitude of this whole thing, go back and note the times) I think the nurses will be talking about this one for years to come.

God had once again provided in an unbelievable way. Despite our doubts and hesitations, we had arrived in the hospital just in time. And even though most of the staff most likely initially doubted the urgency of Sarah's labor, they took us seriously and saw us as quickly as possible. Even the midwife arrived just in time for little Eden's arrival. And we have been given this amazing gift of a beautiful, healthy daughter, who we were able to take home to a comfortable and functional house - all in perfect timing. Jehovah Jireh, God our PROVIDER! What a blessing this whole experience has been.

Beautiful baby girl

A few minutes old and eating well!

My beautiful wife and daughter

A Photo Story

We hired a doula for our birth, and we got SO much more!! Patti Ramos was not only a support and encouragement in the tough weeks leading up to the birth, but an amazing stronghold and advocate during the birth itself! AND the icing on the cake? She's a professional photographer who happens to take breathtaking photos that truly capture the amazing and beautiful process of giving birth! We were fortunate enough to have her there with us telling a story of how Eli came to be through photos! I've chosen a few of my favorites to share! Please be aware that it was a water birth, so view at your own discretion (everything is decent, don't worry!). All photos Copyright - Patti Ramos 2010. Enjoy!! :)

The Testimony of Eli

Many of you may know that my son, Robert Eli Bollinger was born five days ago. What you may not know is what a testimony his birth was. Unlike me, Sarah has been a long time proponent of the advantages of a natural birth. It took me a while to come around, but with some lessons from a new friend, I began to see that a natural birth was not just about the medical advantages. It was about the the accomplishment and the willpower of a mother. It's like pushing yourself to climb a mountain, when you know you could just hop on a train to get to the top. And its about the power of prayer and the support of family to get you there.

First of all, I would like to say that I am so proud of Sarah and how strong she has been through this whole process. Her fortitude speaks volumes for the type of mother that she is going to be. But even in the beginning she said that she doesn't want this to be about just her. She wants this to be about God, how he provides, and how he makes all things possible.

More than two weeks ago was when Sarah's labor began. It was not an intense active labor, but something more difficult called prodromal labor. This means different things for many women, but for Sarah it meant that she didn't have intense pain, just a long exhausting kind of pain that would intensify for six to twelve hour periods, but never enough to push her into active labor. In one particular instance, after a very difficult sleepless night, we took Sarah in to be checked, only to find that her dilation had actually reversed. During this process we were in constant prayer. We prayed for relief from the aches and pains, we prayed for Eli to arrive quickly, and we prayed for a quick delivery.

Eventually the days of prodromal labor turned into weeks, Sarah's due date came and went, and her frustration only increased. We had to begin to talk about induction and other means of intervention, and this was not what Sarah and I wanted. Eventually we set the date for the induction, but we continued to pray every day that this could happen naturally. Several days after her due date, I began to think maybe God wasn't going to answer our prayers. I began to think about how God doesn't always give us what we want, and that perhaps there was a reason we needed to submit to His way instead of our way. But the reality was, that I had given up hope, and I was preparing myself for the let down.

On Friday night, Sarah and I were relaxing around the house, trying to decide what to do with another long weekend of waiting, when suddenly something changed. At about 11:00pm, Sarah's water broke and our hopes jumped. This meant something was going to happen, natural or not he would be here soon. But for Sarah, her labor had not changed much, she was still feeling the same prodromal labor she had been experiencing for weeks. After a quick call to the midwife and doula, we decided to stay home. It could be over 24 hours before labor started, so we would wait and see if things progressed in the next twelve hours before checking in to the hospital. Sarah and I spent the next hour timing contractions, but for the most part things did not appear to have changed. She recommended I sleep, and she would try to if she could.

But for Sarah something had already changed, and she did not sleep. Less than two hours later, at about 2:30am, she woke me up and let me know her labor was getting more difficult. It was still not too unbearable for her, but I have a very strong wife. For about the next hour we spent some time trying the techniques we learned in our birthing class, to see if I could relieve any of her discomfort, but things where getting steadily more difficult.

At about 3:00am Sarah decided to call our doula. She didn't think her labor pains were too difficult, but she was beginning to worry about the car ride. Sitting had become very uncomfortable, so she wanted to make the trip before her contractions became too difficult. Our doula and I encouraged her to wait as long as possible, but Sarah decided she wanted to go anyway. And her instincts paid off.

At about 3:30am Sarah and I left for the hospital, and arranged for our doula to meet us there at about 4:15. We knew that labor would be long and difficult, so we were not in much of a hurry. As we drove, Sarah remained calm, listening to her ipod and squeezing my hand as difficult contractions passed. But halfway to the hospital her contractions continued to intensify. She remained strong and complained little, emphasizing her breathing, and using long monotone vocalizations to dull out the pain. At this point Sarah had an inkling that she might have progressed pretty far, but she didn't want to get her hopes up, and she was fully prepared to arrive with a report of 4cm and a long morning ahead of her.

Arriving at the hospital was the most difficult part of the whole process. We told them Sarah's water had been broken for several hours, and that the contractions were starting to get very strong and close, but the intake through the ER was still unbearably slow. I suppose they see many laboring first time mothers, who believe they are much further a long than they are. But they don't know how strong my wife is.

After about 15 minutes of waiting for Sarah to get entered into the system, and for someone to take us up to labor and delivery, we finally made it upstairs. But the waiting wasn't over yet. For Sarah things were getting much more intense, and the pain relief techniques I learned were really starting to pay off. Sarah was beginning to feel strong discomfort and a urgency to push. So she asked me to go look for a nurse. Three times I left the room to let the nurse know how intense things were, but she continued to reassure me that "she could hear Sarah" and "she only had a few more things to enter into the computer before she would be in".

Finally by about 4:10am, the labor and delivery nurse came in to check on Sarah. It's normal hospital procedure to hook up a baby for about 20 minutes of monitoring, and for the nurse to check a mother's dilation when they arrive. The heart rate monitor went on first, and everything looked fine. Then she asked Sarah to try to lay back even though she new it was uncomfortable. Sarah used a short break in between contractions to lay down. Once the nurse had checked her she looked at Sarah and said "alright were having a baby." Sarah in turn asked, "How far am I?" And the Nurse responded, "You are complete and at a plus two station." And she began preparing Sarah for transfer to the birthing room.

Everything from this point on went exactly how Sarah and I had prayed for. Our doula arrived and she was a great support, and a much needed advocate. The birth was a water birth, and in less than 15 minutes of pushing, Eli was here. Born 7lbs 2oz at 5:04am. It was an absolutely unbelievable process. My son was born into a wonderful calm environment, with no medication and no intervention. He cried briefly to let us know that he was breathing, but then for the remainder of the morning he was calm, content, and alert.

Earlier this summer our Pastor gave a sermon that I call the "Yes, No, Wait" sermon. During this sermon, he told us that God had three responses to our prayers "Yes," "No," or "Wait." Eli's birth was what we had hoped for, it was a testimony to the power of prayer. And an example of how the love, support, and prayers of family could transform such a frightening process into something beautiful that glorifies God. But it was also a lesson for Sarah and I about "Yes, No, Wait." We both wanted Eli's birth to be a testimony, and we couldn't understand why God wasn't answering our prayers. Why would he want us to have a induction when things could be so perfect? As things came down to the line, we began to lose hope, but God had other plans. We needed to just need to learn to be patient and that sometimes God answers our prayers with "wait." And let me tell you, it was worth the wait.