Our sweet baby Natalie Grace was born on September 9th, a little earlier than expected! I was a few days shy of 35 wks, and actually had an appointment with my mid-wife and an ultrasound that morning. Neither one gave us any clues that we'd be in the hospital that night. After dinner my water broke, and trying not to panic, we packed our bags and got a sitter for Adrianna. Our small-town hospital will not accept babies under 35 wks, and even though I was close, they decided to send me in an ambulance to Grand Rapids (40 min. away). I was pretty disappointed that I would not be able to have my mid-wife deliver the baby, but we knew God had some reason. After getting settled into the huge hospital in Grand Rapids, they had to give me Pitosin to get my labor going. I got a wonderful epidural shortly after and was able to rest and "almost" sleep during the rest of my labor. My nurse checked me less than 4 hours later and said, "Okay, here we go!" I kept yelling across the room to my sound-asleep husband on the couch that it was time (that gives you a clue as to how easy my labor was!). Little Natalie was out in just 2 pushes and rushed to the other side of the room to be observed by all the neo-natal doctors. She weighed 5 lbs. 11 oz and was 18 inches long. Her breathing was a little uneven at first, so they decided to send her to the intermediate NICU nursery. I got to hold her for just a quick minute before they took her away. I left the hospital 2 days later feeling fantastic, but we had to leave Natalie there. Very hard to do!!!! But we're thankful she's in such great hands. She's improving every day, and they plan to send her home when she can eat independently, without the feeding tube. Last night she drank 3 whole bottles by herself, so we're optimistic that it will be in a week or so. Our schedule is a little crazy: I stay with AJ in the mornings while Nate works, then he comes home during her naps and studies while I make the drive to Grand Rapids to be with Natalie. I try to be home by the time Adrianna goes to bed. I enjoy the few hours I get to spend with Natalie, feeding her and rocking her. It makes me so anxious to have her home. Nate and I look back on how God worked out every detail of this delivery. We see now how much we needed to be in Grand Rapids, with all the neo-natal care. They've been SO great through all of this. And for weeks now we've prayed each night that God would bring Natalie to full-term. But it's exciting to see that He chose to specifically NOT answer that prayer for a sovereign reason that we don't see yet. Maybe someday we will. We feel extremely blessed!
