Jon Luke’s Birth Story

Jon Luke’s Birth Story:

Friday, October 30th (due date) 

Johnny and I were at home all day. (We had been home for 2 weeks because Johnny got COVID 2 weeks before my due date 🙃) that’s a whole other story in itself! Thankfully he recovered well and I didn’t get it from him. We went on a walk and did some yard work. I was in major nesting mode and raked the entire back and front yard😳 tbh that’s probably why I went into labor that night 🤣 before we went to bed, we built a fire in the back yard and had some hot chocolate because it was cold that night. A pretty perfect last night of just the two of us!

Later that night, around 10:30, I started having what I thought was Braxton Hicks contractions. We had just laid down to go to bed, so I didn’t mention anything to Johnny because I was sure they were Braxton Hicks. But they kept coming, and around 11:30, I started having back pain. 12:30 AM comes and I can no longer lie down in bed because of how uncomfortable I was. It was like waves of pain across my lower pack every 5 minutes. 1:30 comes and I decide to wake Johnny up because I’m thinking I am in labor. We call his mom to see what she thinks. Contractions were every 5-8 minutes so we decide to go to the hospital to get checked out. We get to the hospital around 2:30-3 AM and I was only dilated to a 1 1/2. We also found out that he was still posterior which explains the awful back labor. We were at the hospital for about 2 hours. We decided to go back home and labor as long as I could before going back to the hospital. We got home around 6 Saturday morning. Contractions kept coming but without a consistent pattern. I walked, sat on my birthing ball, did everything to try and speed things up. (Heating pad and birthing ball were my bffs) I’m so glad we decided to go home because I know I was much more comfortable there (well, as comfortable as I can be while laboring) than I would be in the hospital. I was having back labor this entire time. After laboring at home for 12 hours, we decide to go to the hospital because my contractions were getting pretty intense. So we grabbed our things, had a sweet prayer with Johnny’s mom, (she was there the entire time I was laboring at home, which was a blessing), and off we went! We were admitted around 7 Saturday night. Praise God that Johnny had recovered from Covid by this point and was past his 10 day quarantine—or else he wouldn’t have been able to come with me. Once we got in a room, they checked me and I was dilated to a 5 at this point. I labored for a few more hours and the contractions were getting so intense, I was having a hard time catching my breath with them. No position helped with the pain. I had planned to get in the shower and play worship music, but I honestly could not stand for there to be any music on😂 I wanted everything quiet. The Alabama/Miss St game was on in the hospital room, keeping Johnny entertained while he helped me through contractions. I had been having back labor all day and it was only getting worse.  I got to be around 7 centimeters and decided to get an epidural because Jon Luke was still sunny side up and was putting so much pressure on my back and would not turn. I had been laboring for over 24 hours at this point. I had also been awake for about 36 hours. I was exhausted. So around 11 PM Saturday night I got an epidural and somewhat dozed off for about an hour. 2 hours later, around 1 AM on Sunday morning, November 1st, I started pushing and baby boy was born at 3:05 AM, 30 hours after I first started having contractions. A whole 8 lbs and 14 ounces of pure sweetness. The first thing I said was, “He’s so cute!!” Johnny and I were over the moon. He was the best encourager and teammate, and still is! We also had the best nurses, they made everything as peaceful as it could be. Our family and friends had been eagerly waiting to hear when Jon Luke arrived, so Johnny made sure to send pictures. When they say your first labor can be long, they aren’t kidding haha. It was honestly just an amazing experience and God was so faithful to provide peace during it all. When we were admitted to the hospital, I was fearful. I knew what was about to happen and it all became very real. By God’s grace and the support of my husband, I was provided peace and Jon Luke arrived safely. Something that I had to remind myself of was that God had been with me the entire pregnancy and He was with me in the delivery room. He had gone before me and I knew I could trust Him, no matter the outcome or pain that I would face. Laboring and giving birth painted a picture for me of what it looks like to endure pain for a season in order for something GOOD to come to fruition. It’s never fun in the moment, but to see how God is glorified through our pain and discomfort is something I wouldn’t trade or anything in the world. It isn’t about praying our way out of the pain, but praying and clinging to the Lord THROUGH our pain. He doesn’t promise us a life free of pain, but He does promise us His eternal peace when we turn to Him.