A Miracle Was Born

My daughter is my miracle.

The fact that her and I are still alive today is a miracle that I am thankful for on a regular basis.

Being ejected 15 feet from a vehichle while it's rolling and being 16 weeks pregnant during all of that and then coming out alive with minimal injuries, is a testament that miracles are stil possible today.

After healing and recovering from the wreck, I began praying about the upcoming birth of my new daughter. I was given a vision of how it would go. I saw His hands around me during the birth and felt Him giving me the power and strength to make it through. During the remainder of my pregnancy, I focused on that vision and focused on going through labor pain free.

I had prodromal labor a ton during the last month. I was in early labor for about a week before active labor finally kicked in. I walked up and down our road so much in cold 30 degree weather and sat on a half deflated exercise ball and did so many sqauts.

Jan 29th I finally felt it. The contractions got strong enough that I couldnt speak through them and were coming every 5 minutes. I went back and forth trying to get some laundry done and dishes washed to take my mind off of it. Taking a hot shower helped SO much too! After about 2 hours of them being 5-3 minutes apart I finally settled on the toilet with a pillow on my lap. I rested my head on the pillow and would relax between contractions; this lasted for about 3 hours on the toilet before I felt my body pushing on its own. I checked and felt the water sac right there at the entrance! Finally it was time. I called for my husband and instructed him to put a pillow on the floor next to the bed and then put the chux pads over it. My knees still arent great after the wreck so I needed the extra cushion. I knealed down next to my bed, put a pillow on the edge of my bed and leaned into it.

With my first free birth, I remember yelling that it hurts and I want it to be done. This time, I felt the pain and pressure but it didnt hurt.

I leaned into the pillow and growled so deep as the fetal ejection reflex was pushing baby out. no pushing on my part. My body knew what to do. My water broke and there was the head! My husband was behind me ready to catch her. One more deep growl into the pillow and her whole body slid right out and into my husband's arms.

After my first free birth, I was so stressed and exhausted from the birth that I couldn't stand on my own. This time I was able to stand up with a little bit of help from hubby and slide right into bed where he handed me my tiny baby girl. She was so small that preemie size clothes were too big on her and newborn diapers looked huge! We estimated her to be in the 5 lb range (couldn't find our scale).

Azaliyah Rebecca Rae Vandiver was here.

I chose her name for many reasons.

In Hebrew, Azaliyah means "Yah has spared." He saved my life and spared her life as well. Rebecca was the name of my best friend who died in the car wreck.

Rae is a family name and the middle name of one of my grandmothers that passed away a few months after the wreck happened.

So much tragedy in such short time can lead to amazing new life and bigger blessings. You can't always see or know why things happen until it's revealed to you.

Azaliyah's birth was amazing and healing in so many ways and I am so blessed to have such an adorable and sweet little girl.