This is Simon’s birth story-our precious third baby, whom the Lord has blessed us with! From the beginning, it was a good pregnancy. Although it was harder on me than the ones before, Simon was healthy all along! We don't take that for granted now that we have 2 kids already. My doctor is a friend of Nina Bruneau’s, who is my friend, and had delivered her baby. Her name is Dra. Graciela Aybar. She is from Argentina, but has lived here in Panama for 20 years or so and practices with her husband, who is from ChiriquÃ. She is so nurturing and comforting, and has the ability to put you at ease! The whole family would go to my doctor’s appointments-it was always one big party!
As the due date grew closer, we became nervous that Simon would not get his passport in time to go home to Texas for Christmas. Dra. Aybar let us set an induction date that was a week before the actual due date-praise the Lord! My Bible Study group had a prayer baby shower for me a few weeks before that, which was so sweet!
My Mom was able to come in the night before Simon’s birthday, which we were all very thankful for. We really wanted her to be there to welcome Simon into the world! Our friend Dodd kept Max the morning of Simon’s birth. They went to the zoo, went hiking, and ate sushi. Max was in heaven! Linda Byrd kept Annabelle, and they played, ran errands, and ate at McDonald’s. The kids loved having their special dates!
I was nervous about the birth, and had to keep giving it to the Lord throughout my pregnancy. I wanted for Simon to be healthy and be delivered safely. I have to say that one of my biggest fears was that the epidural would not work, mainly because I had trouble before with Max and Annabelle. I prayed as much about this as I did for the baby, selfish, but true! I asked Nina to be there for the birth in case I forgot all of my Spanish! Robert and Nina were both there for the whole thing, as well as my Mom and Darren. I am so thankful for the support team that I had!
We went to the hospital that morning, and I was praying and singing the whole way there! It was a calm and quiet morning at Punta Pacifica Hospital. My nurse was Linia. She knew Robert and Nina from church and camp, and was a Christian. She was so sweet. When Dra. Aybar got there, at 8:30am, I had dilated from a 3 1/2 to a 4 in 30 minutes without any drugs. She said that I was in active labor already, but we decided to use Pitossin to speed things up. Looking back now, had I known how things would end up, I would have braved it without the Pitossin or the epidural!
My contractions were hurting a lot worse, so I asked for the anesthesiologist at about 9:30. One thing that I loved about having the baby here is that you choose your 3 doctors, the OB, the pediatrician, and the anesthesiologist. All 3 doctors stay with you for the entire birth! The anesthesiologist looked so young, and he spoke so fast that I could not understand a word he said! Luckily, he spoke some English and I had Nina there to help me.
Getting the epidural hurt a lot, which I didn’t remember from before. It did start working after a few minutes, and I was able to relax and enjoy everyone. Meanwhile my support team was having coffee and donuts with Dra. Aybar in the lounge room that was attached to mine.
At about 10:15, I had a contraction that hurt worse than anything I have ever felt before. Little did I know that that that was just the beginning! It was like the epidural stopped working immediately. I was crying, and pretty soon screaming, which I did not stop until Simon was born! The anesthesiologist gave me more medicine, which gave me no relief AT ALL. He kept telling me that it would start working in 5 minutes, but that 5 minutes never came! I remember telling (screaming to) everyone that I was hurting and to "Do something!!" Soon after, Dra. Aybar checked me and felt the baby’s head. It was then that I realized that the pain was not going to get better and that I had to do this differently than before, that is, without the help of modern medicine! They moved me to the delivery room, and I was screaming the whole time that I was not prepared to do this in this much pain! I could tell that I had totally freaked out Darren and my Mom. They had been there for the 2 peaceful births before this one, and I don’t think they were prepared for this screaming maniac!
God sent to us just then Dra. Aybar’s husband, who had come to see how everything was going. He immediately took the job as coach and encourager, and screamed right along with me for the next 30 minutes, telling me I could do it and that everything was going to be OK. Darren was in shock at this point, and I know that Dr. Aybar was as comforting to him as he was to me! At the height of my pain, the anesthesiologist, who Darren was convinced was 18, leaned over me and said, “The pain is all in your head.” I'm pretty sure Darren wanted to hit him! With Dr. Aybar cheering me on, Darren was holding me tight as he prayed for me and the baby. Then they told me to push, which I gladly did because I wanted that baby OUT! He was born at 11"20a.m. after pushing just a minute or two. We were all cheering and laughing, and I think everyone was just grateful for me to stop all of the yelling and mayhem! He was bald and beautiful. He looked so small to me, but he weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. An angel right from the beginning!
Simon with Dra. Aybar
Look at these cuties!
Mom and Max
Nilka and her mom, Priscilla come to visit!
For a while after his birth, I was frustrated with God, as ridiculous as that sounds. I didn't understand why he didn't allow the epidural to go smoothly and correctly. It had been my biggest fear and the main reason for any anxiety about the birth. I felt like he had abandoned me. After a few weeks of that nonsense, he revealed the truth to me. He had never left me. In fact, he sent Dr. Aybar there at just the right time to encourage us and spur us on! I have been doing Beth Moore's study of Daniel in my Bible Study group over the months before Simon came. One of the main things that I learned was that when we face trials, three things can happen. In her words, we can be delivered from the fire, that is saved from it completely. We can also be delivered through the fire. We can go through the trial and our faith will be refined. We can also be delivered by the fire and into His arms where our faith is perfected. I didn't know it, but I was expecting God to answer my prayers in exactly the way that I had prayed. He didn't allow the birth to be "painless," but He never left me and I saw a whole new side of my God through this. I don't think I am finished learning from this experience, but I learned again that He is FAITHFUL and SUFFICIENT! Simon will always be a reminder of that for me. Praise the Lord!
"And He said to me,"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.""
2 Cor. 12 v.9
