Our miracle here on earth....

Everyday is a blessing to rise, breathe and love the people in our lives. On this day, one year ago, I experienced a miracle. I've been blessed with the birth of two sons. However, 1 year ago today on Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 3:07 a.m., I brought our second son into the world. Here is his story...

My first pregnancy seemed to take FOREVER and I went 1 1/2 weeks past his due date and finally agreed to be induced. I always wanted to try to have a natural birth and tried with my first son. I tolerated 5 1/2 hours of intense labor before crying uncle and getting an epidural. With this birth, I was 38 1/2 weeks pregnant and went to see my doctor on Monday afternoon. She checked me as before and again, couldn't believe I had not had my little blessing yet. She asked me if I wanted to schedule his induction date and I declined. I wanted him to spend as much time as he needed, while it was still medically safe for me. That night I came home and felt really bad. I told Daddy Brown, you know, this could be the night...hahaha! We went to sleep around 10:30p or so.

At 1:45a, I woke and felt what I thought was my water breaking. I nudged Daddy Brown and said, "Honey, my water just broke, wake up." He sprung out of bed and began to get everything in order. After about 10 minutes and certain I hadn't just tinkled on myself, I called the doctor. My contractions were about 10 minutes apart and very tolerable. I gave her all the information and she told me to go ahead to the hospital. I called my mom to come to the house to stay with Big Brownie, who was 15 months old at the time. She arrived at the house at 2:12a. Because in the back of my mind, I really didn't think I would go into labor naturally, I hadn't prepared my bag. So I walked around putting Big Brownie's sleep-over bag together while Daddy Brown put together a bag for the two of us. The contractions began to come on a little quicker and a little stronger, but nothing I couldn't handle. We came downstairs and I kissed my mom goodbye. They loaded me up in the front passenger seat and we were off to the hospital to deliver our little blessing.

At about 2:55a, we started our 20 minute trip and the contractions began coming on really strong and really quick. I looked at Daddy Brown and I said, you know, I don't know if I can handle this kind of pain for a long stretch of time, I am considering getting the epidural. After a few more minutes pass, I was certain I would be needing the epidural once we reached the parking lot. As we reached the Saturn Parkway, I told him I didn't think we would make it to the hospital. I began praying aloud, "Please Lord, let us make it to the hospital". Daddy Brown was incredibly calm throughout this experience. I told him he needed to call 911. Now, I know I told Daddy Brown at least 4 times to call 911, but he thought I was just having hard labor. When we got to I-65N, I told him I felt the need to push. I could feel the baby moving down and getting ready to be born. The sense of urgency quickened the acceleration of the car and he reluctantly called 911.

It took 3 minutes to get from the entry of I-65N to I-840. How do I know, because that is how long it took me to have a baby. As Daddy Brown was on the phone with 911, I was panting and breathing, screaming and praying. He asked the 911 operator how long it would take her to get an ambulance to us, her response was 7 minutes. We were approximately 6-7 minutes from the hospital, so his initial thought was to keep driving. As we approached I-840, Daddy Brown put his hand on my leg while assuring me I was ok, and I put his hand on the baby's head. He told the operator we were pulling over and gave them our exact location and description of our car.

As he pulled over at mile marker 60, he stopped the car and turned the hazard lights on. I remember when he opened the door to come around to my side, the car light came on briefly until he closed the door. In that split second of light, I pulled my pants down. As I'm screaming and as Daddy Brown is running around to my side of the car, I reached down, turned the baby's head and delivered our son. He opened the car door and at 3:07a, our son was born.

Within seconds, Little Brownie began breathing and crying. Daddy Brown is still on the phone with 911. He announces, "She just birthed him, He is here...my wife just pulled him out". He puts the phone down to take his shirt off and cover the baby. The 911 operator instructs him to wipe the baby's nose and mouth off and make sure he was breathing. Daddy Brown checked for his umbilical cord to make sure it wasn't wrapped around anything. I cried and cried. I couldn't believe it...our son was here.

A state trooper was the first to arrive, then an EMS truck and finally the ambulance. We made our way to the hospital with the 4th member of our family in tow. Once at the hospital, the doctor delivered the placenta. I had NO complications. The baby and I were perfect. One might think that giving birth in the car would produce an inexplicable mess...not a drop of blood, not a drop of anything was to be found. What a blessing.

If you ever wonder and question if the Lord is preparing you for something big, don't discount the small things he may ask you to do. 1 week prior to having our Little Brownie, I felt the need and urge to read the "emergency childbirth procedures", in my What to Expect When You're Expecting book. Daddy Brown and I laugh to this day, because we both remember me sitting on the couch and him walking through asking me, "Why in the world are you reading that part of the book?" My reply was, "Well, you never know what you might need to know, when you might need to know it." It was a blessing, the Lord was preparing me for what was to come and I'm ever grateful! . I would never have wished for this type of birth, nor was it anything similar to my original birthing plan. The birth of our son was recorded by the 911 call and we are now blessed to have a copy of the audio. I'll admit I listen to it ALOT. I still get teary-eyed when I hear his first little cry. I'm forever blessed with the honor of delivering our son. Our little Miracle here on earth...like no other.