Melody Elise arrives right on time!

I had originally decided that Sunday January 16th would be an ideal day for Melody to be born. Tim, knowing me too well to make light of my plans (however out of my control they might be in this case), had already notified the others on staff at church that we might not be available on and around the 16th....

But I soon changed my mind about the date when I discovered that my doctor would not be on call until the following Sunday. So I prayed that Melody would wait another week to be born, and I determined not to give her any chance to make an appearance, so far as it depended on me! When I showed up in the church service on Sunday morning the 16th, Pastor Steve came up to me and thoughtfully advised me to sit on the end of the row, just in case I needed to head to the hospital. Of course, I replied that he need not worry because I had changed my mind to try for the following Sunday, January 23rd! Needless to say, I encountered many skeptics during the next few days. Nobody quite believed that Melody would arrive when we hoped she would, nobody except Tim, that is.

On Saturday the 22nd, I had a lovely baby shower for Melody, and once I made it through that without any sign of labor, I felt that I was ready. It was time for the "Walk for Life" to begin! (My sister-in-law Sarah calls it the "walk for life" because serious walking is required if you're trying to induce labor on your own.)

Sunday morning the 23rd came with the beginnings of contractions but not enough to call it true labor. So Tim and I left Danny with my parents and started out on the walk for life. We spent an hour at the Arboretum before heading down to the farm where Nate and Sarah live. My family took turns in keeping me company as I tried to keep up a fast steady pace. Nothing was working, though, not even the stairs. So I decided by mid-afternoon that we should go home and take naps.

I was growing discouraged that I still wasn't in labor, but Tim and I decided to take one more walk around the block. If that didn't do the trick, we would give up and wait for Melody to come when she was ready. As we walked, we prayed that contractions would become intense (I think it is one of the only times I have asked God for pain!)... And they did, finally!

At 5pm I started to feel contractions grow strong. At 7pm I went to the hospital, only to discover that I was only 4 cm dilated and 70% effaced. At 9pm I got the epidural and decided that it was going to be a long wait afterall. At 11pm I was only 5 cm dilated. But at 11:05pm the nurse turned me on my right side and left the room. Two minutes later I felt as though I needed to push. I calmly called for the nurse to come back (too calmly according to my mom). No sooner did the nurse return to the room than Melody was crowning. The nurse Maybelline began yelling out the door for some back up. Immediately 3 other nurses ran into the room. I was doing my best not to push, but even so, the nurses were still putting on their gloves when Melody made her grand appearance without any effort at all!

So we guessed the right date afterall. Melody Elise was born at 11:16pm on January 23rd. But so much for wanting my doctor to deliver her. He was about 20 minutes too late!