Day 199 ~ Sunday, July 19

TALIAH HOPE MUYABA is born at 2:24 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs 3 oz and measured 19.5 inches.





Taliah's birth was a testiment to God's love......there were several prayers answered:

1. Kath prayed that her water would break at home so that she would KNOW that it was time to go to the hospital......she'd been having regular contractions daily for a couple weeks, so being sure about whether or not they were 'real' was an issue for her.

Her water broke at about 2 a.m. Sunday morning.

2. Kathryn prayed that she would be going through labor during the day - and that it would be a sunny day. She thought that would make things so much easier.

Her labor pains started at about 6:30 a.m. Taliah was born at 2:24 p.m. on a hot, sunny day.

3. Kathryn prayed that she would be able to give birth without having an epidural.

At 12:30 pm, the nurse told Kath the doctor wanted to examine her......if she hadn't progressed past the 4 cm she was at last time he checked, he wanted to 'augment' (medically speed up the contractions) and would want her to have an epidural to help her cope with the sudden onslaught of hard labor. The reason for speeding things up was that her water had broken almost 12 hours before and they want the baby born before 24 hrs is up due to risk of infection.

I sent a text to Jim and to Melanie, asking them to pray for fast progression and no need of an epidural.

At 1:30 pm I sent a text to Jim telling him the doctor had ordered the epidural and as soon as it was administered, they would begin the induction - his exam had shown that dilation was about the same as earlier in the day.

We did not see much of the nurses and nothing of the doctor for the next 45 minutes or so - until the epidural doctor came in just as Kathryn was telling the nurse "I think I need to push". Three push pains later, Taliah was born.

Boy, did she fool the experts!!!

And Kathryn gave birth without the epidural, with a mere 50 minutes or so of hard labor - which was about what she would have endured if she'd been induced.


GOD IS SO GOOD!

For more photos of Taliah just after she was born, click on this link to my facebook album.


The nurses delivered Taliah - there was no time to run for the doctor. They did a great job, since she had already 'crowned' before they even knew Kath was fully dilated.

However, this experience just solidified my negative opinions about the 'epidural' and the regularity of administering it. I might write a post about my opinions, just to get it off my chest.